kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

I noticed some Bilsteins have schrader valves. Why is it that mine don't, yet are able to be rebuilt (bye bye crimp top). Is it for convenience?

y8s

iTrader: (8)

the valves are for changing the pressure of the nitrogen gas below the floater piston.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Yup. I don't know if any of them actually came with these valves from the factory. All the ones I've seen have been added during a rebuild by someone like FatCat Motorsports.

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

So what's the purpose for doing this? Ease to revalve or changing the characteristics of the shock on the fly or...?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

When Bilstein assembles a shock, they have a magical machine that allows them to teleport the nitrogen gas into the bottom of a shock through the steel casing. Folks like Shaikh can't afford this technology, so they drill a hole in the bottom and fit a valve into it.

It's purely an affordance to allow the shock to be re-gassed after a rebuild. I've heard of folks adjusting the gas pressure as a tuning mechanism, but for me, that's a bit like adjusting the front/rear weight distribution by changing the amount of brake fluid sitting in the cup. (It's a far finer level of detail than I'll ever need.)

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

So Bernie from Stewart Dev has this contraption since he doesn't place schrader valves?

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Or maybe he doesn't use nitrogen

or maybe he has a nitronge-filled glove box

or maybe he backpurges them with nitrogen and holds them upside down to reassemble them

my advance-designs had the shrader valve. I busted one off once because it was too close to the mounting portion and ran into the lower suspension arm.

Thucydides

My understanding is that he does have a way of nitrogen pressurizing his shocks, and that it's the device Bilstein uses.

Bernie S.

Yes, I do have the equipment to pressurize the shocks without the use of a schrader valve.

I can do the shocks either way, but I prefer not having schrader valves. This way the shock won't leak down over time.