Haven't touched it since I did the work this afternoon that made it flush. That work was taking out the bolts, removing the top washer and then putting back together (blue locktite and 38ft lbs torque)

 

OK; the last thing I want to do is add to the confusion I probably caused earlier. Again, I'm sorry for that.

Nonetheless, If I were you I'd leave things just the way you have them now.

All manner of things get modified on these machines making departure from "spec" quite common. Bushings can be (OEM) rubber, neoprene, or metal like mine. My hands don't go numb . When you torqued that rubber bushing, you compressed it from the ends causing it to expand where it could (around the bolt) and stop once torque spec was reached. The OEM metal caps keep the rubber from squishing out of confinement under pressure. The way your spacers fit now, tightly within the depression in your tree, do you think there's a chance of the rubber getting by ? "Didn't think so".

It looks better. Pay attention for awhile and if you detect no movement after, say a week, check the torque. If you've noticed no changes and your torque hasn't changed, its a safe bet your rubber bushings are happy as a clam. Enjoy !

By the way, if you'd like to have an extra set of rubber bushings,,, just in case,, PM me and I'll send you mine. I have no use for em.

 

Thanks HK, your reply puts me at ease and I'm just going to leave it the way I have it right now.

 

Just 1 question, is the end that is pressed down against the rubber bushing capped or hollow? If it's hollow it will chew it's way through the rubber bushing in no time and prevent the bushing from spreading out against the walls of the trees... Just saying...

 

Also there is that little STEEL bush inside the rubber that ducts the bolt through the rubber. The end of this bush sits against the neck of the STEEL washer hole. Without the washer the bush may sit on the bottom edge of the bolt hole in the ALUMINUM spacer. Depending on the diameter of the spacer hole the steel bush may slowly work it's way into the spacer....just saying......

 

That's why I posted the the drawing for you as well as the pic of my setup and suggested to double-check if everything was put together and fastened to spec. If so then there's nothing to worry about. If there's a gap between the upper tree and the spacer it most likely was there before and it's just fine that way. That minimal gap you had there wouldn't bother me.

Of course you can mount the risers solidly to the trees but then you usually use solid bushings, too, like Mark mentioned.

 

look, this is designed to work this way. It squeezes the rubber bushing out against the sides of the tree walls and then stops so you can not over tighten. Just call your friend, have another beer and do it one more time! You'll be glad knowing it's correct.

 

Exactly what I wanted to suggest

 

The spacers are solid pieces of aluminum with just a bolt hole through them so they would be capped even though not really a cap but just a solid piece of metal.

 

Well in that case I would think you are achieving the same thing without using the top 'cap' and probably look better since you can no longer see the gap in the bars are now. phew, glad that's over!