A few weeks ago I hauled my Scout out of the car for a ride around Swinley. Carrying out my pre flight checks I noticed that the top shock bolt was missing, well the male part anyway and the female part was still there but hanging.
The guys at the hub got me out on the trails with a bottle cage bolt.

On my return I spoke to Tamed Earth and they sorted me a new bolt straight away by whipping on out of one of their demo bikes.

Now every time I go out for a ride this shock bolt comes loose the whole assembly gains a rattle. I have used Loctite to secure the bolt and have a good torque wrench to set it correctly, though the 10 Nm does not feel very tight, in manuals we trust.

That has all gone out the window now and I just stop once I hear the rattling and wang the bolt up until it stops.

Could it be that I have damaged the bush in the shock eyelet?

Do people use shake proof or locking washers at all as extra security on these parts?

I have never had this issue before so I have never needed a hack to fix it. Pease share your fixes if any of this sounds familiar.

Not sure how you would damage the shock eyelet.
Probably you need stronger loctite that what you’re currently applying?

I would replace the bushes the bolt both male and female and apply loctite.

there’s different grades of loctite – go for one of the more permanent versions?

are there worn bearings or bushing elsewhere putting unusual loads on this bolt?

I am using Loctite I bought at the local hardware shop, not sure of the grade. Can anyone recommend a grade? Its been years since I was in a job that required the use of it.

All other bearings appear fine. When I first realised I had an issue I stripped the rear end right down, applied grease, Loctite and checked the torque at each pivot.

The bike is just over a year old so the rear shock may be due to come out for a service soon, I could get quoted for new bushes at the same time.

First port of call is the strong Loctite shop. Thanks for the comments!

this is stronger than blue.

http://www.loctite.co.uk/loctite-4087.htm?nodeid=8802623619073

Thanks wwaswas

Sounds like the pivot bolt is binding on the bushing, which is undoing the pivot when the shock pivots.

You could try putting the pivot bolt through the other way (i.e. female in through other side), as this way it might tighten up instead of loosen….

Edited for spelling….

google ‘mechanical precession’ – it’s why pedals and BB’s have odd threads one side.

Ooh, good call. I hadn’t thought of swapping the bolt around. I did remove it completely when I had it all apart. It is possible that it went back the other way around,.

Same experience on my Patrol, it was the standard eyelet bush under spec so the shock pin couldn’t rotate and made the retaining bolt back out. Using a Fox low friction bush now and it’s still quite tight but has enough movement and seems to be lasting well.

Just thought I would report back, with good news. For me at least.

I actually read the manual / data sheet for the Loctite I have been using (243) and re applied but this time gave it some time to set rather than bouncing around the garden straight after re assembly.

I gave it a good 6 hours (30 minutes recommended), I have been out a few time since looking for rattly descents and it is now holding fast.

i agree that a pre ride check should be carried out always. i do mine the night before so it gives me enough time to sort out anything that needs doing

i’ve always tried to drill this into my friends and some of them also do pre ride checks but most dont

one of them found out the hard way on sunday at llandegla…he hadnt checked to see if the bolts on his frame were tight and one worked loose off the rocker linkage and on a jump it came off. this resulted in the rear non drive seat stay to come away from the linkage and the resulting force from the landing placed a massive amount of torque on the driveside seatstay and caused it to crack

this was on a 2013 intense carbine frame

Wow, that is bad news.

I volunteered as pit crew for a team of friends that were riding Mayhem one year. For team building and for the general craic I insisted on joining the ‘training rides’.
I took them through all the roughest trails I could find, partly to see what state their bikes were it. Needless to say that they all pretty much fell apart in the months leading up to Mayhem so I repaired them all and ensured they were all up to scratch prior to the event, leaving me to sit back, make tea and enjoy the spectacle on the day. This of course also freed me up to spend time making bacon sandwiches for the riders as they completed their laps.

Oops! Wrong thread!

Interesting thing about Transition bolts. There was a video up in Vevo about building up your Patrol. They recommended Loctiting all the bolts as part of the build. The video was only up for a short time though before being removed – don’t know why…

I had done all my bolts by then though… Also had to do my rear brake mount too.

The female part could be worn?
You have a new male part, used loctite and torqued correctly and it still comes loose. The female part would be my first port of call, the threads may be FUBAR.