[s-cars] Bilstein Service Information

[LL - NY]

Just to second what Taka said with one minor
correction. The $550 Koni's adjust in rebound
only.

The original intent of Koni adjustables, such as
the Koni Sports was to accompensate for wear,
not to tailor the shocks to match the spring and
body mass. Don't know if the range of adjustment
will be able to match up to the stiffer springs you'd
like to use.

LL - NY - Bilstein/Eibach - lucky happenstance that the springs and shocks
match well off the shelf, at least in this application.

On 4/20/06, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Jason-
> While the Konis are adjustable, the ones sold for the $550 you mention are
> single-adjustable, with compression and rebound adjusted in tandem.
>
> The revalve that was mentioned done by Bilstein typically adjusts the
> compression and rebound valving in different amounts, so this is not
> something you can accomplish with the stock Konis.
>
> Furthermore, I don't know if the Konis can adapt to a significantly higher
> spring rate or not- the V8 and S6+ H&R springs are much stiffer than the
> OEM
> springs. If you need to revalve the Konis for optimum damping, they're
> going
> to cost you a lot more than the Bilsteins- Bilstein is super cheap when it
> comes to custom valving.
>
> Note, this is NOT necessary to do at all. The reason you or anyone else
> would revalve the shocks is so that they work optimally with the springs
> and
> chassis that you have. The off-the-shelf parts work just fine, but could
> be
> better.
>
> The lifetime warranty does apply to blown seals and such, but that's not
> going to give you a free revalve to your spec.
>
> Double-adjustable Konis are far more expensive and I'm not even sure if
> they
> make them for an Audi application.
>
> I have to stress, this is NOT necessary, just a procedure that would make
> the car better if you're willing to spend the time, money and effort.
>
> If you want an argument to buy the Bilsteins, the monotube design is
> superior to the double-tube design of the Konis and the relatively
> inexpensive revalving service is another plus.
>
> Taka
> I have no vested interest in either Koni or Bilstein- my next set of
> shocks
> will probably be either KYB AGX or Tein Basics.
>
> On 4/20/06, Jason Mawhinney <jmawhinney at skybest.com> wrote:
> >
> > I'm not sure that its all that attractive to me.  I would need to buy
> the
> > Bilsteins (~$450) and then have them revalved to work with the H&R
> springs
> > at $75 each, from what the Bilstein webpage referrenced lists.  That's a
> > total of $750 to buy and revalve all the struts.  As for the attraction
> to
> > Koni, AFAIK there is no need to revalve since they're adjustable.  Am I
> > wrong?  I can get a set of Konis for ~$550.  I was also under the
> > impression
> > that both Bilstein and Koni have a lifetime guarantee so as long as you
> > own
> > the car, there's no need to pay to have them refreshed.  Am I missing
> > something here?  I'm planning to buy the Konis b/c they're cheaper,
> > adjustable, and offer a lifetime guarantee just like Bilstein.  If
> > somebody's got a good argument to buy the Bilsteins, I'd love to hear
> it.
> > TIA,
> > Jason Mawhinney
> > '95.5 S6a
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