BILSTEIN just snapped off

[MGaz]

not cool

Dove to town today, got some fuel, pulled out of the shell garage, accelerated up to 30mph and then 'SNAP'. I heard something brake and immediately the car pulled to the left.

uh oh.... I thought as I limped to the nearest car park. Had a look under the car and this is what i saw:






So I phoned my sister and she met me and followed me all the way back home at 20mph.. holding up the traffic.. with two wheels pointing in the wrong direction & my hands tightly gripped on to the steering wheel, listening to the sound of tire squealing and creaking. How on earth the spring managed to stay in its seating on tho's country lanes I don't know.

I suppose I should be thankful I wasn't thrashing it mid way through a tight right hand bend when it broke.

Scary thing is that's exactly what i was doing before i got to town.

So.. the good news is the car's still in one piece. Bad news is, I have no money to fix it as i've agreed to buy a 20vt engine & some rear springs, so is skint.

[mcandmar]

Thats a bit scary but i have to ask, what kind of top mount/spring perch is that? If the top of the shock cant move around freely i can see that happening.

[MGaz]

Thats a bit scary but i have to ask, what kind of top mount/spring perch is that? If the top of the shock cant move around freely i can see that happening.

Its a comp brake coil over set up. and a comp brake solid top mount bearing. is there something else i'm missing

[lind4hl]

can we have some pics of the compbrake kit? do you have needle bearings between spring and spring perch?

[MGaz]

can we have some pics of the compbrake kit? do you have needle bearings between spring and spring perch?

I don't know what one of them is, or looks like.. I only have what I was sold + the comp brake top mounts I was told I had to buy on top.

If I'm missing something, you will prob think i'm stupid now. But having never dealt with or fitted anything like this to a car before, after spending all that money I assumed i was sold everything that i needed. if this was an incomplete set up, it would have been nice if that fact had been made clear to me before hand.

The top mounts aren't in this picture btw. but they are the QRS/CompBrake ones. if you know the ones i mean. As i was told I needed.

I did wonder if there was suppose to be something on them to let the spring rotate freely. But I wasn't told about that.

[lind4hl]

it looks like you´re missing the needle bearing, but this shouldnt destroy the shock.. sounds very odd this.. :S

[mcandmar]

If its the top mounts i'm thinking of they should be fine as they have a big spherical bearing in them (like a big ball). The bit i'm worried about is the clearance between the top mount and upper spring perch, if they dont have enough clearance to allow the bearing to do its job the whole assembly will bind up and flex the shock shaft, leading to failure.

For example if you turn the steering to full lock and look at the top mounts under the bonnet you will see the angle there forced to sit at. Stock OE mounts take care of this by flexing the rubber body of the mount, but solid alloy mounts need the big spherical bearing to allow for this range of movement.

Can you post a pic of the top mount fitted to the strut when you have it apart?

[s2driveruk]

wow, there must have been a shed load of torque running through that to snap it :shock:

Good job it didnt let go as you say while giving it some and hopefully everything else is ok too. Personally I'd whip the other one off and have a good look at that too!

[Acidburn]

Not good to see, hope you get it sorted, i've not got a spare pair of front shocks/springs otherwise you'd have been welcome to them to get you mobile again. Lucky it didn't swing back and wreck the wing/sill i've had that before.

[MGaz]

If its the top mounts i'm thinking of they should be fine as they have a big spherical bearing in them (like a big ball). The bit i'm worried about is the clearance between the top mount and upper spring perch, if they dont have enough clearance to allow the bearing to do its job the whole assembly will bind up and flex the shock shaft, leading to failure.

For example if you turn the steering to full lock and look at the top mounts under the bonnet you will see the angle there forced to sit at. Stock OE mounts take care of this by flexing the rubber body of the mount, but solid alloy mounts need the big spherical bearing to allow for this range of movement.

Can you post a pic of the top mount fitted to the strut when you have it apart?

Well, whats done is done now... I haven't taken them off yet, but when i do, I have a pair of new/un-used BOGE TURBO GAS front shocks that were meant for the original suspension but were never fitted. Can I use them in the coil over set up?


I also have a pair on new standard rubber green top mounts. Will these work properly with the flat spring tops/seats that I have? & will that be all i need?

Then I can have the BILSTEIN'S re-built.

How much do they charge to re-build them again? & does that price include replacing the snapped rod?

[europeanme]

how old were the bilsteins?....might be worth going back to them as a break like that sounds like a fault in manufacturing....

[90/90qs]

- Bilsteins have free lifetime replacement AFAIK (as long as you are the purchaser, have receipt etc.)

[driftin jo]

What type of spherical bearing was being used ? If the bearing was ceased or not installed correctly then it could have been restricting the elliptical movement of the top of the shock . If the movement was being restricted for any reason then as you turned the steering the resulting stress on the top of the shock would have work hardened it and caused it to snap.

I have seen a lot of spherical bearing set-ups and in many of them there is a washer used to space the bearing from the location perch on the shock top to the bearing . If the washer is left out then the movement is restricted and would cause the work hardening as above.