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Keep the piston 1/2 way in the bbl of the shock body when 1st filling, the slowly move it up and down to get oil beneath the piston. Fill until top has a 1/2 round oil reserve, then fill the cap until its at the bottom of the threads the install the cap just starting the threading process and slowly compress the shaft, bleeding excess oil and air out, tighten with the shaft compressed ( make sure you have a bump of rebound when you release the shaft )

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You using alloy caps or the plastic ones?

You will never get all the air out. You are not supposed to in these. They are an emulsion type shock that mixes the air and oil. The bladder type shocks separate the oil and air.

Ditto. Why? The fronts have shorter shafts, and they don't reach all the way into the top of the shock when compressed, so you won't usually feel the air when they are mounted on the car. The rears are the same concept, but if you are using the 1.32 shafts, then the piston/shaft can compress all the way into the region at the top of the shock where the oil is, and you will feel it. This is partly why AE switched to the 1.02 shaft in later years. Other reasons were that the shock caries more oil (because of less shaft in the body, and fewer spacers taking up displacement) and they are lighter -meaning less unsprung weight. Rears -With the longer shaft, as it enters the body it displaces more oil. Because of this it requires more air to be compressed. This is why it is more difficult to get the rear shocks "smooth" or air free.

"Air free" is a falicy by the way. In order for the bladder-less shocks to function properly, they must have air in them. If they don't they will suffer from hydraulic lock. This is not something to worry about with modern shocks btw, as the o-rings are so soft, they will draw the necessary amount of air past them while operating. As far as bladders are concerned, don't use them- They make the shocks feel nice on the bench, but make the shocks work improperly on the track. Check out all the factory guy setups online, and you will see they use shock that are the bladderless type, or have the bladders cut out to make them that way.

I would recommend picking up a set of the bleeder screw type caps for the AE shocks, as they make building and bleeding the shocks to the correct amound of air a breeze. Plus they are cheap. -Jeff

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Well, if it is for a shelfer don't bother puting oil in the shocks. Waste of resources, and one more thing to worry about (leakage). -Jeff

Jay Dub wrote:Well, if it is for a shelfer don't bother puting oil in the shocks. Waste of resources, and one more thing to worry about (leakage). -Jeff

Yup. On my shelfers I just coat the shaft and O rings in green slime and call it good.

CamplinP wrote:

Jay Dub wrote:Well, if it is for a shelfer don't bother puting oil in the shocks. Waste of resources, and one more thing to worry about (leakage). -Jeff

Yup. On my shelfers I just coat the shaft and O rings in green slime and call it good.

I like to do the odd drop test on my shelfers to "feel" how they are... hence oil in mine

I do reckon no oil makes life easier though

JayDub explained it perfectly. I do confirm that bladders on AE shocks don't work on the track, I've tried a VCS kit on my B4 a couple of years back and the car would simply not drive right despite being better "in theory"

Welcome to the world of emulsion shocks

Paul