Thanks - I wasn't the buyer, and don't have the receipt. However, the shock (and rim and control arms and alignment) were damaged by an unmarked town excavation for a catch basin, and they say they will pay to repair the damage.
harsh Bilsteins?
- Thread starter creeker
- Start date
I recently had my shocks replaced with Bilsteins and although the ride is very much improved the front even on the lower perch looks higher then my old shocks. I was so used to the wheel gap on my old car which was perfect but now I have a better ride but too much wheel gap
Mounting the Bilsteins using the lowering perch should lower the car 7/8" from the stock shocks. If that is not the case, perhaps there was something seriously wrong with your old shocks.
Back in 2007, my very first serious mod on my NSX was the Bilstein shocks on stock springs with the intent to lower it ~7/8". I've been working on cars since I was 13yo and sure enough... I installed the perches backwards! My car looked like a rally 4x4. It was an honest mistake and funny in restrospect.
Btw.. I don't know who came up with the 7/8" metric. It seems to have caught on. The shock itself relocates the perch about 1/2" lower but due to the motion ratio of the control arms, which is different for front and rear, someone must have done the math or at least i'd hope so lol... It's much easier to say it lowers it by 1".
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I've to admit that there is a certain logic of installing the lower mounting plate the wrong way. There's a design flaw in the Bilsteins since when they were available back then. If you use the lower perch the pre-tension of the springs (normally around 0.4'') can not be achieved due to the Bilsteins rebound being too long. You have to reduce the piston stroke at least on the rear to achieve this safety requirement (you have to let open the shock -> $$$ extra). They should have been offered as B8 (shortened by 1''), not B6. The shock is slighty mis-engineered IMO.
To my considerable happiness, the insurance appraiser, after examining my car for the damage caused by an unmarked town excavation for a catch basin, decided to replace upper and lower control arms, the rim, the sway bar and, I think, an end link. The sway bar, I understand from the prior owner, is a "Comptech/Dali" unit; I don't know what that means other than a prior owner may have purchased a Comptech bar from Dali. Having read about their stiffness (as per Dali), might it be better to replace the Bilstein and go for a slightly less stiff sway bar - an "R" bar? I also have the original sway bars.
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When you're playing with sway bars you're essentially changing the spring rates. Just put oem bars back and observe the difference. Ultimately it all depends on what you're trying to achieve. It's not MP-12C you know. You either have better turn in, less roll, adjust for under/over steer OR have soft and comfortable ride. I never felt Bilsteins are too harsh over OEM. But it takes time to warm the shock up. When cold, they are pretty firm.
Thanks - we've gone to an NSX-R front bar and the stock rear bar; haven't been able to drive the car as yet but I'm very interested to see what difference it makes. The Comptech bars, I can see with them off, are massive.
After one drive in the car with the R front bar and the stock rear bar, and the Bilsteins still on the lower perch points, the ride is notably improved, while still being firm; I think it handles just as well as it did with the Comptech bridge girders installed, so I'm very pleased with the change. I'm still debating returning the car to the stock ride height, but won't rush to do that.
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- 9 October 2012
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Comptech had this design I believe.
Interesting idea
Just to follow up on this, we finally got around to returning the car to the stock ride height, retaining the Bilsteins, the NSX-R front bar, and the stock rear bar. I'm really happy with the result: the ride still is firm but pliant, and I don't think there's any loss in handling (maybe not quite as sharp as lowered with the huge bars). I really like the way it rides, handles, and eliminates the need to white-knuckle your way into steep driveways, not mention avoiding speed bumps at all costs. I'd recommend this setup to anyone.
I drove around for 18 months on the Bilstein low perch setting. I recently pulled my shocks and set them to the higher perch because I got tired of my car bottoming out on my driveway and my front lip scraping EVERYWHERE. My impression? The ride is more compliant at the higher perch. Also, on the higher perch my car doesn't creak and rattle at much hitting bumps in the road, I have an '02. I'm happy with the change and can't see myself going back to the lower setting.
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