Re: Bilstein Shocks

["Christian Els" <tiAn@usiw.net>]

Aaron,

The front Bilsteins you are looking to buy are also MacPherson Struts, a
type of suspension design popularized by VW and the host of small,
front-drive cars brought about by the Oil Crisis in the 70's.

You will need new bump stops since the H&R Sport springs will allow a
different (shorter) range of travel. I'd suggest Bilstein bump stops as
well, they're designed to accommodate just the range of motion Bilstein
struts provide.

After 1.5 years, your old strut bearings are prolly OK, but I wouldn't take
that chance. They are relatively inexpensive to buy, and if you discover 3
months down the road they did need to be replaced, you have to completely
disassemble the suspension again to change them. Not fun, not cheap; buy new
ones, get Bilstein (actually a Bilstein company called Febi). You won't be
disappointed.

I would also replace the control arm bushings up front, and be sure to get
new rear upper shock mounts, these are a common complaint on older VW's
anyway. Consider polyurethane parts if this is a project/race car, otherwise
use factory rubber pieces if you have to drive it everyday.

 Given the extra ride stiffness your new suspension will bring, now is the
time also to look for an upper stress bar, to match the OEM lower stress bar
already on your 16V. This will help keep the unibody in alignment with the
new stiff ride.

HTH,

Christian
87 16V


----- Original Message -----
From: Aaron Aunins <aarons16v@hotmail.com>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 12:34
Subject: Bilstein Shocks


> Hi everyone,
>
>       I'm hoping to give my car Bilsteins and H&R springs for Xmas.  I
have
> the money, but I don't know where to spend it.  Does anyone know where I
can
> get the Bilsteins for a reasonable price, or for that matter the cheapest
> price?  Also, do I need to replace all of the bumpstops? The front strut
> bearings?  About 1.5 years ago I had the strut bearings replaced along
with
> new macpherson struts.  I don't know if the above items are things that
need
> to be replaced every time the struts and shocks are changed.
>
> Thanks
>
> Aaron
> 87 16V Scirocco
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
>
> --
> Email LIST problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org. To unsubscibe send
> "unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org
>


--
Email LIST problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org. To unsubscibe send
"unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org