thanks for sharing your thoughts...
I wish I could tighten the nuts more to push the rubber further down...I assure you that this isn't an option as there isn't any thread left on the shock to tighten futher.

I'm wondering now if the shock itself can be shortened...On the shock, it seems to indicate that you can adjust the length by turning the rod. There is a bidirectional arrow with a + and - sign. I tried turning the rod with a small open ended wrench but it didn't seem to shorten the rod.

Am I on the right track here? can the rod be retracted/screwed down into the gas part of the shock somehow?