Am I missing an option for struts?

Here's the situation:

06 Spec.B

OEM Bilsteins on STi Pinks

Whiteline Roll Center correction kit

F&R sway bars (Cobb I believe)

The Bilsteins appear to be shot. Compression is too rapid and rebound is too stiff. He is not happy with the ride any longer. He went to new tires and asked me about something a little more grippy than the original Bridgestones so I brought him up a couple of steps. While grip was much better, the stiffer sidewalls really showed how bad the Bilsteins had gotten. He swapped out the tires for the original model Bridgestones, and the ride improved, but he still finds the shocks are not behaving like they did when new.

He doesn't want to go Coilovers and stock ride quality is important.

Am I missing any other non-coilover strut options? I know we have:

Koni inserts

Bilstein HD (aftermarket)

OEM Bilsteins

If all else fails, what is the best place to get the OEM Bilsteins? I'd imagine he would want them new.

Or, does anyone know if Bilstein will recondition the OEM ones?

Thanks in advance all

Tokico HTS (adjustable). KYB GR2.

Bilstein might recondition the old ones. But down time?

I offer OEM Bilstein, HD Bilstein, Koni and KYB GR2. I have used the Tokicos, but dont sell them .

What M Sprank said is about your best choices. I'm not 100% certain that you can put the Koni inserts into the Spec B Bilstein housing though.

-mike

True, true.

Never tried to put a Koni in a SpecB Bilstein housing. Seeing how the Koni top hat nut is made for the standard LGT top hat, not the SpecB top hat, I would think it might not be the best fit. Body might be right, but you should convert to standard (downgrade) top hats.

This would also apply to the KYB GR2. Use standard top hat, not SpecB.

Tokico is JDM and uses SpecB top hat. I had to convert my LGT to use them.

Actually I ran for a long time Konis + Group N/SpecB Tops. All you need is the conical washer from the non-SpecB tops and a washer about 1/8" thick to go under the conical washer so that you can fully tighten down the tops. That was a great setup (Pinks + Konis + Group N Tops).

-mike

Also, don't forget that there are a lot of bushings you can do to really firm up the car (WL Steering rack bushings, LCA Bushings, and a few others).

-mike

Actually I ran for a long time Konis + Group N/SpecB Tops. All you need is the conical washer from the non-SpecB tops and a washer about 1/8" thick to go under the conical washer so that you can fully tighten down the tops. That was a great setup (Pinks + Konis + Group N Tops).

 

-mike

Good to know. Thanks.

Sorry guys, I forgot I had made this thread.

Great info, many thanks for the help.

Bilstein will rebuild struts to like new with your preferred dampening/rebound specs, and it's very reasonably priced. Big reason why I went with Bilsteins in the first place, personally.

Go to the Bilstein homepage and look for servicing options. You will have down time, but that's why you keep the OEM setup handy.

That's true.

Looks like the guy I was researching for bought a set of OEM Bilsteins somewhere (ouch). The upshot is I might be able to pick up his blown ones and have them reconditioned

Koni will do this as well IIRC.

-mike