Front strut failures

[old Jack]

Hello OJ

I have been reading this thread and have had my Bilsteins with kings springs fitted now for 4 years and 130000 km. 70000 km towing and 35000 km of this on dirt. Trips to kimberly and kakadu, western queensland and gulf country.
I had my suspension checked in fear from your reports of failure and no problems with struts. Will probably look at the strut rebuild around 150000km.
The king springs have been fantastic and i have airbags in the rear also, great for towing.

Thanks Cam,

I am sure your post has given many some comfort and confidence in their Bilstein/King combination.
Some serious kms and great destinations under your belt so your suspension is well and truly used in tough touring conditions.

I have not been able to fault the ride comfort or control of the Bilsteins so I am in 2 minds whether to go back down the Bilstein path again but with King springs or try something different.

If you have a chance to send a photo of your strut at full droop without the wheel fitted that would be great, if it is too hard then don't worry.

From what I have read the cost of a rebuild is about 80% of new price and you have to be without the shockers for a week or so.

OJ.

[coughy]

here oj i just found my stock suspension picky if it interestes you
when i was changing out to my lift

[old Jack]

Great, thanks, yes it does interest me because now I have a direct comparison to work with.

OJ.

[aus_andyk]

Did you want to see what the Dobinson MRRs looked like at full droop OJ?

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[old Jack]

Did you want to see what the Dobinson MRRs looked like at full droop OJ?

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Yes please,

OJ.

[aus_andyk]

Will grab a shot tomorrow night when rotating the tyres. Just the standard shots or you wanted to capture more?

[itsamitsi]

I've got my standard struts still assembled in the shed if you want a close up of that OJ.

[Camsally]

Hello OJ.
On another thread we were talking about brakes and I was saying I was still on the original pads at 130000km. Well I had a service last weeks as there was some shudder when braking with the camper going to Ballarat and back to Toowoomba after new year.

Mechanic said that the fronts still had about 25-30 percent left and the rear were 10 percent left. They only had to machine the discs as they were fine and new pads. Now I am booked in for a tyre rotation and balance and wheel alignment so I am going to have my suspension guys take a photo for you of the kings and bilstein shocks on the front. I have the original front and rear setups at home so will take a static photo also. As we are four years into the suspension I will get them to check that also.

[bmurray2250]

Presently nursing my Challenger from Longreach to Brisbane where both front Bilstein leaking oil. I have Dobinson heavy duty coils.

Not happy 😠

[littleriver]

Presently nursing my Challenger from Longreach to Brisbane where both front Bilstein leaking oil. I have Dobinson heavy duty coils.

Not happy 😠

http://www.oztecsuspension.com.au/

their website is a little outdated but is in the works of getting an overhaul

did more reading into them and seems like they come from the same factory as the TJM shocks .. will be putting a rear set on in the near future as have just purchased ... (good pricing/warranty)



..

[old Jack]

Presently nursing my Challenger from Longreach to Brisbane where both front Bilstein leaking oil. I have Dobinson heavy duty coils.

Not happy 😠

I still have not replaced my right front Bilstein as I have not decided what to do. Too busy with work and other stuff at the moment. Strut initially leaked for a few weeks and now it has slowed down to a weep. Doing the bounce test on the front it is difficult to tell the difference between left and right. When driving the only difference I think I can feel is slightly more nose dive on the right but I could be imaging it since I know the strut is not 100%.

If the car is still handling ok then no need to nurse it, maybe drop a few psi from the tyres on rough roads.

At this stage I still believe it is the springs that are causing the Bilstein failures. Any coil that does not have the top winds ground flat puts a sideboard on the struts and this flexes the shafts.

OJ.

[Ent]

Still delighted with my Drummond Motor Sport front struts. Now done 70,000 ms on them. Bit more cranking up needed once rear springs go in and then DooSo back to full off-road height. They work a treat with the steel bullbar and winch so nothing more needed than winding them up to proper height after adding the bar and winch. Indeed, DooSo with all the steel front and rear is very balanced and handles beautifully at the moment, so hopefully the new rear springs will not stuff up the neutral handling.

In all wrapped how DooSo rides and handles at the moment. But the test will be with full load on board.

[bmurray2250]

I still have not replaced my right front Bilstein as I have not decided what to do. Too busy with work and other stuff at the moment. Strut initially leaked for a few weeks and now it has slowed down to a weep. Doing the bounce test on the front it is difficult to tell the difference between left and right. When driving the only difference I think I can feel is slightly more nose dive on the right but I could be imaging it since I know the strut is not 100%.

If the car is still handling ok then no need to nurse it, maybe drop a few psi from the tyres on rough roads.

At this stage I still believe it is the springs that are causing the Bilstein failures. Any coil that does not have the top winds ground flat puts a sideboard on the struts and this flexes the shafts.

OJ.

I have nursed the Challenger in to Brisbane from Longreach and handled OK. The front right is now stopped leaking, so expect if have no oil left but the left is still leaking. The struts will be removed on Wednesday and sent to Bilstein for warranty replacement. The shocks are 13 months old but I understand Bilstein are good with there warranty even a month or 2 passed the 12 months

[old Jack]

I have nursed the Challenger in to Brisbane from Longreach and handled OK. The front right is now stopped leaking, so expect if have no oil left but the left is still leaking. The struts will be removed on Wednesday and sent to Bilstein for warranty replacement. The shocks are 13 months old but I understand Bilstein are good with there warranty even a month or 2 passed the 12 months

Of the 3 Bilstein front struts I have that have fail all have leaked oil then slowed down to a weep and when the struts have been removed have nitrogen pressure. Only s lsght loss of dampening control could be detected. All shafts were scored/dull on one side of the shaft only and in a small section where the shaft normally runs. None of the shockers have been repairable because of shaft damage and only one was replaced under warranty even though it had 30,000km of use the other 2 shockers had 40,000 and 65,000kms of use.

What coils are you using?
Are the top winds ground flat? If not then I suggest you change coils as I believe this causes the problems due to shaft flex that chops out the seals, combined with the high pressure nitrogen charge of the Bilstein design.

Best of Luck,

OJ

[4wd26]

either change coils or shocks.

From my experience Bilstien will not warrant if the shaft is the problem as they will blame the coil and you mention dobbinson HD coils and they don't have a taper, I know, been through this whole experience.

the cost of fixing you can purchase a new billie strut for around $50 more as the rebuild and shaft costs that......

I also never noticed much change in effect of the dampening, but didn't want a catastrophic failure at the worst possible time- rather be preventative than reactive.

There is nothing wrong with the coil, just that the bilstien shocks are not suited to particular coils. you might have a chance with the supplier of the aftermarket suspension?