bilstein

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mad dog

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Hey guys im getting ready to order Bilstein shocks for my Duster, I plan on ordering from PST.
I remember reading on this site about wrong PN's and wrong upper bushing sizes on the rear shocks, has that problem been fixed over at PST?
Has anyone recently ordered shocks from them? I would like to order 4 shocks and get the discount... any input is appreciated...
would anyone have the correct PN"s for my Duster....Rich
 
Yeah, I was the guy. Here's what I figured out:

The correct Bilstein shocks for Mopar A-body are the following:
Front Shocks – Part number: 55-R082 – 10.5” collapsed height, 15.75” extended height
Rear shocks – Part number: 55-R092 – 14” collapsed height, 22.7” extended height

For some reason, PST supplies 55-R093 for the rear, instead. 55-R093 has the same exact specs (Collapsed/Extended length) as the R092 but the eyelets/bushings are different diameter (upper eye is 5/8" instead of 11/16"). This is why I had to drill out the upper bushing. So make sure you get 55-R092. Or at least measure your rear upper shock mount diameter — I suppose it is possible that it is different on a late A compared to a 67-69.

Another thing: The front shocks don't have any kind of dust cover — the shaft is just completely exposed. The instructions said "Use your old dust cover", but of course unless you are replacing Bilsteins you wouldn't have one. So I ordered some Bilstein dust boots from Summit Racing: BSN E4-SR1-Z001A03 Bilstein Dust Boot, Black.
 
Thank you MVH.... Thats exactly what i was looking for. The body of my car is a 73 Duster, i will check the shock mount diameter....
 
mopowers said:
Yeah, don't buy bilsteins because they didn't work on a sprint car. Gotta love this place.
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Didn’t work on a sprint car 30+ years ago.

Oldmanmopar said:
I had luck with KYB . I got Rancho with the calvert drag suspension they worked good . The best were QA1 aluminum body adjustable but Expensive.

I just bought QA1 coil overs now again from S&W race cars. The reason was we don't know the actual weight yet and they will exchange the coils there. We bought everything from S&W because we can drive there.

I believe the best bang for the buck would be KYB.
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Trash one of the best shocks available for these cars and recommend one of the cheapest, poorest performing shocks on the market. Yup, that figures.

I’ve run RCD Bilsteins for years and tens of thousands of miles. They’re one of the best shocks available, especially if you’re running larger diameter torsion bars. There’s better stuff out there for the full on pro-touring cars, but the price really goes up.

KYB’s are hot garbage. I have a direct comparison between the two, I went from KYB’s on my Challenger to RCD Bilsteins and no other changes were made. It was a night and day improvement, I immediately regretted every second I’d had the KYB’s on the car. It was probably one of the most noticeable single upgrades I’ve made from a suspension performance standpoint, and I had 1.12” torsion bars and Hotchkis UCA’s on that car. I mean dumping those KYB’s in the trash for the Bilsteins was right up there with more than doubling the wheel rate for handling improvement.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
You haven't been up here in the Appalachian Mountains on week ends. My daughter wants to put a Bug Eyed Sprite body on a side by side.

That is the new wave. Small classic foreign car bodies on these 1000 cc side by sides to make them street legal. Classic cars don't need state inspection or emissions .
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Pshh, Here in free society we don’t have to have inspections and emissions test on even new cars.


Oldmanmopar said:
What I recommended for the street is my opinion from what I experienced.
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Please stop recommending **** if your recommendation’s KYB.
Did you put KYB’s on the sprint car? This is pure bufoonery.

@mad dog Keep in mind @Oldmanmopar doesnt really know anything. He just talks about what his son does and says “we”. Anyone who recommends KYB over Bilsteins has questionable intelligence. I think he just wanted to share his son’s sprint car pic again and shocks were a good segway to do that.
 
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Here are a few more observations on my Bilstein installation:

The nut on the top of the front shock is metric. This is understandable considering where they come from, but it annoyed me because I don't carry metric tools. More annoying was the fact it was a Nylock nut. Personally, I tend to avoid using Nylock nuts anywhere on my car — if it needs to be tight, torque it to spec or use a lock washer — but in this particular application it is annoying as hell, because you can't just spin the nut down the shaft until contact — you have to fight it every inch of the way as the shaft tries to rotate with the nut, while you try to keep it from spinning with a small wrench on the top. I decided this was so stupid that I went to the hardware store and bought some plain metric nuts and just double-nutted it instead.

