Bilstein opinions

Oh kay , I'm giving my X tires for X-mas and thought I'd do shocks as well. I don't have any intention of doing any major suspension mods for awhile so I thought as long as I'm doing tires I might as well do shocks also.
If I do I am going to go with the Bilsteins but here is the question :

Did those of you who did the shock change without any other mods notice a SIGNIFICANT diferences in the ride both on and off road ? What were those differences ?
Did the change improve the ride both on and off road and did whatever changes were made justify the cost ? I am looking for opinions so please feel free. I just want to know that the $250 will be money well spent.

Thank you , Patrick.

Yes.

Improved handling which includes decreased body roll and pitch. I dont feel the small bumps in the road at all and the shocks do a great job of dampening pothole/construction/speed bump impacts. The thing about Bilsteins is that they are easy to collapse (even by hand) and return to their extended state VERY quickly and smoothly. On the road it means smooth sailing when you hit a bump and off road it controls the body bounce very, very well. On stock shocks I would bounce all over the place in washboard or uneven ground driving. The Bilsteins nullify that movement and give me a much better sense of control when traversing obstacles.

Many people have remarked how well my truck handles on the road, even a Nissan tech who rode with me on a test drive a few weeks ago. Someone even said "this thing rides like a Cadillac." No I am not shitting you and yes I think he is on crack but at least people seem to notice the improvements. Note: I have 31" BFG T/A ko's also.

In summary, are they worth it? Absolutely.

hey Socal... call me... i got the info on the tires

I changed from stock shocks to the Bilsteins.
I noticed a lot of difference right away. I did a trail the day before I changed them and the wife wished she wore a sports bra. I did the same trail after I changed out the shocks big difference the wife then realized it was worth it and not a waste of money. As for highway difference they really smoothed out the road. If I had to do it again I would.

If you really want to notice a diffence off-road and can spen an extra $50, get the 2" shackles or add-a-leaf and remove ur rear sway bar (don't forget longer bilsteins)! The extra lift and articulation will make a huge differnce over stock. You might as well crank the t-bars. Trust me, spend a bit more dough and be much happier!!!

I don't think the difference is that great.

Off road they are far less bouncy, but general on road driving is very similar. I got them when my wife was 7 months pregnant using the excuse that it would lessen her discomfort in the X. It didnt lessen her discomfort. You can drive over potholes without feeling like anything will break, and cornering is slightly improved, but thats about it.

And you expect more from a 2 ton, 6'8" brick on wheels?

I personally noticed a big change in the on street ride and on the washboard dirt and "gravel" roads that you usually take to and from offroad trails.

The stock shocks are horrible. Find someone who has their old ones sitting around and push and pull on them. They have no resistance or rebound. Blech.

No, but expressions such as 'night and day' and 'drives like butter' overstate the mark when it comes to on-road performance.

Bilstiens are your best investment, on and off road! Stock shocks are shit after 20,000 miles.

SoCal, do you drive a 4x2 ?

If so then the bilsteins will be really noticeable on washboard roads. I used to have to put it in 4wd to stop the rear end from sliding around (driver error quite possibly), but with the bilsteins the back wheels dont lose as much traction on bumps.

This is also true for highway bridge exansion slots, it used to scare the shit out of me having the wheels hop sideways at 60, this has been greatly reduced by the new shocks.

Umm, go with the AAL's instead of the longer shackles if you just do one, since the shackles will flatten out the spring pack

If you are going to do offroading, the AAL's are a great investment (they raise up the rear and get rid of that damn bottom spring which will dig into fallen trees instead of letting you slide over them )

I got video of that, sucka!

heya, where do you find the bilstiens for the best price?

SLR has the knowledge base to make sure you get the correct shocks. Personaly, I attempt to stay with the manufactures that are trying to make a diffrence in Xterra aftermarket products.

Just my $.02

I checked SLR...I agree with supporting the great companies that work with X's. Their site was down. Has anyone heard anything on their whereabouts?

I'm getting a set of Bilsteins too, and considering Rancho's AALs. eShocks.com has the rear being BE3-6422-H0. Will this fit if I'm adding the AAL and crankin the torsion up an inch or so? Or is there another set of shocks for this procedure?

I'm going to have to pop over and see that before I take off for sunnny Florida then, aren't I?

I did the Bilsteins (thanks Mike H.) and they are awesome! I also did the AAL. So much better. If you're gonna do it, might as well do it right. The bilsteins are a good investment, (get the longer ones) and then grab a set of Rancho AAL's (no experience with any others) and do the install. YOu'll love the height. (Don't forget to crank the front t-bars to level out the ride or you'll be ass high)

What were all the part numbers you used for this operation? I have seen so many numbers circulating around here concerning the Bilsteins and AAL's.

Front:

B46-1099-H1 4X2 OEM
B46-1099-H2 4X4 10% stiffer
B46-1099-H0 4X4 valved for extra weight of winch

Rear:

BE3-6422-H0 stock
F4-B46-2126-H0 for use without rear sway bar and with 2 inches of lift

[ 12-30-2001: Message edited by: Dayspring ]

DaySpring:

So, with the AALs, get the F4-B46-2126-H0, right?

Exactly! And BTW- let me be the one from Jersey to invite you to join NJAX (New Jersey Area Xterras) at groups.yahoo.com/group/njax

Our holiday party is coming up in a week or so, and this would be a great way to meet everybody!

What happens if I buy bilsteins that are stiffer for the weight of a winch bumber but I dont have that bumper yet? I also plan to get the longer bilsteins for the back w/AAL. Will this cause a problem when i crank up the t-bars.....will it top out on the bump stops?

