Thread: Bilstein strut rebuild/improvement

Alright so I don't want to get everybody's hopes up too early, but I've been working on a pair of used bilsteins and have been pretty sucessful so far, so I'me very hopeful about the future.

I have also been working with Shaikh at Fat Cat Motorsports: http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/ who has been gracious enough to entertain my questions regarding these struts and what options we have open to us.

I am extremely excited regarding this prospect but wanted to get a feel in the community about the possibility of both a basic rebuild service restoring our bilsteins to factory at a cheaper price than the acdelco shocks, and would come at the added benefit of being rebuildable in the future, all the way to custom valving and dyno tuning done by fatcatmotorsports to give us for the first time, completely tuned suspension options that we've never seen before.

Still working out the logistics and pricing, but We're even talking about developing some custom valved and tuned coilovers that would blow other options out of the water and allow for customization of bump stocks and valving!

Cause I like pictures, of course I'm including some of the disassembly process, and might even be posting a write-up in the future, although I'm hesitant simply because it's a very complicated procedure and requires the aid of a machine shop to get the job done and is involving highly (300+psi) gas and oil so I don't want anyone getting hurt.

Here's the photos!

So... no one cares about bilstein's....?

I wish they sold a rebuild kit directly for them! Unfortunately Bilstein has officially stopped rebuilding these struts both front and rear. Their parts do match some other struts from bmw and the such, so I'm experimenting with what works.

A lot of modification is needed since they crimped our struts from factory, but there's several modifications that can be made to improve life - span and performance.

Basically, for about the same price as buying new acdelco bilstein's I can rebuild the stock ones that will perform better and last longer.

I'm getting my set re-valved by fat cat motorsports and dyno tested for optimum ride quality, then he'll let me copy his results so I can duplicate them for everyone!

You can expect ride quality better than the factory bilsteins too!

Haha that's the hope! Also going for increased traction and reduced body roll, basically fighting the struggle we have just fixing it with the correct shocks rather than just throwing bigger and bigger sway bars at it until we don't have independent suspensions any more (aka bad traction) and either oversteer or understeer.

This will be extremely important not only to the street racers out there, but also to us daily driver's in the snow and rain!

I love the way my GXP rides on the factory bilsteins, but for the cost of new struts, a coilover kit can be purchased. I'm hoping my bilsteins last for a while as i'm not ready to drop 1k on struts.

Good to hear! I'm working on a coil over set for modified bilstein's as well! The diy bilstein's are ok, but the springs and dampers are not matched correctly so the ride ends up harsh and bottoms out.

The improved bilstein's would be diy serviceable, last longer than any other coil overs on the market, and give a better ride even lowered and give customizable dampers.

Basically, after the initial rebuild, you can change your own seals, re- pressurize yourself, change your own shock oil, and adjust your own damper rates etc.

You would never have to purchase new shocks unless something catastrophic happened.

Bump

You might be better off shopping this info to the LS4 Nation facebook page. They're a fun bunch.

I'd start off by asking for all the videos of their 10 second V8's.

Would they be able to rebuild the GMPP Koni struts?

If they're monotube struts, they can be rebuilt. The issue is finding replacement seals and a way to recharge the gas and seal the ends if they're crimped.

I could probably successfully rebuild just about any strut as long as I have parts and at least one to mess up as a test.

The only reason I was successful with the bilstein's is that they use the same seals in a bunch of different models, so it's not hard to find parts.

The main thing I'm focusing on now is not just rebuilding stock and being satisfied there, but improving upon defects and improving both longevity and performance.

These improved struts could well go over 100,000 miles and still feel and perform better than stock.

My main motivation is improving our vehicles ride/ performance. I'm not in this for money. Thus why I'm still going to college for my engineering degree.

My current setback is funds, but hopefully I'll have something ready for production within a year.

Oh, I hope I didn't imply making money off of the idea at LS4N. I meant maybe you'd get more of a response. Ya know, because all their cars come stock on Bilsteins.

Originally Posted by SaukRapids

Oh, I hope I didn't imply making money off of the idea at LS4N. I meant maybe you'd get more of a response. Ya know, because all their cars come stock on Bilsteins.

Every grand prix from 97 up can use bilstein's which even stock one's are a huge improvement for handling and comfort. These are not just for the GXP community if that's what you're trying to imply.

If you cannot see the value in improving what is already an improvement on stock, then obviously this isn't for you, which is fine! Plenty of folks out there are perfectly fine driving around on stock struts, you're not hurting my feelings by saying so.

If there's no interest, so be it. Again, I'm not doing this for profit gains. I'm doing this for those of us out there who either want or need the absolute best in performance and comfort. If that's not you, that's ok. I'm just trying to see who is interested. That's all.

I'm saying your process might be better suited to those owners. Of course anyone can buy and install Bilsteins, lol.

There's plenty of interest in anything new. I'm talking about getting the best feedback, that's all. I think what you're doing is a good idea. Not for me, but very good.

Thanks for the input Sauk! I'll try posting there as you suggested. Sorry if I came across otherwise, I know a lot of gp owners think that these struts are only for gxps. I'd love to see more people utilizing them!