Bilstein Gas Shockies have bit the dust!!

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

I'm not sure if this is a good run or about average but after 4 years I have had to replace my Bilsteins after I saw they were leaking oil.

Mind you they have had a massive hammering in that time, including a double crossing of the Simpson, Hay River Track, Cape York (including the OTT), Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks, Gun Barrel Highway and last year the daddy of them all the Canning Stock Route.

On many of these (mainly the CSR) I would have been seriously (seriously) overloaded with extra Diesel / Water.

Anyway I have replaced this time with Foam Cell ones (not a great deal of research but told they are pretty good).

We are doing the Kimberley next year so, GRR and all the way to Kulumburu and back BUT after this the main use for the Prado will be as a tow tug for my new caravan, after 5 years of heavy duty 4WD the trouble and strife has put the brakes on much more hard stuff.

Unless of course I find a mate and go by myself!!

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

How many KM's did you get from your shocks? The reason I ask is I've got 65 000km on mine and they have been leaking since 30 000km and will be up for replacement before I go offroad again. The front struts are leaking a lot more than the rear. Mine have seen a lot less offroad use than yours, Bridsville track and Rainbow Beach and Fraiser Island only. The rest has been highway and town driving.

Overall I'm not very impressed that the "best of the best" shocks leaked so early on in their life.

The ride feel around down is still ok. If anything, the ride feels a bit harder than when the shocks were new.

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Insert add for Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport Shocks here...

[Guest Close Guest]

My Bilsteins are also due to one failing.. Due to a poor install by the company that fitted them.. Folded the stone/dust boot so it catches on the shock body as it travels up/down. Hence seal full of crap and premature wear.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

I don't know the exact KM's off road, but its a fair bit....I have 102,000 on the clock now, and I'd expect at least 40K of those would have been off road, with maybe 10K of that majorly off road.

This year for the first time I was towing a 2.5 Tonne caravan, and I suppose I did maybe 1000Kms of off road driving, and another 1000Kms of good gravel...plus another 11K on the blacktop.

Not sure if the extra weight on the back hastened their demise, but I'd suggest that after the hammering they have had its not surprising.

Yes maybe the OME ones are better, would have been interesting to have a set of those do the same and see which lasted best!!

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I would have thought that 100k given the types of tracks you have covered is a pretty decent run. My OME front shocks are nudging 95,000 and whilst they are not leaking they are getting soft and are due for replacement.

Even for bitumen only vehicles at 100k chances are your shocks are just about had it, so you have done well.

Cheers Andrew

[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

My OME s have had a very similar life to Marks and are at 65000. No sign of any leaks. The fronts are perfect but the rears fade a bit on long stretches of corrugations. The back ones will be replaced before a trip to WA next year with more OMEs unless someone can convince me to to get a couple of Billsteins! Neil

[awwricecracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close awwricecracker]

My raw predators did a grand total of 40,000.. i'll be happy if the bilsteins I replaced them with get 100,000

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

I would have thought that 100k given the types of tracks you have covered is a pretty decent run. My OME front shocks are nudging 95,000 and whilst they are not leaking they are getting soft and are due for replacement.

Even for bitumen only vehicles at 100k chances are your shocks are just about had it, so you have done well.

Cheers Andrew

Yes wasn't too unhappy mate, and as I say they have had a hammering!!

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

Food for thought for spring/shockie buyers,
I had a 2" ift kit OME in my old Patrol for 15 years and had done just about every tack in my fair state including the GRR and the CSR twice. Only changed out the shockies before the last CSR trip because they were fading ( and I don't drive slow over corrugations). Kept the old nylon bushes as spares and ended up using them on a mates prado who had dobinsons shockies which have rubber bushes, they cracked and fell apart within two days on the CSR.

Hence I have gone with a 2" medium lift kit on my nice new Prado and couldnt be happier, and have peace of mind

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

I was having a look at the Ironman site. They've got a new shock, foam cell pro off memory. Impressive specs. 46mm bore, foam cell twin tube. Slightly cheaper than Bilsteins. Will have to wait and see if the reviews are any good.

[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

I had Ironman shocks in the UK. The paint was flaking off the coils and dampers within 6 months, and with the salt on the roads over there they started rusting pretty quickly. I imagine beach work would have the same effect. I've got Bilstein/Kings now and pretty happy with this setup (after a custom revalve on the rears).

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

I originally replaced our Suspension with Lovell Coils/Shocks when we bought the car new. After our 1st outback Desert crossing & returning home I wasn't happy with the Lovell's Coils, so I replaced them with H/D Dobinsons and kept the Lovell's F&R Shocks.... Well after another 3yrs of hard offroad touring trips in central Australia and this year up at the Cape, the Lovell Shocks are still going strong after some 95,000kms with no leaks, etc, BUT the Prado has developed a squeak from the Front end. Upon my last 100k service, Toyota said the bottom bushes are starting to tear, blow out.... I was thinking about replacing them with Bilsteins, but after talking with Lovell's H/O and them giving me a good price on a new set, I ended up just buying a new set of Lovells for the Front. The Rear is still going strong and I'll leave them there until our next big trip where I might replace them then.....

rob

[Ghost Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ghost]

My left hand strut is weeping quite badly now, has been doing so on and off for a near on 12 months, considering these have around 30,000k on them and mostly highway ks is extremely disappointing, I won't be using bilsteins again. Once I can be stuffed deciding what else I will use I will push these as long as I can,


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[404pug Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 404pug]

Hmmmm. I spoke too soon .My rear OMEs are starting to leak and the ride has become very harsh at 65000km on some of the tracks similar to mark above. I was considering a couple of Bilsteins but it seems that they are prone to early leaking?