Rear end fairly bouncy...

[Jared71482]

Setup = H&R Sport Springs with Bilstein Sport Struts, just over a year old - 10,000 miles.

Lately my rear end has felt pretty bouncy going down the road... actually for the past few months... just really picked up on it when my dad drove my car and said something about it.

Being the struts are pretty new and im only on a very mild drop, they SHOULDNT be bad... but I guess anything is possible. Anyone know what the warranty is like on these struts?

Is there something else that can make the rear end bouncy, like bad bushings??


Any help is appreciated!

[biketsai]

Bad shock im guessing. I could be defective

[Jared71482]

Its not one side or the other, the whole rear end is bouncy... push down on each side of the car in the rear and it dosent just settle back up, it bounces a little... same on both sides.

I emailed Bilstein, we'll see what happens.... this is my only car, so I cant take the struts out... send them away... and wait. I need my car.

[Jared71482]

Also... it seems the rear end has always sat lower than the front... since the new suspension. I'd like the front end a tad bit lower to match the rear...

[mike-2ptzero]

Contact Bilstein because your shocks have a life time warranty. If you have the height adjustable rears you could just raise the rears up 1 notch, the H&R's have always caused the rear to sit lower then the fronts.

[Jared71482]

Good to know. No height adjustments here... I was thinking of cutting a half-inch off the bottom of each front strut to make things more even. Either that or there is a local guy willing to throw them in a lathe and make another notch.

What other springs would give me a sililar drop but be more even?

[dmott11]

i would put some H&R race springs on the bilsteins. that would give you more of a drop. But first things first, make sure its not the bilsteins that need replacing.

[onemoremile]

H&R Race would drop it more but it would drop the same front and rear which doesn't fix the rake issue. I'd have the notches cut. Be sure that he measures the notch depth carefully before cutting.

Have you checked to see if anything is loose back there? Any funny noises or anything else strange? It is unlikely that both rear struts blew at the same time. My old Jetta had the same set of Bilsteins for over a quarter million miles without a problem. Didn't even start autocrossing it competitively until over 252k miles.

[Jared71482]

there are a few slight noises back there... which makes me think the bushings are worn out... but the way it bounces back up when pushed down says the struts are bad.

I also find it strange that both would go... it always had a soft ride... just never really picked up on the bounce...

my response from bilstein was full of questions... seems like this wont be all that easy.

[B518T]

I have bilstein/neuspeed race springs....ride height is perfect....no bouncing at all and it feels amazing anywhere....

I am guessing you have a rake issue...the front of the car should not sit higher than the rear....