I broke another Bilstein front shock over the weekend, that's my second so I decided to do some investigation.

The shock is failing under compression. The shock is simply too long and it splits the bottom eye mount when compressed.

The stock shock on the Xterra is 8.625" when compressed and 12.4375" extended.
The Bilstein B46-1099-H2 is 9.375 collapsed and 13.25 extended.

I will be contacting Bilstein this week to see if they can explain why this shock is being sold as a replacement for the Xterra when it is 0.75" too long.

Here is a picture of the one I broke last September (driver side), it broke in the same place as the one I broke today (passenger side).



Time to switch brands again, maybe someone can make a shock that actually fits.
NISMO lists a Rancho that is 13.25" extended and 8.69" compressed, but I can't find a match in Rancho's catalog.

The other option is to finally cut the shock tower, have a loop fabricated, and move to a longer shock.

Let us know the outcome Ian.
Those of us that have not upgraded will surely appreciate the info.

Even if Bilstein replaces this (warranty?), it can still cause serious damage. Especially those of us, including Chia, that occasionaly end up with the wheels off the ground.

-Jeremy

Well that sucks.. I was looking into them too..

Sorry it happened to ya Ian.. But thanks for the heads up..

Ian, you may want to try putting the compression stops on the shocks. I call them yellow "air bags" since I don't know exactly what they are made of, but I know they soften the blow of full compression. I know it's not the perfect answer for a longer shock, but it's worth a try.

Here\'s a picture

Now I know what brand I AM NOT going with. I will go with my Tokicos as planned.

I guess I'll throw a set of the high quality stockers into the spares bin on the truck...

I noticed those last week on SteelCityX's Xterra, since he just installed an SLR lift. It looks like they are there to limit the travel of the shock. If so, what's the point of having a longer travel suspension if it's being limited ?

They compress fully. They're there to soften the impact of full compression.

Has anybody else broken Bilsteins? I've just heard of it happening on your truck.

They compress fully. They're there to soften the impact of full compression.

That's physically impossible unless the pad compresses to zero height. I felt one last week, it's soft and squishy, but there is no way it just disappears under compression.

Has anybody else broken Bilsteins? I've just heard of it happening on your truck.

Not yet, drive a little harder

I am running polyurethane bumpstops, but they are taller than the ones SLR ships with the lift kit.

Math is math, the Bilsteins are shorter than the stock shocks by a long shot.

No shock should use up all of it's travel ever, it should always have room left at both ends of the stroke.

I think the real problem is the "added" downtravel.

The shock mount as you described needs to be moved now. I don't think you will find a true proper fitting shock. All your added supsesnsion travel is going down and is no longer balanced like the factory settings. I would suggest to just get rid of the bushing underneath the shock mount for now. That should help.

As far as the Rancho shock, I believe that one was for the Rancho lift kit for the Pathy/HB and is no longer being sold since Tenneco bought them out. Kinda a cool shock, the adjustment knob sits up top. A serious POS lift though.

I've ordered a set of Bilstiens from SLR but they're not geting shipped for a couple of days.
So if the Bilsteins are .75" too long, would that actually raise the front of your truck up .75". I'm thinking they would just compress down so the front was at the stock height, but I'm not sure.

Actually, not to go off topic, but I was going to order a stabilizer from SLR as well, and I was wondering if anyone knew why they had changed from Rancho shocks to the new brand (can't remember the name), and if anyone has any experience with the quality of the new brand?

Thanks.

i just bought my SLR kit last month and they shipped me a separate shock spacer, poly urthane bushings, and compression stops (at additional cost). I'm using bilsteins with the part number B46-1099-H0.

No, shocks have nothing to do with the ride height, that's all in the springs.

I did that with the Rancho 9188's 2 years ago, since they were too long under compression as well. The problem then is that the shock is too short at extension, and the upper arm never makes contact with the droop bumpstop. Rancho claims a compressed length of 8.4" but it's actually well over 9 inches when you include the bushings. Very misleading advertising.

Right now I'm back to the stock shocks with 2 bushings stacked on the underside of the top mount. That gives them enough extended length, and the rubber may compress enough to stop damage during compression. They should last until I find a solution (looks like new hoops is the way to go).

