Er, my biltiens I got used have these alum-looking hats on them, they rest on snap-rings and they hold the springs.

How do I get these off so I can slip my ground controls on? Banging with sledgehammers only moved these discs maybe 3/4" after five minutes. There's no way they will fit over the stickers, etc. What to do?

 

mine came off with a lil persuasion. persistence

 

I use PB blaster around the tube, the AL has to perfectly straight, a little tap and they slip off...

 

Damnit, I hate when the only obvious answer is right. I was hoping there was like a button you press, like, use the door key or something.


That totally isn't needed, but you don;t know the hell I went through to post it.

 

My MSM Bilsteins were similar. I used an upside-downmilk crate, inverted the shock and put the shock rod through one of the corner holes -- the top most part of the shock body rested against the milk crate. Blasted it with liquid wrench and let sit for about 10 mins. With a regular hammer, I could tap the seats going evenly around the edges, and they came off fairly easily. My seats also had a rectangular shaped guide which made sure they were sliding straight down the shock body when removing. Haven't tried putting the FCM sleeves on yet, but hopefully those rectangular guides aren't too high up to get in the way of the sleeves.

 

Get a blow torch, heat the perch and bang it off with a hammer.

 

I was a bit worried about exploding or warping the shock if I heated it - I don't want to further pressurize the air, or liquid, inside, or run the risk of hurting a seal!

Have you tried this?

Anyway, the shocks are at Bilstien, I'm still waiting for a call from them. Just found out the CEO of my company has a son who works there as an engineer!

 

Mine came off by hand (just a few taps), no chemicals or major force needed.

Use some sort of penetrating agent (wd-40, aerokroil, etc) and just tap on the perches till them come off.

DO NOT HEAT THEM.

 

No, don't listen to me.

I once saw a episode of american hot rod and where they froze one part and blow torched the receiving part and mated them together permanently after they cooled.

 

Abe, I'm so proud of you for joining the Bilstein Club!

 

I still have all kinds of doubts. But at least the entry fee isn't steep, ~$250 for used shocks, ~250 for revalving.

My concerns about the suspension being too stiff are someone eased by the fact that my car doesn't run anyway.

 

Damn yo, whered you find used shocks for that cheap. I have been searching for a while now.

 

Yeah.... my bilsteins have been sitting around for a while, shoulda put them up for sale a long time ago... maybe should have revalved them instead of getting the Tein SS.

 

I was pretty irritated with the bilstien guys - I told them several times to have the guy selecting the valving call me, and they never did, they had some guy who didn't know how a shock worked call me like five times, and they just gave me... whatever. I haven't driven it yet, but I expect a harsh ride.

 

UPDATE!

What are the units here? I just had bilstien (right here in town, can't beat a local drop off, though it was stragely hard to get to talk to anyone in person) revalve a set of shocks, and got this:

Direction Original Revalve
Front Comp 40 60
Front Rebound 400 700
Rear Rebound 40 50
Rear Comp 330 600

I guess I don't know the units because they are clearly not at all compatible with what you have there. For that matter, the "about a factor of ten" in the ratios isn't there.

The reason I ask is because the car, while nice on a proper road or for single bumps, gets dangerously out of control, even in a straight line, when going over a series of dips. Even a single dip (though not so much a bump or pothole) tends to send the back end flying.

I've got 750/500 lb springs. When I was talking to the guy on the phone there, who "passed the information" to the guy doing the valving, I think he took short hand which was misinterpreted, and he never passed the "HAVE THE GUY CALL ME BEFORE DOING THE WORK" message. I got them back "valved for 750/500 in the front, 500/375 in the rear", and when I asked them "what 750-slash-500 means" they just looked at me like I was crazy though they are the ones who said those words.

Anyway, curious if my rates are way out, or if this is just how a car with springs this heavy is.

 

Oh! Found some different numbers, on another sheet. From the dyno:
B46-1488 Front
Min_Force(#1/#2): -6400/-6571 (6486)
Max_Force(#1/#2): 675/723 ( 699)

B46-1489 Rear
Min_Force(#1/#2): -5587/-5697 (5642)
Max_Force(#1/#2): 679/675 ( 677)


Interesting, looking at the sheet, the relationship of force with velocity is not only non-linear, they don't have the same shape. Guess I'll have to graph these, it looks like the ones which peak higher are lower forced in the middle velocities.


I still can't figure the relationship between valving and force. For that matter, I can't tell if these sheets are for pre rebuild or post rebuild.
(Force compressions in ratio of 1.03:1; Force Rebounds of 1.15:1)
(Valving Comp Ratio: 1.0 orig, 1.2 set; Valving Rebound: 1.21 orig, 1.16 set)

I still can't figure the relationship between valving and force. For that matter, I can't tell if these sheets are for pre rebuild or post rebuild.
(Force compressions in ratio of 1.03:1; Force Rebounds of 1.15:1)
(Valving Comp Ratio: 1.0 orig, 1.2 set; Valving Rebound: 1.21 orig, 1.16 set)

Edit:
Ah, ok, taking the ratios of the rebound force, I get that this is "equivilent" to the "R-package revalve" for springs of 531/295 f/r, which is a LOT like the "Spec Miata" 500/300 lb springs. What gets me, is, I thought it was 700/300 for Spec Miata, I wonder if there wasn't a communications breakdown. If that's the case, I could make the theory that the fronts are overdamped. Too bad I can't better tell this by feel. It seems to make sense for me on a "dip" which is where the car misbehaves. I'd expect it to be bad on a bump, too, but I don't take bumps fast?

 

No one has got anything on this? C'mon, at least like "I bumped your mom's stops" would make me feel wanted.

 

All I have to add is that I have a set of Bil's I picked up off fleabay for like $150shipped, and am now trying to figure out what rates to go with them...on NY streets, and as a DD. I was thinking 500/350 or 450/350...

I guess I derailed ur thread a lil, but still on the topic of Bilsteins, just not urs lol

 

Well, if they were Konis, I was really happy with the 500/375s, only it was a bit loose - I really believe the 750/500 would be ideal for this app. With the bilstiens, I think the consensus is the 500/375 is a good place to be. Plus, by moving the 500's front or back, you can get three pairs of springs for two full combos, like I did. 6" springs all around FTW

 

500/375, cool, I was close then