Compare 30-year Old vs. New Bilstein Shock Absorbers

Honestly, for how old those shocks are I'd say they held up fantastic. I've seen oem Ford trucks shocks no longer rebound being 3 years old, and that's being a gas charged shock as well. Those bilsteins are great shocks

I just had some Bilsteins put on front and rear, not those exact ones but same colors. My front end is sitting noticably higher now, is that normal? Also the shocks are very stiff.

They can go tight too. ive seen that a fair few times

so that how you can tell its worn out , thanks

Berlin wall fell in 89.

What are you using for a jack on the lift tray. I just purchased a 4 post lift and don’t want to spend $800 on the OE jack.

Those Bilsteins have a lifetime warranty. I hope the replacements were free from Bilstein...

Yeah.... that's how you tell which of the two are the old. Really, dude?

Syclone....🤤🤤🤤

Bilsteins are made to be serviced. You buy a set and keep them for life. Why did you not just service them?

wrong wrong wrong. the 30 year old shocks are NOT worn, they will ride a 1000 times smoother than the new ones, been there done that. Drive on new one for a week and compere them again. They will be the same

Those old shocks look pretty good. Generally it seems old/warn shocks compress easily and either return slowly, or not at all.

Probably are original I talked to a guy who worked for them in early 2000s and still does and they used to do a bunch of gm contracts. A lot of them are made in Ohio now

do they still make them like they use too. I was looking to get a set of 4600s for my 2017 ram 1500

I have a Kia minivan and recently took out the KYB rear shocks after 80,000 miles thinking they might need changing out. I bought a set of new sachs from RockAuto. There's not many options for my vehicle. I did a comparison of the old and new and the KYB was much much stiffer and didn't recompress after I pushed it down. The brand new sachs was like a sponge. I could easily push down on it and it would bounce right back and you could hear the fluid swishing around inside. Is this normal? Watching your video it's telling me that my brand new shocks are worse than my old KYB. :-/

Just bought a 03 Silverado it came with bilstein just is making ugly noises on front end left on highway and uphills. Took a look and one shock has a lot of mud/oil compared to the other one. Should I replace it?

Even the 30 year old bilsteins still seem like they are working pretty well.

Probably does not have much miles on them..

Berlin Wall fell Nov 1989. FYI

There was nothing wrong with the old shocks 😅

Nice vid, thx. Did it fix the road bouncing or is it the same? I have a strange feeling that my car also needs replacement shocks although the standard test does not show it.

Looking to get a set of 4600s for 2007 MKX would that work?

Bill steen !

Western Germany! great hint

old ones can last another 10 years lol its the same presure that economical shocks do

Thanks , good review , I've seen other brands that took no force to move, or they just blew out completely

If the shock is not leaking then how did it loose quality I assume u figured out that the old shocks were good still

You kiddin me? no way its 29 years old. Dont fool people.

lol, baby speaking at the end

Could bilstein shocks work on Nissan vehicles??

Pressure?
The gas is there to stop aeration of the oil, not to provide resistance to compression.
I dare say that they are valved differently as well as having more stiction due to newer seals.

So, where are the new shocks made?

I like old one. New one is stiff.

I’ve had two sets of Mexican bilstein shocks. Both make noise after a thousand or so miles. I’ll never buy them again

Factory built shocks sometimes have different valving. I'm pretty sure bilstein and rancho both revolve the shocks for factory parts on vehicles

I'd take those 35 year old shocks over 90 percent of shocks today that are made where everything is made.

Expert here : Bilstein shocks are more expensive and last longer due to better parts and exacting specifications. A completely worn out shock will have to resistance to movement. All shocks when new are stiff, some more than others. Even the cheapest stock sold works well for awhile. Gabriel shocks have outsold all others and they were the first hydraulic shocks made. If you drive over a lot of potholes, drive down country road and do off roading, your shocks will wear out quicker. If all you do is drive on smooth roads, your shocks could last well over 100,000 miles easily. Every time you compress a shock, it generates heat. Rough roads and off-roading generates a lot of heat, distressing the shock and it shortens it's life. Gabriel was the angel that told Mary she was pregnant.

Send the old shocks back to Bilstein and they will refurbish them.

How are they so clean. Shocks with 5 years on them are filthy

i currenly have a constant bbbbbbbbounce that feels like a vibration almost is that kinda what you felt?

I had a set of bilstein on a Nissan exa turbo for over 30 years and they were still good. They can also be rebuilt unlike many others

Can’t you get them refurbished by Bilstein? They have a 1,000,001 mile warranty right?