My rear shock is loose and rattles at the rear eyelet. I can fix it by tightening the bolt but is that the way it is supposed to work ? Or is the bush meant to be flush in the eyelet ? If I tighten the bolt then the shock will not be able to move up and down, Is it not meant to ?

Not clear I know but any advise would be greatly appreciated.

There should be three parts of the shock at play here. The shock body, the DU bush and the reducer kit. When tightening the shock bolt you are tightening the frame onto the reducer to keep everything tight, the DU bush (and therefore the shock body) rotates around the reducer.

It is normal for there to be play if you haven’t tightened the bolts up

What do you mean by “not be able to move up and down”?

Pics ,make/size of shock and bike would help

2012 RP23 on a 05 Santa Cruz Heckler.

What I mean by up and down is if I tighten the frame onto the shock then the only movement will be the piston into the shock body, I was wondering whether the shock should ‘move’ where it is bolted to the eyelet. I think you answered that question with ….

the DU bush (and therefore the shock body) rotates around the reducer.

Thanks for responses. Note the shop fitted it for me and used all the same bits from the old fifth element coil.