A few questions on Bilstein Shocks for those who have emmm :D

[Sside]

Hey guys, well its time to change my front suspension with fresh new parts. I have lower balljoints, upper control arms coming in this week. My car is sitting on H&R springs and " AWFUL Monroe shocks" The car dips like crazy and I'm just simply not happy. The best set of shocks appear to be Bilstein for ours cars. Coilovers are out of the question at the moment because honestly its out of my price range. Figured H&R+Bilstein would give me height control and decent handling. With that said how are they? What's the ride like? Stiff? Stock Stiff? Am I going to bounce up and down like Honda Hatches? ...... Also, Driftmotion sales the pair for like $264 but Auto Zone has them locally for 109.99 each so they are somewhat cheaper considering ship costs.... BUT the part numbers are different and I want to make sure I get the best ones with height adjustment. Not that I'm looking to drop the car any more but I would still love to have that option. Thank you guys for your time, hoping for some good feed back as yall always come through...

 

[Poodles]

Height adjustment would be pointless as you already have drop springs.

However, the autozone shocks are indeed the same as bilstein only makes one set for our cars now.

 

[Sside]

Height adjustment would be pointless as you already have drop springs.

However, the autozone shocks are indeed the same as bilstein only makes one set for our cars now.

Thank you!!!! And yeah I couldn't use the drop adjustment anyways but I wouldn't mind having the ability to raise it every now n then if I know I am going to be driving to work for a month or two because there are some horrible roads here in Houston.... Yuck...... But thank you very much for that info, freaking love you man ..... Now I just gotta find come competent Auto Zone employees that will know how to order them because every time I try to order something from them it takes for ever.....

 

[hvyman]

Can get koni's as well.

Kyb and tokicos are good too.

 

[Poodles]

Thank you!!!! And yeah I couldn't use the drop adjustment anyways but I wouldn't mind having the ability to raise it every now n then if I know I am going to be driving to work for a month or two because there are some horrible roads here in Houston.... Yuck...... But thank you very much for that info, freaking love you man ..... Now I just gotta find come competent Auto Zone employees that will know how to order them because every time I try to order something from them it takes for ever.....

Guess where I work :rofl:

They're VPD parts, so they're drop shipped direct from the supplier. They've added the ability to drop ship directly to your home now instead of the store!

You can always look up the parts online and walk in with the part numbers, or simply order online as well.

We also carry KYB's which is an OEM supplier for Toyota as is Tokico (don't carry them though). Bilstein and KYB are both lifetime warranty through Autozone.

 

[f00g00]

The springs have to come off for the height adjustment. You are adjusting the spring perch to seat the bottom of the spring higher or lower, it has 3 adjustments.

 

[dubsupra209]

I know a importer that can get you used coils for a great price that's where I got mine. Pm if your interested

 

[limequat]

I have Bilsteins and have ran them with stock springs and Eibachs. I find the ride to be nice and controlled, and not harsh at all. However, with the Eibachs the ride was very bouncy. I think there wasn't enough preload. Back to stock springs and no complaints.

 

[Trent]

I used to live w the former owner of SupraSport here in Austin and he had the H&R/Bilstein combo on his car. Now granted, this was in 2000-2002 timeframe so I don't know if they have changed since then or not, but it was one of the worst riding cars I have ever been in. The front was dumped so low that you couldn't even see the top of the tire and it bounced like CRAZY going down the road. The adjustable perches were of course used and raised it up a bit but it was still terrible.

The Bilstein's are a great shock, but I wouldn't use the H&R's. Just my preference. I actually sold a brand new set of Bilstein's and Eibach's earlier this year as it was the same price to go with new coilovers with more adjustability.

 

[hvyman]

When I had eibach and bilstiens the perches were iirc on the highest spot in the front and the lowest in the rear. If you want adjustability get coils if you want good shocks bilstiens are great. Other are too as well.

 

[MNBmk3T]

I've been debating between getting Bilstein shocks to replace my fronts, that are starting to go, or just run them and save for some Tein coilovers.

Was the ride really that bad though? I currently have H&R Springs too, and I personally like the ride of them on my Tokicos.

 

[GrimJack]

You can also pick up threaded sleeves that turn them into fully adjustable height instead of the thee choice option direct from B.

 

[Sside]

Gah, woke up today and went straight to work without checking back to this thread... Lots of important info but I literally just got back from auto zone with my Bilsteins ordered.... Well I'm a bit nervous now after some of the comment.... Currently I love my H&R's... Yes they dropped the front a little way too much but I was willing to compromise for the look. The H&R on stock quality fairly new Monroe shocks is, well....Hmmm nothing special but its not awful other than the dip and lack of stiffness. My car just does not feel tight, or steady. Feels lose and wobbly. Sigh, coils is just out of my price range I wont even try to make an excuse. I hope I made the right choice, Since Poodles runs them I assumed they were the best shocks I could get for under $130 each....

 

[Sside]

You can also pick up threaded sleeves that turn them into fully adjustable height instead of the thee choice option direct from B.

Well this is very interesting.... I wish I knew more about the threaded sleeves, I did a quick google search but I have no clue on where to start or where to order... Care to point me towards the right direction Grim? Please lol.... And so that means that my shocks will work like Coils? With the ability to raise and lower while in car?

 

[Sside]

I know a importer that can get you used coils for a great price that's where I got mine. Pm if your interested

Thank you but I read your post too late.. Would have been really interested :/

 

[Poodles]

You can always return the shocks

My setup is a used setup I found on here. Seems to be an old setup that bilstein made, has threaded bodies up front and normal 3 spot adjustable in rear with what I assume to be bilstein springs as well. Tops are cusco pillowballs.

Not bad, but it was a little too low for my taste (I kinda hate hitting my exhaust lol)

 

[GrimJack]

Google "bilstein threaded sleeves".

Here's an example: http://www.elephantracing.com/suspension/coilover/914coiloversleeve.htm

 

[f00g00]

http://www.colemanracing.com/Shock-Sleeve-Shrink-On-Bilstein-P3700.aspx
You can convert your own here from your regular Bilstein's, you would need more parts to complete it of course. Technically you could just add this piece and custom adjust your perch with the nut ride adjuster.

 

[Backlash2032]

I have Bilsteins and have ran them with stock springs and Eibachs. I find the ride to be nice and controlled, and not harsh at all. However, with the Eibachs the ride was very bouncy. I think there wasn't enough preload. Back to stock springs and no complaints.

With your eibach and bilstein combo, where did you have the height adjustment? Mine is set at the highest in the front and the lowest in the rear and its rather bouncy. Im thinking I need to raise it in the rear to get more preload?

Sent from my HTC Droid DNA

 

[limequat]

With your eibach and bilstein combo, where did you have the height adjustment? Mine is set at the highest in the front and the lowest in the rear and its rather bouncy. Im thinking I need to raise it in the rear to get more preload?

Sent from my HTC Droid DNA

That's how I had it setup too. For me, it was the fronts that were bouncy, not the rears. WAAAYYYY back on the other forum someone said that 89+ shock mounts were different from 87-88. Supposedly you needed the 89+ mounts for the Bilsteins. I was happy using the stock springs on the medium setting (in front) so I never pursued the 89+ mounts.