Beyond the limits of Bilstein HD struts...

[Luckypabst]

Has anyone been there?

I lost one this weekend - the internal valving must have failed... it's locked in the fully extended position with only a small amount of very hard travel. Now my Caddy looks like it's doing the 3-wheel motion all the time.

This happened on the first half of 110 miles of a rocky, washboarded desert road. On the return trip today, the one good strut was hot enough to burn my fingers; the dead strut was only moderately hot. What's the next step up from these Bilsteins?

Chris

[the caveman]

Wow, how old were they?
I would think that if you're always going to back on washboard roads, you will need a proper off-road shock like Foxshocks[ is that it?] or some other brand meant for off road abuse

[rabbitman]

You should be able to get a new one for free.

[8v-of-fury]

I too thought Bilsteins had a lifetime warranty? However if he doesn't have proof of purchase, they may be hesitant to replace..

How old are they?

[Luckypabst]

Roughly a year old... I put them in around Christmas of last year.

I bought them new from an ebay seller, didn't keep the receipt, and have heard that Bilstein won't honor the warranty unless you buy from a licensed distributor... and for whatever reason, the transaction is not in my paypal history. Anyway, I screwed the pooch to save 50 bucks via ebay. Partsgeek wants $170 for a replacement.

Does anyone make a reservoir/bypass strut? LOL... I don't think Fox is in that market, but I could be very wrong, too.

Chris

[rabbitman]

I'd at least call, they might decide to be nice about it. Or you can find the ebay feedback, maybe they'll take that as proof. Either way they're not supposed to fail so I don't see why they'd care where you bought 'em.

[Luckypabst]

I'd probably try prying at them if I had the time... but I need to get the truck back to long-distance status in short order so I bit the bullet and bought a new one. At least now I'll have a receipt for next time. Maybe when things settle down a bit I'll see about exchanging the bum strut and have a spare on the shelf.

Chris

[Luckypabst]

Old vs. New...
Looks like he got a little hot there toward the middle!


Chris

[rabbitman]

Man.......I knew shocks and struts heated up but I didn't know it was even enough to feel. I have bilstein (in the front) and I really like the ride.

[8v-of-fury]

You can prolong the fronts life by back filling the cartridge with an oil

[rabbitman]

You can prolong the fronts life by back filling the cartridge with an oil

Yeah, I think the bentley says something like 2 ounces of oil, maybe it was even less. Mine are the complete assembly so I don't think it has an air gap to insulate like that.

[VWCaddy]

I have always back filled strut housings with some ATF after having a set of KYB Gas-a-just inserts cook on me.  They went out in about 100 miles of gravel road driving.  Just pour in some oil to top off the housing before screwing the top on.

[RabbitJockey]

i thought it was standard to fill the strut housing with oil when installing new struts,  i had one do the same thing on me, it locked up and would would travel only half an inch, i dunno why it happened, that side i installed perfectly, at the same time tho, the other sides strut nut that holds the strut in came loose so when i would hit a bump, the drivers side would bounce around like crazy and the passenger side would be stiff as a go cart.  the one that the nut came loose on is still on my car, the stiff side was replaced under warranty.