I now have a Nürburgring sticker on my car

"facw" (facw) 05/08/2020 at 21:16 • Filed to: wrenching, Shock Absorber, shocks, struts, Bilsteins, Please ignore my broken headlight trim

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7

Four in fact:

All well hidden of course. After getting some help with a suck nut (that I managed to turn into a nice circle), I completed the task today getting the passenger side strut installed. These are Bilstein Performance B6 shocks and struts, which are probably overkill, but back before the stock market tanked I had money burning a hole in my pocket. I had considered going with the B8s and lowering, but there seems to be agreement that there’s no safe way to get the rear springs out, short of an expensive dealer visit. I also remembered that there’s already one nearby road I can’t drive on because there’s a speed bump that scrapes at stock height, and going lower seems like a poor choice since that speed bump has friends.

I had been concerned about how necessary this was, since the shocks and the driver’s side strut seemed to be in good shape, working well, with just a little surface rust (though the driver’s side upper spring seat was cracked, a common problem on these, and the real reason I was doing this). However, the passenger side strut stack was a mess, with a heavily corroded and somewhat crunchy strut bearing, a cracked upper spring seat, a completely missing bump stop (the driver’s side one was worn, and no longer hooked into the plate above it, but still mostly there), and a torn dust boot. Most importantly, the strut itself was totally done:

The plastic top piece was cracked and bent, and as you can see, oil had leaked everywhere. Not surprisingly if you depress the top of the piston, it doesn’t come back even a mm. I wonder how long it’s been like that? My PPI said that all four corners needed to be done, but two different Volvo specialists disagreed, so maybe this is a newer development, though I’ve never been happy with how the car handled rough bits of road.

In any event, look at that pretty yellow:

PowderHound > facw 05/08/2020 at 21:25

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The weather must be better, congrats! It’s nice to see a splash of color on the struts other than just blackness

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > facw 05/08/2020 at 21:27

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Going lower would mess with the roll center/suspension geometry. the ideal roll center is a flat control arm. You might have made the right call going this way.  https://whitelineperformance.com/blogs/whiteline-blog/what-is-roll-centre-and-how-does-ride-height-affect-it

facw > PowderHound 05/08/2020 at 21:27

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It was better... It’s been nice this week, but we are getting this polar vortex front coming through which is bringing a bunch of rain and dropping temps 2 0°. Hence the push to get it done today, as it’s supposed to be cold until next weekend.  

facw > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 05/08/2020 at 21:30

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Yeah, going lower would mostly be because it would look sleeker, I’m not of the illusion that it would be any big performance win. (only so much you can expect from a somewhat chunky FWD sedan anyway).

PowderHound > facw 05/08/2020 at 21:38

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Good enough to get it done! It’s been high of 60's low of 30's here which is perfect for me. I dread the heat.

duurtlang > facw 05/09/2020 at 03:54

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I have the Billstein B6 shocks on my 1987 Peugeot as well. I like them a lot. Capable and still perfectly comfortable.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > facw 07/12/2020 at 21:33

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I bought a set of Bilsteins for an Isuzu Rodeo and I was not impressed with them. Then again, it’s possible that the Rodeo just rode like CRAPOLA and shocks can only do so much. I stick with KYB when I can. But there is little you can spend money on to make your car better than spending it on good shocks.