Suspension question

[tereed2 at gmail.com (T. Reed)]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the helpful responses. It appears that yes, I really was that
stupid and somehow omitted the retaining caps on top of the shock inserts. I
went through my parts pile and found the printed instructions and "new" caps
that came with my Bilsteins and (re-)discovered why-- the caps that came
with them are externally threaded. My strut tube is also externally
threaded.. so they would not mate. Clearly, I should have contacted
potterman at that point and exchanged them for the proper caps.. but alas, I
did not.

So over the weekend, I jacked up the car and took a closer look.. there is
certainly play between the insert and the tube, but (without removing and
dismantling the strut) things don't look nearly as beat up as I expected.
I'm wondering if I could get away with just putting the proper cap on
without replacing the insert or the tube. At a cost of around $320 for a
pair of complete strut assemblies for the front, I'm willing to give it a
try. But where would I obtain a pair of internally threaded retaining caps
for bilstein sports?

>From poking around on the web, it seems that there are two varieties of A1
strut tubes.. internally and externally threaded. I also found someone who
claimed their Bilsteins came with caps to fit either tube (unfortunately
mine did not). Perhaps someone here received both types with their
Bilsteins, used the internally threaded caps and has an extra set of the
externally threaded type lying around? (*I know, not likely*)

Otherwise, I suppose I'd have to contact Bilstein to try to obtain them..
has anyone dealt with them direct?

Thanks
-Toby