briangardiner

I have had 1998 Scooby with Prodrive Driver Enhancement Pack from new - its only got 60k on the clock, but has failed MOT and needs new bilstein shocks, but I cant get any - has anybody got any ideas for a cheapish solution?

MikeWood

Hi Brian

Hope you don't mind me asking but what have they failed on? As they are a monotube they work differently to a normal damper and so the tester may be seeing something that's not a problem at all.

In any case, the dampers were only ever available from the dealers. Have you tried giving them a part number off one?

Mike

briangardiner

Mike, Many thanks for your reply - it failed on 3 of the shock absorbers which a said to be rusty and one is also said to be collapsing/close to rear wheel and some brake pipes which were easy to fix. I am going over to the repair garage tomorrow to have a personal look at it. I have phoned the local Subaru dealer who says he can no longer get the parts, also Prodrive who havent got records of which Bilstein parts were utilised but in any case no longer supply them. Subaru UK were also not able to help. I have tried two online parts suppliers who were unable to help.
The old shockers are said to be too rusted to get part numbers off them.
I was wondering if I could get them to fit a standard or other alternative shocker with the Eiback springs which are evidently OK. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Arnie_1

Whatever you do, please don't just bin these struts. Sell them on ebay if you must. But ideally, send them to a UK local Bilstein dealer and have them rebuild the struts. Honestly they are worth their weight in gold. I'm not sure how much rebuilds cost in the UK but I think around 100GBP per strut.

You can use KYB AGX as a cheap adjustable strut replacement. But save or sell these as they really were one of the best struts available for the Classic and I preferred this setup over the P1 (and I hold the P1 in very high regard).

briangardiner

Many thanks for the suggestions Arnie, will check them out with my garage tomorrow. Rest assured after what you've said, I wont throw the Bilsteins away - they have kept me safe for 13 years!!!

MikeWood

There ARE still Bilstein dampers available. Part numbers are F4VE34625M0, F4VE34626M0, F4VE34627M0 & F4VE34628M0. These are the later dampers and are slightly different to the earlier ones you have on the car now but they are interchangeable as a set.

Regards

Mike

S10WRC

iTrader: (23)

I have a few sets in my garage, new and used but VGC with a few different spring options:-





Give me a shout if you need anything

Baker

Might be a silly question so I apoligise in advance but what actually makes them any better then standard UK turbo 2000 suspension struts??

Arnie_1

Standard Turbo struts are twin tube struts with fairly supple and mild damping rates. The Bilstein struts are inverted monotube struts with using high pressure gas and more aggressive damping rates (for higher spring rates). They will stand up to lapping days on the Ring with little to no fading (something the standard dampers will do fairly quickly after a few laps) due to that higher gas pressure and larger oil volume. The Billy's are also rebuildable and you can have them revalved if you wish!

S10WRC - damn! nice to see that you have a few on hand. I will keep that in mind. Thanks for posting up.

briangardiner

Thanks to all posters for your assistance - I've given it all to my mechanic (I'm getting too old to crawl under cars now!), who is working on a solution as a result. Many thanks for the photos etc S10WRC - will be in touch if I need to dip into your very interesting stock. I'll check out the old shocks when he's got them on the bench, and will see if they can be utilised in any way.

DAMCHIEF

iTrader: (2)

Hi Mike,
where can you get these dampers with the above part numbers on?
S10WRC,
have you any of the above sets for sale?

MikeWood

They are still available from a Subaru Dealer but the springs are currently unavailable.

Mike

S10WRC

iTrader: (23)

Yes, drop me a PM and i'll sort you out

I have shocks & springs available, a LOT cheaper than dealer prices

subaru_kid_baje

Do you still have any of these available?

elgassi

I'd say you'll be lucky, that was waaaaay back in 2011