The Better Bilstein Ebay Coilover Thread
#1582
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Thanks again!
#1583
I have a question for the billie gurus here. I'm putting together a DIY billie setup. I'm going to be using Bilstein HD NB shocks, ISC tophats, FCM bumpstops, and now I'm looking to decide on on a springrate. I drive about 2 miles of dirt road every day, which is by far the most annoying part of actually driving my car. The roads around here are also very rural with lots of patches and potholes, but I like to hit the twisties and occasionally the track on the weekend. I'm looking for maximum comfort for a DD while still being able to track the car a few times a year.
I'm thinking the solution is going to be a lower spring rate with stiffer sway bars. Does anyone have suggestions on springrates for my setup? Leaning towards a 375/250, or something similar to FM spring rates.
I'm thinking the solution is going to be a lower spring rate with stiffer sway bars. Does anyone have suggestions on springrates for my setup? Leaning towards a 375/250, or something similar to FM spring rates.
#1585
So I finally got almost all my ****. I got the ground control kit to start with because I got it very cheap used.
I have some bumpstops left from my Mk4 Jetta that are the yellow ones and seem to be OK durometer. The only problem is that the center hole is 1/4in bigger or so.
I imagine that this must make it softer since it can not only expand out but expand in when compressed (imagine a donut getting fatter I guess), but does it really matter that it's bigger?
If not, you can get these for $6 from Amazon with Prime delivery.
They def sit on the shock and not tied to the tophat, but I don't see any issues with that since the shock is German and the bump stop is german, they probably understand each other well
Size difference (that's the tophat washer btw, so the shock shaft is actually a bit bigger).
I have some bumpstops left from my Mk4 Jetta that are the yellow ones and seem to be OK durometer. The only problem is that the center hole is 1/4in bigger or so.
I imagine that this must make it softer since it can not only expand out but expand in when compressed (imagine a donut getting fatter I guess), but does it really matter that it's bigger?
If not, you can get these for $6 from Amazon with Prime delivery.
They def sit on the shock and not tied to the tophat, but I don't see any issues with that since the shock is German and the bump stop is german, they probably understand each other well
Size difference (that's the tophat washer btw, so the shock shaft is actually a bit bigger).
Last edited by Nicolas L; 09-17-2018 at 07:15 AM. Reason: Realized the picture wasn't working
#1586
I used them anyway and in the rear there is some travel before the bump stop.
In the front however, I'm using the stock front NB bump stops cut down to 45mm, I understand that the first two bumps are hollow and the last one is solid, but with a hub-fender distance of 13'', I'm already touching the bump stop as in the picture below.
Do I need extended tophats in the front to run 12.75 fender to hub? Seems odd that I'd have more clearance in the back than the front no?
In the front however, I'm using the stock front NB bump stops cut down to 45mm, I understand that the first two bumps are hollow and the last one is solid, but with a hub-fender distance of 13'', I'm already touching the bump stop as in the picture below.
Do I need extended tophats in the front to run 12.75 fender to hub? Seems odd that I'd have more clearance in the back than the front no?
#1588
In the front there's really only about 20mm more shock travel available for NB bilsteins with extended tophats before your tyre will be hitting things (at least on the NB I measured on).
So a smaller top hat extension (1" or less) and keep cutting down the bump stop and testing till you're not far from making wheel contact to get as much travel as possible.
So a smaller top hat extension (1" or less) and keep cutting down the bump stop and testing till you're not far from making wheel contact to get as much travel as possible.
#1589
In the front there's really only about 20mm more shock travel available for NB bilsteins with extended tophats before your tyre will be hitting things (at least on the NB I measured on).
So a smaller top hat extension (1" or less) and keep cutting down the bump stop and testing till you're not far from making wheel contact to get as much travel as possible.
So a smaller top hat extension (1" or less) and keep cutting down the bump stop and testing till you're not far from making wheel contact to get as much travel as possible.
I'm looking at the Maruha, thinking of ordering them directly unless someone here bought a couple to resell or something.