DaySpring:

Before I put the order in today, I've been doin more research and came up with some posts of Bilsteins with +10% or +20% stiffer shocks for front and rear. Now I'm really confused. Not about ride or performance, but confused about which part numbers are what. Are their different part numbers for different stiffnesses (is that a word?)? If so, what would the stiffere ones be? I use my tow hitch a bit for towing things like small boats and cars, so I guess the stiffer the better.

If you look at the chart of the part #'s, they are listed in order of stiffness. I'm running the 10% stiffer in front and the 20% stiffer (the longer ones for the AAL and no sway bar) in back.

Dayspring:

Finally ordered the shocks from shox.com, but can't find a place that carries the Rancho AALs (part # RS510). Did you get yours on the web? If so, where?

Just an unwarranted testimony:

I got the Bilsteins before our trip to Labrador, and my first test of them was a 4000 mile trip into the pseudo wilderness. 600+ miles of dirt, gravel, and poorly graded washboard roads, some rockcrawling, some high speed cruising (85 on the dirt, 98 on the pavement) and they held up stupendously. I felt safer even though I had 400 lbs on my roofrack. My codriver who normally drives a Range Rover said it handled far better than his unladen Rangie.

Get em, just be careful of the rocks.

Matt

Dude, did you ever post any pics of your whirlwind tour of the far North East? Love to see some if you have 'em up somewhere.

I got my AAL's through Todd at EOE. His website is here. http://www.extreme4x4parts.com

[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: Dayspring ]

You know, no I don't. I got back on like the 2nd of September, and then bamm. 9/11. I forgot about it.

I'll see if I can revive the machine that has all the stuff on it.

Matt

I ordered them today from SLR . I just wanted to thank you guys that responded with your opinions. It feels better when I can make an educated and informed buying descision.

Glad we would help. U get the longer ones for AAL's? Or just replaced with the stock height?

For now I went with OE height. I talked to a few people and the ammount of travel I'd be losing coupled with the possible problems I might incur with too much torsion lift didn't seem to make sence for me. I'd rather er on the side of caution and do a complete correct lift/travel suspension when I'm more confident that the potential steering problems have been solved. Thanks again.Patrick

edited to add: And for now the X mod budget needs serious replenishing! Why would anyone want to lift a minvan anyways?

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: socalpunX ]

Todd at EOE was great. Got the AALs next day! Just installed them last week and they are a great match with the Bilsteins and w/o the swaybar. I don't even notice the difference the swaybar may have made, although I don't corner hard.

However... the day after, my front end gets hit by a kid running a red light! My shocks seem to be OK, but my lower bumper is toast. Hmmm... maybe the kid's insurance company will replace it with an ARB? ...whatever.

Actually, if I hadn't raised my front-end a little with a few cranks to compensate for the ass-high AALs, my upper bumper, lights, and hood may have been fooked up.

Again I want to thank those of you that helped point me toward the Bilsteins . Driving the Rincon trail was like riding in my grandmother's Cadilac compared to stock. At first I didn't notice a significant difference on-road other than the fact that it seemed to swallow up the potholes and dips but once you get off the pavement, WOW !

Handling was improved , more steering controll, less front end dive on braking , and it just seemed to eat up ruts and washouts. A HUGE difference between the previous bone jarring experience and now.

Even if you don't have any immediate plans on doing a lift this can make your truck more capable and give it much improved performance off-road. Money well spent!

I also just turned the T-Bars just enough to level out the truck (about 1 1/2 inches) and the ride height and front clearance was a nice improvement.

I too just put the Bilsteins on and although I haven't been offroad w/ them yet...they have made a huge improvement in regular driving. Noticed right away better braking as it appears the front doesn't dive as much and transfer the weight. Also, it handles great around the clover leaf freeway on/off ramps around here. Certainly one of the best improvements you can make.

Beaker

Wow- I (and the others who posted) helped out 3 people. That's what XOC is about!

I have a brand new X right and I don't have anything done to it yet because I kind of want to reserve my warranties for awhile. My question is can I put the Bilstein's on and add the AAL's, crank the torsion bars up an inch or so and remove the rear swaybar without voiding my warranties? If I can that would be cool. How much ride height would I gain and would 31" tires be the only size tires I could put on with minimal trimming?

Good question Vince. I am pondering the same question. I've searched the board and found 1 comment where the guy thought it would not negate the warranty. I plan on contacting my local dealer to see what they say. When it comes to warranties there's never a clear answer, especially between dealers. When I find something out I'll let you know.

Thank. I would appreciate that. Also if anyone else knows a little something please inform me.

I believe that if you go to www.sema.org , there is a link that explains a law put forth that says that a warranty cannot be voided b/c of an aftermarket part. (Basically, a dealer can't void a suspension warranty b/c of a stereo, but he can if you do the AAL's and you need to replace something on the rear suspension.)

[ 02-01-2002: Message edited by: Dayspring ]

Regardless of SEMA's battle cry...it seems that it doesn't take much for the dealer to find a way to claim a warranty is void. So my approach has been to give them very little wiggle room in case anything ever did happen. I spoke to the local dealer about suspension mods and he basically said anything done would give them reason to void it. Of course that always seems to be the standard answer. In particular shackles and the a-arm swap out was on their radar. In terms of the AAL & torsion adjustment...they've never said a word. I recall though in another group where someone took their X in for service and the mechanic made some notation re: "extensive" suspension mods which amounted to the above mentioned. I think the spring pack warranty is up to 50K...but I believe beyond that not much is covered (the pros can fill u in on this).

Beaker