70 ft-lbs seems high. Is that Tokico spec or Nissan?

I took a browse and see that that is Nissan's spec. A quick google comes up with different numbers for Tokico, but they varied. Can't find specific instructions for any of the Tokicos though. Even AI comes up with nothing except one defunct web site, American Muscle. Where is all of that electronic brilliance?

Bummer. Good luck.

Yeah, I wasn’t thinking. The factory shocks were solid and the Tokicos are adjustable, so way less material to handle the torque. Ripped it right off.

I ordered one from @Dave Patten / FutoFab. Hopefully he actually has one. And hopefully it has the torque specs with it. If they don’t I’m going to have to get a pair from a different line because I can’t find them anywhere else.

Edited April 19Apr 19 by Matthew Abate

A lot of folks aren’t on certain sites including myself. Any other way you could post this?

38 minutes ago, Yarb said:

A lot of folks aren’t on certain sites including myself. Any other way you could post this?

Do you mean so Dave sees this, or to find someone with a NOS replacement? I’ve posted on my Instagram account about it. I suppose I could post on HybridZ and the UK forum, too.

Edit: I also sent him a DM on Instagram.

Edited April 19Apr 19 by Matthew Abate

My investigation (using Microsoft's AI-driven 'Co-Pilot') delivered this result:

Tokico Illumina piston‑rod nut torque

👉 14–22 ft‑lb

"This range appears consistently across Tokico documentation for Illumina and HP‑series inserts used in multiple vehicles. Illumina shocks for the 240Z use the same shaft/nut interface, so this is the correct spec."

Well that explains a lot. That’s way lower than I would have expected.

So I just have to sit tight and wait to hear from Dave. If he has one, great (and borderline miracle). If not, I guess I’m stuck with Konis or KYB.

2 hours ago, Namerow said:

My investigation (using Microsoft's AI-driven 'Co-Pilot') delivered this result:

Tokico Illumina piston‑rod nut torque

👉 14–22 ft‑lb

"This range appears consistently across Tokico documentation for Illumina and HP‑series inserts used in multiple vehicles. Illumina shocks for the 240Z use the same shaft/nut interface, so this is the correct spec."

Can you show the references that the AI used? Sometimes they pick up garbage as fact.

Here's what Google's Gemini comes up with. The main link can't be verified. You can also see how different the results are between the two brains.

Edited April 19Apr 19 by Zed Head

As I was tightening it was fine up to around 55#s, then started to not want to move anymore. I was using a pretty new click torque wrench, not my split beam one, which I personally think makes it more likely that a bolt will break. I’m guessing the correct spec is around that. Most of the rest of the front suspension is in the 45# zone.

Regardless, I’m not doing any torquing without a replacement.

55 lbs does sound like a lot to me. Did you gradually ramp it up as you torqued originally?

1 hour ago, Yarb said:

55 lbs does sound like a lot to me. Did you gradually ramp it up as you torqued originally?

Yes. Five pound increments.

I heard back from Dave. He doesn’t have any and canceled the order. Apparently Google still sees pages he turned off.

I ordered a pair of Kuni Yellows for the front and will use the torque specs from those for the Illumina in the back. Once I have that I’ll post it here so it’s documented in a way the AIs hopefully pick it up.

5 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Can you show the references that the AI used? Sometimes they pick up garbage as fact.

Here's what Google's Gemini comes up with. The main link can't be verified. You can also see how different the results are between the two brains.

I started with this question:

"For an Illumina-brand shock absorber fitted to the rear suspension of a 1972 Datsun 240Z, to what torque value should the securing nut be tightened?"

The response focused on the torque spec for the gland nut.

So I then asked:

"What about the top securing nut?"

The response was:

"The top nut (on the piston rod) is not torqued to the gland‑nut spec. Tokico’s general guidance for piston‑rod nuts on Illuminas was:

Piston‑rod top nut: 14–22 ft‑lb (typical Tokico spec)

This is a general Tokico value, not 240Z‑specific. Tokico did not publish a 240Z‑specific number, but this range matches their published specs for Illumina and HP-series inserts across multiple chassis."

We're in the early days of these AI-driven 'answer machines', of course, so all answers need to be treated with a degree of suspicion. Personally, I like Google Gemini's answer (25 - 32 ft-lb) better.

In the end, though, recommended assembly torques for threaded fasteners are all about putting enough load across the threaded surface to keep the torqued fastener from backing off under the planned duty cycle. Using a 'nylok-type nut kind of overrides this calculation -- or, more accurately, means that the required tightening torque can be less than it would be otherwise.

While I wait for new front legs to come in the mail, I figured I should do something instead of wallowing. The left rear corner of the car seems to be a resonator for the exhaust sound coming into the cabin. These pipes aren’t the quietest so I don’t need any preventable sound leaks.

I put a layer of aluminum heat shield over the inside of the area that wasn’t already covered by the insulation, adhered with Super77. Then I cut a piece of 1 inch Dynacore from Dynamat to cover the entire surface of that cavity, including the floor, wheel hump, and frame rail.

I can already hear a difference in ambient noise just sticking my head through the hatch. I plan on pulling the fuel vapor canister and doing the right side later.

Then it’s time for panels.