My Bilstein BROKE!!!

[Todd Phenneger]

Wow,
  So I'm driving along today and notice my 5ktq is clunking over
bumps in the rear right.  NO strange thing for a Type 44 except
that all bushings, ball joints, etc are new on this car.  So I
figured maybe it was something in the trunk.  Nope, so I jump on
the bumper.  Clunk from underneath is heard.  Hmmm,
  Crawl under and notice my spring (350lb 8" coilover)  is
shaped like a crecent moon.  Hmmm, shock is sitting at an odd
angle.
  SO I jack it up and take a look.  The shock BROKE at the upper
spring perch just at the bottom of the threads where it flares
out to a larger diameter!  What the hell?  Now I realize that
I'm running very stiff springs but not THAT stiff.  Hell, H&R's
for an S4 are almost that stiff.  The car is lowered but not
that much.  Actually sits a tad higher in the rear than a
friends 5ktq with H&R's.  So did I just get a faulty strut that
had weak metal there?
  Bought a new one today and Shox.com will send the broken one
in to see if its covered under warranty.  
  Anyhow just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. I'm
thinking it was either a faulty strut OR possibly the shop that
put them on (A friend owned the car and had it done in the
middle of winter so he had a shop do it) tightened it with an
impact gun and weakened the shaft.  
Thanks
  Todd


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