Hi all,

Hoping you can help me out.

I finally got around to installing my KW’s this weekend and a nut was missing from the box. The nut I am missing is the one that attaches at the base of the rear strut to the axle assembly.

One of the rear struts had this nut zip tied to it and the other did not. of course i had already done the driver side and did not notice the passenger side nut missing until i started doing that side.

I contacted the vendor to see how quick they can get this rectified for me but I am also planning to check home depot or ace tomorrow to see if I can find a suitable alternative.

Does anyone know the specs of this nut? Even if I can just get a stop gap for now so I'm not on my friends lift for a week while I wait for the vendor or KW to help me out.

the nut i am missing is pictured below. the lag bolt is reused from the oem assembly however there is no oem nut that can be reused since it is part of the oem strut itself, and not a separate nut like the KW’s use.

 

Don't have the specs on that nut but taking that bolt to the store and getting a grade 8 that fits will suffice. I doubt Home Depot would have it. Our local Ace has a great selection of metric grade 8 fasteners however. If you have a Fastenal in town they should have it too, not sure how willing they are selling a single nut though.
G/L

 

Thanks Newt. I'll be going on a raid today and hopefully successful.

Looks like we do have a fastenal nearby, but closed today for the holiday. Will check out Ace today.

 

Looks like it's an M12x1.25 Was able to find the non-lock variety at Ace. Napa was out of the lock nut in that size also. May have to use this one for now until i can get the lock nut in that size

 

I was able to find an an all metal lock nut in the correct size. Not able to find much info on the difference between the nylon lock nut vs metal.

Anyone know any issues or watchouts with using and all metal lock nut vs the nylon ones?

 

Hey Man,

I can't offer anything constructive except my wishes for the best of luck.

I too have been in a spot with incomplete parts (usually Ikea) and it's very frustrating.

Carry on my friend.

Sean

 

thanks Sean!

we actually just got the rears done (using the metal lock nut for now) and on to the fronts now.

 

You likely have what's called a stover nut. Instead of the threads of the bolt digging into the nylon to create a lock, the threads at the top of the stover nut distort to the bolt to create the lock. For your application there shouldn't be any issues using a stover nut, you'll notice it takes more effort to put on compared to a nylon locking nut though.

 

This^^^, actually they're more effective than ny-locks. If you want to be extra sure you could always use some loctite.
Glad you found a fastener that will work

 

Thanks guys for the re-assurance. That nut I found seems to be a good alternative.
We were able to complete both the front and rear install yesterday.

I have another question about the rear install. KW did not provide much in the instructions department. And with my rear sitting a bit low for me right now I've been reading up on the topic...

Regarding shock length - when we installed the rear spring we used a jack to line up the lower control arm with the hole to slide the both through, tightened that up. My guess is we had to jack the arm up about 1inch or so

Then installed the shock into the upper mounting holes and lower axle assembly. I didn't really adjust anything on the shock.

Does this sequence sound right?

Newt - i know with your set up you mentioned there was a specific amount to jack that arm to get correct preload - KW did not mention anything about this.

 

The KWs have fixed rear shock tubes so preload isn't neccesary. This AFAIK