#1590
No that's where you would be wrong, lots of people run at 12.5" and fully into the bump stop, these are the people that complain about their shocks being crap. There can be a full 1" of travel difference between a 205 and 245 tire, alignment matters build tolerances matter, so the only way to do this right is pull the spring and trim your bump stop for your setup
#1591
Back from the dead...
My free 97R Billies are bad, one leaking, one partially blown (if that's a thing, the top 1-2" has no resistance). So you get what you pay for.
Since I am in a pinch to get something together (car now needs to be floggable October 20) I managed to land some higher mileage NB Billies off an NB1 with the LS suspension. Should arrive today/tomorrow and I can piece them together with the rest of the parts. Also landed some Raceland springs with helpers as another spring option.. should be 400 & 350. I should be able to pull together something with all the stuff I have, as long as the shock are not leaking or blown as advertised. Ditched the cheapo ES bumpstops and bought 5X 36mm blue units, and their NB top hat conversion parts (which I won't need for this setup since it's now going to be NB on NB).
Oh, and the backup plan of using the Allstar sleeves on the KYB AGX - no joy. The AGX needs some adapter spacer thing to catch the lip of the collars, they just slide past. FCM used to sell a kit to do it but not any longer. Anyone know if such a kit exists any longer somewhere else? Would be nice to be able to build these out as cheap coilovers to toss on a flip car.
Who is the current recommended choice if I wanted to have the bad 97R shocks rebuilt/revalved? Or is that a moron move?
My free 97R Billies are bad, one leaking, one partially blown (if that's a thing, the top 1-2" has no resistance). So you get what you pay for.
Since I am in a pinch to get something together (car now needs to be floggable October 20) I managed to land some higher mileage NB Billies off an NB1 with the LS suspension. Should arrive today/tomorrow and I can piece them together with the rest of the parts. Also landed some Raceland springs with helpers as another spring option.. should be 400 & 350. I should be able to pull together something with all the stuff I have, as long as the shock are not leaking or blown as advertised. Ditched the cheapo ES bumpstops and bought 5X 36mm blue units, and their NB top hat conversion parts (which I won't need for this setup since it's now going to be NB on NB).
Oh, and the backup plan of using the Allstar sleeves on the KYB AGX - no joy. The AGX needs some adapter spacer thing to catch the lip of the collars, they just slide past. FCM used to sell a kit to do it but not any longer. Anyone know if such a kit exists any longer somewhere else? Would be nice to be able to build these out as cheap coilovers to toss on a flip car.
Who is the current recommended choice if I wanted to have the bad 97R shocks rebuilt/revalved? Or is that a moron move?
#1592
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Location: Coral Springs, FL
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About ready to pull the trigger and could use some mild spoon feeding. I've settled on 7" QA1 550 front and 7" QA1 350 rear on my OEM MSM billies. Car would mainly be a street car but will see some track duty from time to time. Will also be purchasing Marhua top hats for the front and rear. One final question, i've seen mentioning of running 6" springs in the front with a 550 spring rate. Any reason why I would do that over the 7" spring? Also, i skipped out on the torrington bearings but i'm going back and forth on that and their true need. Anything else I'm missing in the below list? "build" list below:
#1594
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Thanks for the feedback. That was one of my concerns. The primary advantage was avoiding coil bind, but i just skimmed over the thread again and am probably misguided in thinking a 7" spring is needed to avoid coil bind with the spring rates I'm going with. I'm assuming with a 6" spring and the same rates, i should be OK.
#1596
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Thanks. Appreciate the feedback. The goal is around 4.5" pinch weld height. I did skim a few other threads and some people have gotten there on 7" springs, but on shorter Koni shocks. I'm guessing it would make sense to go with the 6" springs to compensate for the longer OEM MSM billies to get to around that ride height?
Apologies for the spoon feeding. but appreciative of the help.
Apologies for the spoon feeding. but appreciative of the help.
#1598
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Trying to see if there's maybe something else I'm missing here in terms of advantage with a 7" spring, but if coil bind isn't an issue and my ride height seems to be about median from all the other builds i looked at, i don't know what other reason i'd go with a 7" vs a 6".