BIlstien struts

[cuel]

I'm going on my second set of Bilstien's(stock springs) in the front in a little less than a year. The rest of the suspension is solid. Lower c.a. bushings are new, all 4 ball joints have been replaced, and the upper c.a. bushings are in good shape. Upper mounts were in good shape when I replaced the struts, and the lowers came new with the struts. I know they're going out, as they're starting to leak. The steel caps on the top of the housing have come off as well. Any ideas where I should look next? Could it be possible I'm bottoming them out? I have the spring perches set on the lowest grove.

 

[Wiisass]

How many miles are on them? They shouldn't be blowing too quickly, but dampers do wear. It's possible you could be bottoming them out, do you still have bumpstops on there?

There's a lot of reasons they could've blown or started to leak. Dirt on the shaft can wear down the rod guide seals. With the travel that you have with softer springs and stock upper mounts, there is a bending load in the shaft due to the way the spring and damper compress. This causes wear on the rod guide seals.

I would suggest sending them back to Bilstein and getting them rebuilt. I'm pretty sure Bilstein has a good warranty on their stuff, so it shouldn't be much of a problem getting them covered.

Tim

 

[Poodles]

Bilstein has a lifetime warranty...

 

[cuel]

Miles: less than 5k? Replaced the rears at the same time, and they're holding up just fine.
Bump stops... I don't remember what shape they're in.

Check bump stops.
Stiffer springs(if you wouldn't mind a recommendation?)
New upper mounts. Are there upgraded one's available?

I get them warrantied through my A.Z. account. Just swap them out when the new ones come in.

Thanks

 

[cuel]

Alright, figured it out. The bumpers where trashed. Replaced them with Energy Suspension poly shock bushings, and added a bump stop to the lower control arm, right behind the strut mount. Hopefully this will fix the problem. It was right there looking me in the face the first time, and I completely missed it. I drive some rough roads sometimes, so I thought the second set of stops would help.

As far as the bending load under compression, how much stiffer of a spring would I need? I do tend to push the car a bit, so a good handling spring would be good. I was looking at the H&R's, as I could adjust the lower perch up to take some of the drop out of it(the lower control arms are almost level right now), but I don't see anywhere that says how stiff they ride.

Again, Tim, thanks for your help.

 

[Wiisass]

What I would suggest would be spring sleeves on the bilsteins with a good coil over spring like Hypercoils. It just allows more freedom for selecting rates that will balance the car and work well with the dampers. And it will give you some height adjustability and some freedom in selecting spring lengths so the car will sit how you want it to sit.

But if you did just want an off the shelf lowering spring for the car, the H&R's would probably be one of the better bets. I don't think they'll be too stiff for the shocks and the ride will be more based on the damper and it shouldn't be bad at all. You will feel everything a little more with the stiffer springs, but harshness shouldn't increase too much.

As for getting rid of the bending under compression, the only thing that would do this would be a different upper mount design. Or a very stiff spring so the damper wouldn't really be moving at all, but that wouldn't be a good idea. But that's how Toyota designed it, so I might be overestimating the effect of it.

Also, if you don't want to get springs just yet, you could raise the springs up a little on the shocks. Depending on how much this preloads the spring, it should help with bottoming out at the expense of a small loss in droop travel.

Tim

 

[cuel]

Thanks for the info., Tim. I'll definitely look into the Hypercoils and sleeves.

One more "quick" question: With the sleeve and coilover spring combo suggested, I take it I'll need to get the suspension balanced? I know a guy that does dirt car suspension and chassis who could set it up for me. To be honest, I know very little about "corner balancing," or what I need to do for a street driven, daily driver. Other than maintenance. Any insight you could offer would be appreciated.

 

[Wiisass]

Let me know if you need help with the springs and sleeves, I can get the parts and put something together for you.

Corner balancing isn't necessary, but it will help. But if someone close can do it, I definitely recommend it. They should be able to take care of it. You just want to make sure that your cross weights are equal. And try and get the front tires the same and the rear tires the same. Sometimes it's not possible due to the way the stuff in the car is situated.

Tim