When it starts to rattle, stop and see what is going on, don't just keep riding it until the shock gets stuck down.

So the story behind the photos. A stumpy was dropped off yesterday with some shock issues and seeing that the thing hadn't ever been service and it was about 5 years old, I figured it would be best to send it in. Well, then we tried to remove the shock and the details became blaringly evident. Broken shock bolt, blown bearings, blown link, and yup the lower eyelet was toast, not just the bushing the entire eyelet. Fun!