broke Bilstein strut, questions...

OK so I just broke the end of the threaded rod off of one of my Bilstein struts by over tightening with an impact wrench; nice job dumb-dumb, I know. It was the left front strut - regular OEM bilstein. Now I have a couple questions.

 

Are the struts the same for all years MY2006-MY2009? Same Part numbers?

Are these the same as the HD Bilsteins that some people upgrade to or are they different?

How much should I have to pay for a new strut?

Is now the time to upgrade to coilovers?!

 

Thx

Here's what I came up with so far for prices. Why are they so different?

Price off of Bilstein website: $303 http://www.bilsteinus.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2479&zenid=

 

Price from Canadian Bilstein distributor: $226 CDN (why so cheap?!) http://www.bilsteincanada.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_10358_10371_10374&products_id=3140

 

Price from SubaruParts.com: $401.70 http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getJointLocator&siteid=214857&chapter=&sectionids=0,2512&groupid=2523&subgroupid=2534&componentid=65416&make=32&model=Legacy&year=2009&catalogid=2&displayCatalogid=0

 

Price from FredBeans: $395

Well I know you are looking for another opinion from mine, but I can help you on the other questions.

 

The OEM Bilsteins are a proprietary valving that Bilstein only does for Subaru. The HDs are Bilsteins own valving which is supposedly a little more firm on the compression side, but there aren't any plots that I know of to show this.

 

Regarding the switch to coilovers... I'm not sure what your plans are for your car, but I would just replace the strut, or at least with a set of HDs. Quality coilovers are great, but unless you want to run much stiffer spring rates or have complete control over damping and ride height they are overkill.

just have your car towed to subaru dealer and see if they will replace it under warranty

________

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

That would be nice, but I'm lowered on iONS, so I doubt they would offer warranty.

OK, now I'm getting somewhere...

 

I pulled out the broken strut to get the part number off of it.

 

p/n: 20310AG412 Looks like this p/n is specific to the 08/09 (left) and 20310ag401 for the right

 

Interestingly, the 06/07 are numbered 20310ag402 ®, 20310ag410 (L)

 

Still don't know what if any the differences are between them

Just knock the rest of the stud out and use a regular grade 8 bolt and nut combo with some lock washers

Oh wait I may have misunderstood what you meant....disregard my comment lol

I'm answering all my own questions, lol. Bilstein HD's are like $200 but don't include the tophats, which of course I don't need anyway, and the OEM Bilsteins are closer to $400. Why don't I just upgrade to HD's and do both my fronts for the price of a single OEM?? Answer me that

You could but I'm not sure how its going to ride with mismatched front and rear strut valving.

i wouldn't think that they are that far off from each other? but again we don't have any plots or objective data comparing the two

You don't want coilovers.And you sure don't want to mix and match different struts like Ridgeracer and others have said .

You screwed up,bite the bullet and get 4 HD Bilsteins from Jeremy at Fred Beans.

You can thank me latter.

Better yet get four new Tokico D-specs for cheaper.

I bought a cheep set of bilsteins so i can go to http://www.bilsteinus.com/services.php and have them rebuild them and revalve them for the springs and make them adjustable. for about 150 per strut.

Here's the cheapest place I could find the HD's, assuming you go that way? I got mine here. http://www.bilsteinshocks.com/bilstein/html/show_shocks.asp?make='SUBARU'&model='Legacy%20spec%20B'&year='2009'

Why don't you just send it out to Bilstein for a full rebuild? It could be different since last I looked but a rebuild should only be about $75 per - I recall there was an option to replace the piston rod as well for just a few more bucks. By far the cheapest solution, just a major PITA since you'd have to wait a few weeks.

Thanks for the input, everyone.

 

I think I'm leaning towards getting a full set of HD's, then having the broken strut rebuilt. Once that's done I'll sell the OEM struts/shocks as a set later on, probably with springs.

 

I understand the HD's will have more aggressive valve damping than the stockers, does anyone know how they will affect ride height and comfort? The last part is very subjective, I know. I'll be putting my ions back on (specB fronts/HD rears) which keeps the rear height like stock and lowers the front about 7/8".

 

Not a lot, or any, threads out there comparing OEM bilstein and HD's using the same springs, I guess most people with HD's came from the KYB's.

Better yet get four new Tokico D-specs for cheaper.

 

I like this idea better considering you have a Spec B. Then you can run them with any aftermarket spring.

My only concern with the Tokicos is that the rebound and compression damping adjustment are tethered. That is not an idea setup for tuning your suspension.

