fitting TTR rear inserts

[bmcman.ie]

hi there, i am rebuilding the rear suspension on my 71 sprint, and have just bought some rear shock inserts from sue miller. these are ttr inserts,on inspection, i now have a lock nut and a thick washer with a champhered end to it, does this champhered spacer/washer go under the insert at the bottom of the tube, or does it go on top of the lotocone and then the nyloc nut on top, as the previous nut has a collar to fit into the mounting to centralise it, any help would be greatly appreciated, ian.

[rogersste]

Hi Ian
I fitted TTR inserts and still have TTR's customer information sheet, which says:

"1. Do not pull piston out or push in before it is firmly screwed into your suspension tube or you will damage the unit.
2. Put a small cup full of engine oil in the tube so it runs in oil to aid cooling.
3. Put shock absorber into tube and settle oil level to just below top.
4. Screw in lock nut / lock ring very tight (and check it each race or service).
5. Now you can pull or push piston up and down and adjust it, the white nylon washer sits on top of the closure screw.
6. Secure piston into lotacone or top mount, if using spherical bearing top mounts, fit spacer on top of spherical bearing. Ignore Koni instruction of big torque, nip up top nut. If necessary tape up top 1.5" of piston rod with race tape and hold with mole or vice grips whilst tightening top nut.
7. If using original lotacones you may need to machine a top hat or cone shaped sleeve spacer to take up any gap between the shock absorber rod and the inside diameter of the lotacone.
8. Suggested settings: dry:+ 1 turn; wet: 0 To increase firmness screw anti-clockwise"

Hope that helps, I needed the top hats, mine haven't fallen off or broken yet!!!
Steve

[bmcman.ie]

thanks for that steve, but i dont want to sound thick, but i have fitted new lotacones, what are spherical bearing top mounts? from what i read from you info, the 'champhered spacer,should just be fitted on top of the lotacone and nyloc on top? do i need 'top hats' if i have replaced the lotacones? one of the guys from tony thompson said that the washer/spacer should be fitted at the bottom underneath the insert? it didnt seem right to me! ian.

[rogersste]

Hi Ian
The comment about spherical bearings is irrelevant as you are using lotocones.
The only metal washer on mine sits under the nyloc on the top of the strut above the lotocone.
TTR supplied two top hats (and that is exactly what they look like - a metal top hat with a hole in the middle for the rod to go through) with my inserts they were necessary as the diameter of the rod was slightly less than the internal diameter of the lotocone - they therefore improved the fit.
Good luck
Steve

[oldelanman]

thanks for that steve, but i dont want to sound thick, but i have fitted new lotacones, what are spherical bearing top mounts? from what i read from you info, the 'champhered spacer,should just be fitted on top of the lotacone and nyloc on top? do i need 'top hats' if i have replaced the lotacones? one of the guys from tony thompson said that the washer/spacer should be fitted at the bottom underneath the insert? it didnt seem right to me! ian.

Hi Ian,
The TTR inserts are shorter than the original and the large donut shaped spacer is required to make up the difference - without it the insert will not be clamped in the tube by the top cap nut and will move up and down in use. The spacer is chamfered on one side to accept the rounded end of the bottom of the insert so make sure you fit it the right way up. When my inserts arrived the spacer was fitted under the top nut on the damper shaft so it didn't get lost in transit and this possibly leads to the confusion as to where it should be fitted.

The top nut of the original dampers is castellated and has a step machined on the lower face to centralise the shaft where it passes through the lotocone mount. Adjustable damper inserts where the adjusted runs down through the shaft cannot use a castellated nut and slit pin so a nyloc is used instead, this does not centre the shaft so a top-hat spacer/washer is needed. Some replacement inserts are supplied with these spacers - my TTR ones were not and I had some made up to do the job.

[bmcman.ie]

thanks guys, i was not supplied with the top hats, so i will contact TTR to get them, many thanks for your help, ian.

[gearbox]

These are the top hats I got with my Koni Fast Road shocks. I thought they supplied these with all their shocks as the shaft diameter is actually smaller than the Lotocone and original shock. Also, the TTR shocks are slightly longer than the tube, so the gland nut will sit proud of the tube by about 1/8". I just teflon taped the threads and used a fat O ring to cover the exposed threads.