damon_Z

I just had my installer order Bilstein HD's from stranoparts.com. I still had the factory shocks in my car and wanted to upgrade to the Bilstein HD's. So, I went to the installer's shop with my car and the rear Bilsteins were easily installed, but the fronts were a different story. The upper shock mount for both the driver's and passenger's side could not be easily removed from the factory shocks! And when they were finally removed from the top of the shocks, the rubber that was in the upper shock mount got ripped so that the entire upper shock mount could not be reused. The top of the shocks were also damaged in the process.

The installer informed me that this was not normal and only happened to one other car that they worked on. He said that he could reuse the upper shock mount with the torn rubber, but there would be play while driving. Additionally, if I wanted a new upper shock mount installed after the Bilsteins were already installed with the old shock mount, then there would be a possibility that the top of the Bilstein shocks would also be damaged when getting them off from the old upper shock mount.

This installation was attempted on late Saturday, July 1, and there were no parts stores that were open for the shop to order the parts from. After spending the night at a nearby relative's house, I ended up taking the bus home the next day since my house was 2 hours south from the shop.

So, is it normal to tear the upper shock mount rubber when doing a front shock install? Thanks in advance for the info.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

On cars that have seen rain, snow or just have some mileage on them (or are a few years old), it seems to happen often. We just did Koni's on a friends car with 80,000+ miles on it. One side came apart, the other side was rusted to the shock and was destroyed. We wound up replacing one of his mounts and reusing the other. As these cars get older, it will become more common.

BAD99TA

Just a little over a month ago I did a shock/spring swap. I don't drive my car in the winter or when it rains. I was able to reuse both rubber shock mounts. In my case the nuts that were holding them on refused to budge and I had to grind them off and be extremly careful not to damage the rubber shock mounts. I am curious how much it costs to replace them.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

$10.00 per at a dealer

BAD99TA

That's not bad at all. Had I known that and known the shock tower nuts were going to be fused on (in my case they were) I would have purchased 2 new ones before hand and wouldn't have had to be careful grinding the nuts off. Oh well, you live and learn.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

Really? Tirerack and Napa want far more than that..... We paid $58 or something.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

For the rubber itself or the metal the rubber sticks into?

Which part # in the attached?

52 is 17999212 and is 10$ from the dealer

53 is 22146933 and is $150 list at the dealer

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I feel better now, it was part 53. I didn't even bother to check the dealer....guess I was right.