I am replacing the front stock (or what I thought to be) shocks and swapping a set of Goldlines spings out with the Pro Kit. I've been met with a couple of road blocks, but this one has me and a buddy of mine stumped. For some reason I don't have a lower perch that I can use off of my old shock and the Bilstiens didn't come with any. None of the installs mention that you have to re-use the old perch off the stocks one, so I'm wondering if that's an aftermarket piece you have to buy?



Old Shock



The next pain that I had to deal with was this rubber piece (the one in the middle):



The Shaft comes up through that hole and there's a nut securing it to the rubber spring perch. I tired using a socket to get the nut off but all that did was turn the shaft and the entire perch assembly. There is no way (that I can see) to get a wrench in there to turn that nut. So as a last resort I hacked the shaft off and then drilled through the nut and everything finally popped off. Is there an easier way that I'm missing of getting that nut off without having to hack everything up? What about when I go to assemble it all back up, how am I supposed to get that nut on tight enough? Will the shaft on the new shocks try to spin when I tighten it down?

Now the very last thing is that the old shock boot is not only torn a little bit, but there's a rubber stopper thing inside of it. Should I have gotten a new shock boot with the front or do I re-use the old one with that rubber stopper that's stuff up inside of it?



Help me out you suspension guru's

 

When I changed out my Decarbons OEM. I thought the same thing. Did you try beating the hell out of the old one to see if you can get it off the stock shock?
When removing or installing the nut I found an impact driver to be the ticket. I also used liquid wrench first to break the rust up a bit.

 

Looks like the perch is welded on to the old shock (looks like a Monroe) in the photo. You will have to locate some new ones. Maybe dealer item.

Yes, the shaft will turn when you start tightening the nut. You need a six mm allen wrench to hold while you use a wrench, I believe 17mm. Be careful, easy to strip out the 6mm allen hole in the shaft if not careful. It will be tight. You know, the shaft is 10mm x 1.5 thread pitch and you can buy a 15mm nut in lieu of the 17 that gives you more room to get a wrench in there. Make sure it is a locking nut.

 

I haven't owned Bilstein yellows in a while, however I would like to say that AFA some of the shock/spring swaps that I have performed, the Bilsteins should've came with a dust boot that matches the Bilstein Colour (kind of a light blue of sorts). They are supposed to be included with the shocks if they're purchased brand new, however Bilstein might be able to supply some to you directly for no charge (provided that you have the information to prove you purchased them new). The rubber inside the dust cover itself should be the bumpstop for front shocks themselves.

AFA the lower spring perch, like mentioned above you'll have to source them new, and preferably through a source where you can verify visually that it's the part that is the one you need. The dealer service and parts dept has a computer that offers an exploded view of the parts that you can purchase seperately, so you can select from that.

Here's a page that has pictures of what the lower spring perch looks like.

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=6

 

Alright, so it looks like I need to contact the place I ordered these shocks from and get some boots and than try to locate a couple of lower perches.

 

That's affirmative. Sorry you had to go through all of that. If the place you ordered the shocks is unable to get the parts to you, they should find a way to route you to the Bilstein will call centre on the West Coast. Have serial numbers ready in case that happens.

If you have anymore problems, just post more here and more help shall arrive.

 

I just helped install Bilsteins this past week and they did NOT come with front boots, only rear ones. Had to reusue the stock set up. No biggie.

 

Bilstein's NEVER come with front perches, front dust boot/bumpstop. Those are to be used from the OEM shocks. In this case, the gentleman does not have the OEM shocks. Bilstein does not have those parts, if they did, you'd get them. There is no reason for them to have those parts because all cars came with the parts from the facotry and they are simple to reuse.

Find someone who installed Koni's (which come with new perches and boots), they should have all the parts you need. Go to a wrecking yard and buy some front shocks off a wreck (make sure they are stock DeCarbon's!!!!)

 

Thanks for the info everyone. Now dis there any soul out there that has these parts?

 

I have all my stock hardware in my garage, under a thick coating of dust. Let's figure out how to get them from me to you, so you can finish your shock install.


-Mike

 

You'd be a real life saver Mike. I'll shoot you a PM

 

you have to use the old perch's from what came on the car to begin with. the ones on the monroes looks like they are welded on. The original ones you can hammer off and then put them on. good luck