 

If you want an adjustable strut at a reasonable price, Koni is the only option in my book.

Unless you have them in stock, he is going to have to wait on the Koni. Maybe another 2 weeks before I get mines after waiting a month so far.

We have two sets of Konis for sale.

Ordered a full new set of Bilstein HD's today. I'll do a little review of how they compare to the SpecB Bilsteins - using ion springs - as soon as I can.

 

Will also be selling the stock specb bilsteins as soon as I get the broken one repaired

Brady,

 

Sorry I didn't see your thread sooner. The same thing happened to me a few months ago. I went through the same hassle of trying to source a cheap oem strut and had to consider the consequences of replacing only a single or pair (vs all 4) struts.

 

I came to the same conclusion you did: replace all 4 struts with Bilstein HDs. I am very happy with my decision. The full set was about $600 which was only a couple hundred bucks more than a single subaru oem bilstein strut from 07!

 

If you search, you can find my thread with pictures during install, including how I broke my stud. I put on tein h-techs and I'm happy with the results. I wish I could compare the individual components but since I swapped both springs and struts at the same time, I can't really say how each one affected the ride individually. But overall, much stiffer, much less roll/squat/dive. I think that springs/struts are necessary for anyone with power mods.

 

I sold my bilsteins before getting them repaired. The guy I sold them to told me that it would cost "$150/ea plus shipping from bilstein usa. and they can make it for the spring rates and adjustable." for repair... depending on the mileage on your struts, that may or may not be a good expenditure. I sold my full set of stock for $150 ($50 each + free damaged one)... but mine had about 55k on them...

 

Hope it goes well!

Brady, I'd also like to ask a big favor of you...

 

I'm compiling a listing weights for a bunch of oem and aftermarket parts. Could you do me a huge favor and weigh the front and rear strut assembly (everything except for the spring) for both the HD and OEM bilsteins? I didn't have time to do this when I swapped struts b/c this is my daily driver and it was on jackstands in a friends driveway for a couple days waiting on shipping. In any case, let me know if you can get those weights, even a simple bathroom scale would be better than nothing.

 

Thanks!

-Marshall

 

p.s. weigh your ion springs (front and rear) too if you can!

Brady,

 

Sorry I didn't see your thread sooner. The same thing happened to me a few months ago. I went through the same hassle of trying to source a cheap oem strut and had to consider the consequences of replacing only a single or pair (vs all 4) struts.

 

I came to the same conclusion you did: replace all 4 struts with Bilstein HDs. I am very happy with my decision. The full set was about $600 which was only a couple hundred bucks more than a single subaru oem bilstein strut from 07!

 

If you search, you can find my thread with pictures during install, including how I broke my stud. I put on tein h-techs and I'm happy with the results. I wish I could compare the individual components but since I swapped both springs and struts at the same time, I can't really say how each one affected the ride individually. But overall, much stiffer, much less roll/squat/dive. I think that springs/struts are necessary for anyone with power mods.

 

I sold my bilsteins before getting them repaired. The guy I sold them to told me that it would cost "$150/ea plus shipping from bilstein usa. and they can make it for the spring rates and adjustable." for repair... depending on the mileage on your struts, that may or may not be a good expenditure. I sold my full set of stock for $150 ($50 each + free damaged one)... but mine had about 55k on them...

 

Hope it goes well!

 

I searched for your thread, and couldn't find it, was it the impact wrench that did it?? I'm glad you did the same thing I'm doing now - makes it seem like I'm doing the right thing.... although I was hoping to get more than $50/ shock for resale. $150 to repair the broken strut sounds about right according to Bilstein's website, but that's including shipping I think.

 

Brady, I'd also like to ask a big favor of you...

 

I'm compiling a listing weights for a bunch of oem and aftermarket parts. Could you do me a huge favor and weigh the front and rear strut assembly (everything except for the spring) for both the HD and OEM bilsteins? I didn't have time to do this when I swapped struts b/c this is my daily driver and it was on jackstands in a friends driveway for a couple days waiting on shipping. In any case, let me know if you can get those weights, even a simple bathroom scale would be better than nothing.

 

Thanks!

-Marshall

 

p.s. weigh your ion springs (front and rear) too if you can!

 

That should be no problem at all, happy to contribute to a compilation. I'll see if I can find a decent scale, otherwise a bathroom scale is all I have that would be heavy enough.

 

HD's should be here early next week......damn I miss driving my car