Also on the top of the front shock, the rubber grommet that Bilstein provided was different than the existing one provided by KYB. Both had a "nub" in the middle, intended to keep it centered in the hole in the fender, but the KYB one was perfectly sized to the hole, while the Bilstein one was only half the size of the hole. Considering it was rubber and therefore could not really be clamped down very tight, I thought this was not acceptable — I didn't want the top of the shock moving around under impact. So I reused the existing rubber grommets (which were in good condition) with the new shiny Bilstein washers for appearance.

I wouldn't agree with the comment that KYB shocks are "crap", but the Bilsteins do seem to be smoother and also provide more rebound control. I haven't really given them any kind of workout yet. Years ago I had the car out at Willow Springs with the KYBs and I can't say they hurt me any — the limiting factors were the engine and the driver.
2010-04-15_37 crop.jpeg

Yeah, I passed that Cobra in the next passing zone. He didn't seem to be trying all that hard.
 
Approximately 6 or 7 years ago I upgraded T-bars on my 71 340 duster. Big improvement in ride and handling. That was step one. Next thing was new bilstien shocks on all four corners. Another significant improvement. Probably the bigger of the two. Couldn't really believe the improvement. I did this in a two stage process so I could determine which items made the best improvement. Both were significant. After a number of close friends experienced a ride in the duster the question arose "what did you do ". Since then I have ordered a set for my 69 swinger, my 1997 3500 ram dully. All have given significant improvements. The close friends (5 at least) have all ordered bilsteins for they're rides. Mostly A bodies but a C body and a ram in the mix. All happy. So my take on what brand to purchase is definitely Bilstien's. I ordered mine from Firm Feel. They came with all the proper hardware and dust boots. Simple swap. My only regret is I wish I had done this years ago.
Good luck with your project.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Can't see spending $600 on shocks that don't last any longer or perform any better on a 50 year old street car

The reason I mentioned my sprint car is I tried Bilsteins on it. They were the worst investment.

Other racers always had one set of shocks at the bilstein truck in the pits getting fixed while running another set on the car . If you have money to waist get Bilsteins . If your racing the car Get extras . I was on a budget and I did not have luck with them compared to QA1.

Race cars? QA1 adjustable,

For a street truck or car get a shock you can replace at an affordable price for maintenance intervals.
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have you specifically run bilstein RCD's on a vintage mopar?

no?

then you're unqualified to make any statement on them.

just because they were **** in a racing application has no bearing or effect in a street application. furthermore, i highly doubt they were anywhere near the same type, kind or sort of unit.

OMM, you're generally pretty solid on advice but, respectfully, you're way, way off base here.
 
some of us do more than just drive to the ice cream stand.

also, a list of the items adjacent to you in the shop does nothing to shore up your bonafides.

your displeasure with the experience you had is noted, but don't push the narrative that the shocks aren't a viable upgrade for others. some people are fine with hamburger, other people prefer filet.
 
It is an important distinction that the Bilsteins most of us are talking about are actually RCD Bilsteins, which are Bilsteins that have been reworked by Race Car Dynamics specifically for these Mopars.

Just remember that those of us that are running or have run RCD Bilsteins have experience running them in this millennium on A-bodies (and also E-bodies in my case). We aren't talking about a different part used on a different car in a completely different application several decades before RCD Bilsteins were even available.

Yes, the RCD Bilsteins are kinda spendy. They're worth every penny, as they do make a NOTICEABLE difference in both performance and ride quality. Again, in my case swapping to the RCD Bilsteins was a dramatic improvement compared to the abysmal KYB shocks they replaced. And most of the sets of RCD Bilsteins I have now are a good decade old themselves, so the notion they won't last as long is just silly and nonfactual.
 
72bluNblu said:
It is an important distinction that the Bilsteins most of us are talking about are actually RCD Bilsteins, which are Bilsteins that have been reworked by Race Car Dynamics specifically for these Mopars.

Just remember that those of us that are running or have run RCD Bilsteins have experience running them in this millennium on A-bodies (and also E-bodies in my case). We aren't talking about a different part used on a different car in a completely different application several decades before RCD Bilsteins were even available.

Yes, the RCD Bilsteins are kinda spendy. They're worth every penny, as they do make a NOTICEABLE difference in both performance and ride quality. Again, in my case swapping to the RCD Bilsteins was a dramatic improvement compared to the abysmal KYB shocks they replaced. And most of the sets of RCD Bilsteins I have now are a good decade old themselves, so the notion they won't last as long is just silly and nonfactual.
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Do you have a part number for these?
 
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