Hello, I just bought and replaced my rear shocks with the Bilstein HD that Summit sells. I love them. I may do the fronts soemday but the rear was riding rough.

My question is , doing soem research on this board, why is the preferred shocks for the front Koni's and for the rear, what makes the 3rd gen Bilsteins so different from what I purchased? Thanks

 

Switched to Bilsteins on all 4 corners and car rode rougher from the get go.

 

The Koni's are preferred because of adjustability and life-time warranty.

The 4th gen. Bilsteins were revalved (again) and are now way too soft in the rear. I went through this last year. The 3rd gen. was had higher rates than the 4th. Speaking with Bilstein, I was told (they probably shouldn't have) they copied SLP's rates for the revised rear. They wanted a more compliant ride. What was a marginal improvement, many would say is not much better than the brand new De Carbons. It's a matter of opinion...Anything is better than old De Carbons (and they are shot when they are 25,000 miles in my opinion)

For me, the selling point to go with the Koni's was being able to adjust them to my liking, and ultimately, the warranty. Bilsteins does nothing if the shock wears out. Granted, the initial cost is higher, but I enjoy the piece of mind knowing Koni will stand behind their product.

 

Thanks, so it is the valving that was preferrable on the 3rd gens.
I have the Bilsteins on for just 3 days now and love them. I will admit, it isn't a smooth ride. The rough ride and loud noises are gone now that the deCarbons are. I guess it is from the heavy rebound , but it reminds me of a NASCAR stocker shock package in that I can feel little hops in the back as i drive.

The Koni's do sound impressive with the adjustability. Price is high yes. I know that the rear deCarbons don't last very long, what is the shelf life on the fronts? I have 185,000 on them and they seem fine.

 

185,000 miles

I would say without a doubt...they're shot.

I pulled my fronts off at 40K and 11 years of road use. They were complete rubbish. The shafts were binding, the rebound was no longer there...I can't believe how bad they were. I had a slightly different(?) shock because of the WS6 package, but I'm amazed you still haven't changed yours. At a minimum, I would believe the "dog-bone" rubber is crumbling, as is the top of the shock mount (rust).

My shock shaft was rusted out completely at the top. Surprised it didn't break...