I don't believe he had a specific shim stack in mind, he's done miata shocks before but not a ton of them. I'll post an update and final price when I get them back. He has only had them for s couple of business days at this point.

 

I received my shocks in the mail today and started the install. Problem is one of the fronts isn't holding any pressure! I can easily push in the shaft and I hear a faint hissing noise. I just sent the guy an email so hopefully I can send it back and get a quick turnaround.

 

I am sure he will do right by you! I have talked to him a lot and am glad you guys are starting to use him. I told 1fastmx5 about him and he is very happy with his shocks. In fact I believe he just sent his second set in. I will have him do my PSS9's as soon as I finish my EFR build. Let us know how you like them when you get right.

 

So to summarize: 1 month+ turnaround, and one of the shocks is improperly valved. What was the revalve cost per shock?

Super ignorant question time: Can I revalve my R-package Bilsteins to MSM specs, or are they internally different?

 

Anyone on here rebuild a set themselves?

 

Theoretically you could revalve them yourself if you know what shims are needed and have a way to repressurize them.

 

I have been running SD revalved Bilsteins for the last 3 years. I just replaced them with Xidas this week.

Overall they have been an excellent damper for my dd/ autox toy. They worked very well as long as i kept the front ride height above 12.5" and with Fat Cat bumpstops cut down to 35mm. as i tried to get lower than that i found that the shock body was simply too long and i would find the bumpstops far too easily.

I have heard about people being displeased with Stuart Development, but i do not agree with them. He had my revalved units back to me in just under 30 days after i sent them out. i thought that was reasonable turnaround. I also happened to get mine done on a group buy pricing, so that was particularly nice. The only part that i did not like was having to source coilover sleeves and springs in the rates that i wanted for a price that i considered to be reasonable.

 

Mmmm... This reminds me - Bernie of SD still owes me $600 or a set of brand new Bilstein HD's with 450/300 valving that I've paid that money for (about 6 months ago).

 

You going to give him a call tomorrow?

 

I literally cannot count the number of people I've heard of him screwing, both here and on Miata.net. You should spend more time here before picking a side of that particular battle.

 

For the record, it took him about two weeks to service the shocks and then shipping time either way. It was about a month door to door. The leak was caused by bad schrader valve, he replaced it and sent the shock back the next day. Total cost was $451 plus shipping including replacing the bushings at $20/shock (which I do think is excessive). I had to order some shorter 550 lb/in springs for the front but the shocks should be going on Friday. I'll provide my impressions shortly after I get it back together.

 

Please do. More expensive than Bilstein, but likely worth it.

 

I finally got everything installed and the snow melted so I was able to take a test drive yesterday. in addition to the shocks, I installed 550f/350r springs, a racing beat tubular sway bar, and 949 racing end links. My initial impressions are good. It's definitely much stiffer but the ride isn't nearly as jarring as I had feared. Granted, my car has been in the garage all weekend but I don't think the ride quality is much worse than stock and the car feels much more responsive than I remembered. There is virtual no body roll and turning performance feels improved. I still need to get an alignment and test it more aggressively but do far I'm happy.