OK, I'm only looking at a picture, but the breaks look like the are caused by over exstension, not over compression. Am I missing something?

Regardless, that does kind of suck. I haven't broken a shock yet, but I always carry a spare for front and back.

As a side note, I do think that Rancho shocks are structurally better built than the Bilstiens; atleast from the looks of things, but the Bilstiens are far superior in valving and so ride and handling. After having Bilstiens I won't go back to anything else and will just hope that I never have the problems you are having. There just isn't anything else out there I've seen than can come anywhere near the performance, and the breakage problem does kind of seem isolated for some reason.

Does SLR have anything to say maybe about the lift and shock combination?

For those deciding to not buy the Bilstiens because of one person's experience, I would say that's a pretty sad way to base your decision. That's like not buying your Xterra because one person had a bad differential. Look around and you will see way more people that are happy with the Bilstiens. It's unfortunate that XOC is having this problem, but in the long run everyone (including Bilstien) will benefit from all the different experiences that folks have.

Ok Philosopher. And your tires never "really" touch the ground. I just meant they compress to a point that is inconsequential.

Like some guy I met in Colorado, I prefer to drive with finesse instead of breaking my truck on rocks. Since when did you joint MAXC?

Hey now! Let's not make this personal.

Whoa! Interesting thread!

XOC. As I see it, you've got 3 choices. Either some 1" longer bumpstops, or lift your truck 1" or install some springs that won't allow the truck to bottom. This last choice is what most people do, the first choice is what most knowledgeable people do.

ChuckH - The Rancho is not even close in build quality to a Bilstein. I wouldn't install one on my truck. Put them both in your hand and look. It's no comparison.

-P

I didn't
The trail yesterday was a bitch and very slippery, so the X did drop off some rocks hard with me having no control over it. It wasn't until driving downhill that I could hear it had come loose.

The one I broke in September was similar, climbing up a rock, slipping off and bouncing my foot onto the gas. It cycled the front end severaly.

None of those work.
1. Longer bumpstops would reduce travel, and I don't want that.

2. Lifting the truck wont work either, since it's already lifted and upward travel is still the same.

3. There is no such thing as a spring that won't allow the suspension to bottom.

That's what I thought at first too, but the Bilstein is plenty long enough to handle the suspension at full droop.

It looks like it was peeled open from extension, but it is happening under compression, since the force on the shock is not vertical, but at an angle.
Side force is put on the eye at that angle, and it splits open at the weld. It then opens itself up as the shock extends itself over time. It takes a while for the eye to fully open up like in the picture.

Another thought is maybe I had 2 defective shocks. The 2 broken shocks were a pair last year.

Longer bumpstops are not going to reduce travel, only wheel stuff which should make absolutely no difference at all in real world situations.

And you're wrong on #3. Eliminating suspension bottoming isn't that difficult. You do have to look at static weight on the axle in question as well as bynamic movement under load and make a calculation from there. However, springs on those rates may not be available for your truck yet. I spent a bunch of time doing these calculations for Rovers.

Good luck with your problem, and don't be afraid to look outside the realm of common components like Bistein 9100 or even 7100s.

-P

What are you high ?

Longer bumpstops will prevent the wheel from traveling as far as it does now. That will reduce wheel travel, it's what bumpstops are for. In the real world, one inch less travel is one inch less travel, and I'm not willing to give it up.

A torsion bar stiff enough to limit wheel travel would have to be a foot in diameter, and would offer no movement whatsoever. IFS needs to limit travel in both directions via bumpstops.

Ian, and anyone else who might have knowledge on this, excuse my ignorance on the subject, but I have a question..

Would this only be a problem on lifted X's? Since my minivan isn't lifted, would I have this problem on mine if I were to buy the Bilstein's? Or should I just go with Rancho's or something?

I have the Bilstiens and the Rancho RSX shocks. The Rancho's seem to me to have beefier mounting eyes and a much heavier valve rod. I think the Bilstiens are far superior in every other way though. Maybe the other Ranchos are not built as heavy as the RSX? All I know for sure is that the Bilstiens give me a phenominal ride and control that I don't think any other shock can come close to.