Bilstein Shocks

Jimmys66

Founding Member
Nov 28, 2001
419
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Paw Paw MI
Anyone using them? I kinda kick myself in the ars. I bought the IAS' last year. I didn't know that Bilsteins were an option and they are only a few bucks more.:bang:

Looking into new leaf springs and the sales guy at Maiers pushed them pretty hard. Sayes they are the best thing on the market, hands down, short of a custom valved penske. Way better than the IAS's or the Koni's.
 
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Anyone using them? I kinda kick myself in the ars. I bought the IAS' last year. I didn't know that Bilsteins were an option and they are only a few bucks more.:bang:

Looking into new leaf springs and the sales guy at Maiers pushed them pretty hard. Sayes they are the best thing on the market, hands down, short of a custom valved penske. Way better than the IAS's or the Koni's.


we use bilstein in all of our custom suspension builds. They are great and for the price i love them.

Jason
 
Bilsteins are a great shock if not the best. I wouldn't get rid of your IAS shocks unless you have to buy new shocks for your new setup. Give the IAS a spin first to see if there is a need to change. No use in replacing something that may not need replacing... i mean... if they were kyb whites that would be a different story but the 200 dollars may be spent better elseware.
Kevin
 
I'm not beating up the IAS's. I just would have made a different choice if I knew the Bilsteins were going to be available.:D

I don't know anyone yet that has used them. Maybe I'll sell mine at the spring swap meet next year and pick up a pair of the Bilsteins.

Hey isk, what are you using for leaf springs and do they take that monster motor of yours well?
 
Funny this should topic should come up. I just went with the maier race rear springs 165lb and the Bilstein shocks. But the shocks were on back order and I was going to a car show, so my friend let me borrow a set of Konis he had. I drove 40 miles with the konis and was very unhappy with the ride. I called Mike at Maier racing and he said wait until the bilsteins are on and take it for a ride again. Last week the Bilsteins came in and on the car they went. All I can say is I am never switching from Bilsteins. The ride is more controlled and when you hit a big groove that crosses the road it is not jarring like the Konis were. I never thought shocks could make such a difference.
 
Jimmy,

Have you driven the IAS's yet? They are a very good shock. I have not driven the Bilstein's yet, but would not classify the Bilsteins as way better then the IAS or Koni's. They are each going to give a different feel.

I am very pleased with my IAS's. They are very firm and control nose dive on braking and balance the car very well while cornering, but allow the suspension to react if you encounter a change in the pavement. I am very impressed with mine.

Tim
 
I've got a couple of hunded miles on mine. I also have no comparisons to the Bilsteins or Konis. My last set of shocks were Comp. Eng. 90/10 drag shocks.:D

Very firm shock. No real complaints with them, but probably would have bought the Bilsteins from name recognition alone for a difference of $10 a shock.


Guess that's my reason for the post. The sales guy made the Bilsteins out to be the "Holy Grail" of shocks. I wanted to see if he was right.....
 
I've had my daily driver Falcon for 11 years now, and for 9 of them I've had a set of Konis on it. Put them on, never touched them, still ride as good as the day i got them with at least 300000+ k's on them and a lot of towing.

From what I know, Konis are just a hydraulic shock with no gas area wheras most Bilstein's are gas charged (ie have a floating piston separating the gas and oil section). You could look at this as having less parts to wear out, but either way, all the Konis and Bilsteins I've come across are rebuildable when they do eventually wear out.

I used to run Bilsteins on my rally Escort, they really shine in the very rough stuff, the gas charge keeps the oil (damping) section pressurised to minimise frothing of the hydraulic fluid under harsh conditions so they don't fade.

Most of the circuit guys I know use Konis, some models (read very expensive ones$$) have externally adjustable bump and rebound which is essential for fine tuning.

If your Konis rode rough, they weren't adjusted properly.....
 
I haven't gotten on it hard yet, the motor only has 500 miles on it.

Mike from Maier assured me that with the springs we went with, there should be no wheel hop.