Bilstein HD rear fitment issue
05-23-2016, 05:30 PM
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Bilstein HD rear fitment issue
Hey Guys,
I recently installed a set of Bilstein HD rear shocks on my 03 A4 Avant 1.8t with stock non-sport springs, and stock bump stops.... and right away the shocks feel like they top out ( opposite to bottom out )when i hit some bumps in the road or go over a speedbump faster than a snails pace. There is immediately a noticeable clunk noise the second it happens.
My question is Do I Need Lower Springs to prevent this from happening and has anyone else encountered this? Topping these out can't be good for the shocks.
During the install, my first concern was that maybe i had the wrong shocks because when i went to install them i noticed they sat about an inch shorter than the Oem shocks and this wasnt the case when i swapped the fronts out with HDs.
I called Bilstein USA and spoke to a tech who informed me i indeed had the correct parts, this was normal, and these are desgined to run at stock height ( or midly lowered) and to simply compress the spring to Mount the shock. He said it might look different on a hoist but would have the same ride height etc. once on the ground to which it did.
Since i was using a hoist i mounted the top of the shock first, then braced a pipe under my lower control arm and slowly lowered the hoist until i could guide the bottom bolt into place on both sides. Lowered to ride height, and tightened up the bolts. done!
Right now my guess is that the stock spring has the shock more or less topped out at regular ride height, and when i hit a bump it tops out instantly on the upswing? Either that or maybe i bought a set of sports that had been labelled with a HD part number? has anyone else ever encountered this?
Thank you for your input!
I recently installed a set of Bilstein HD rear shocks on my 03 A4 Avant 1.8t with stock non-sport springs, and stock bump stops.... and right away the shocks feel like they top out ( opposite to bottom out )when i hit some bumps in the road or go over a speedbump faster than a snails pace. There is immediately a noticeable clunk noise the second it happens.
My question is Do I Need Lower Springs to prevent this from happening and has anyone else encountered this? Topping these out can't be good for the shocks.
During the install, my first concern was that maybe i had the wrong shocks because when i went to install them i noticed they sat about an inch shorter than the Oem shocks and this wasnt the case when i swapped the fronts out with HDs.
I called Bilstein USA and spoke to a tech who informed me i indeed had the correct parts, this was normal, and these are desgined to run at stock height ( or midly lowered) and to simply compress the spring to Mount the shock. He said it might look different on a hoist but would have the same ride height etc. once on the ground to which it did.
Since i was using a hoist i mounted the top of the shock first, then braced a pipe under my lower control arm and slowly lowered the hoist until i could guide the bottom bolt into place on both sides. Lowered to ride height, and tightened up the bolts. done!
Right now my guess is that the stock spring has the shock more or less topped out at regular ride height, and when i hit a bump it tops out instantly on the upswing? Either that or maybe i bought a set of sports that had been labelled with a HD part number? has anyone else ever encountered this?
Thank you for your input!
06-19-2016, 08:10 AM
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Update-I sourced out a set of Oem Sport Springs from another Avant 1.8t and installed them. The car dropped approx 3/4" all around and I haven't heard the rear shocks top out yet over any bumps.
06-20-2016, 10:09 AM
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I was going to say that you needed the sport spring due to the shorter travel with the sport shocks, but you figured it out already.
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