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I am in the process of installing these on there front. I used the OEM bump stop for the fronts. However, when I put the car down and looked at the spring/shock compression, the bump stop is riding the top of the mount, and the dust jacket is completely compressed. There isn't really any room for the shock to work without hitting the stop. I am guessing this is due to the B8 having shorter travel? Anyway, this doesn't seem right to me. I've read some about there being an internal bump stop, but when I called Bilstein and gave the tech the part number, he said an external stop is recommended, and that maybe the springs are too aggressive, but a lot of people on this forum seem to use this combination without issue. Any one out there have this set up and run into this issue?
I am in the process of installing these on there front. I used the OEM bump stop for the fronts. However, when I put the car down and looked at the spring/shock compression, the bump stop is riding the top of the mount, and the dust jacket is completely compressed. There isn't really any room for the shock to work without hitting the stop. I am guessing this is due to the B8 having shorter travel? Anyway, this doesn't seem right to me. I've read some about there being an internal bump stop, but when I called Bilstein and gave the tech the part number, he said an external stop is recommended, and that maybe the springs are too aggressive, but a lot of people on this forum seem to use this combination without issue. Any one out there have this set up and run into this issue?
When i installed H&Rs and B8s i contacted several people and all said i should install the stock bump stop. If you look at the shock, the body length is the same, just the shaft is 1" shorter. This limits the travel when topping out the suspension. With the H&Rs and B8s it will ride well on smooth normal road but when you G out you can definitely tell you have lowered the car. Firm is subjective term, but your ride will definitely be firm. I would not omit the bump stop and expose the suspension to metal on metal contact
When i installed H&Rs and B8s i contacted several people and all said i should install the stock bump stop. If you look at the shock, the body length is the same, just the shaft is 1" shorter. This limits the travel when topping out the suspension. With the H&Rs and B8s it will ride well on smooth normal road but when you G out you can definitely tell you have lowered the car. Firm is subjective term, but your ride will definitely be firm. I would not omit the bump stop and expose the suspension to metal on metal contact
Thanks, I decided to shave 3/4 inch off the bottom of the OEM bump stop. It now has the same clearance when compared to the stock side. Hopefully, that will do it. The roads around Austin are pretty good shape - the car had the original shocks, the shock bearings just fell apart when I took them off, and the drop links were blown, too, so even if it's firm I would think it will feel a heck of a lot better. If I had to do it over again I would have stayed with the stock springs, but kinda stuck going down this path, we will see how it turns out.
If i had it to do over again i would install the Ohlins R&T. I may try shaving the bump stops also to get a bit more compliance. I could do it with just the wheel off i think.
If i had it to do over again i would install the Ohlins R&T. I may try shaving the bump stops also to get a bit more compliance. I could do it with just the wheel off i think.
I used a small hacksaw and it worked pretty well, and there is a groove just above that bottom rounded part - that's what I took off. From what I read the bump stop can also be used to assist with spring rate, and the Bilstein tech told me it would be a really harsh/firm ride if the car was riding on the bump stop, and I believe him. If you manage to trim some off I'd like to hear if it made the ride better.
Well - here are a couple pictures - the first one shows the bump stop touching the top, and the next one shows the bottom, and that's with about 3/4" cut off! It's would definitely be riding the bump stops had I not cut some off. I also don't understand the the 3 parts of the spring compressed in a sitting state. Maybe the springs are bad? They are like this on both sides.
From what I have heard and seen, all h&r springs sit like that. There should be a clear plastic sleeve over the 3 or so coils that are close together also. Those coils are kind of like the helper springs on coil overs but have a bit more function.
Springs have like 150 miles on them, I bought the set of springs and B8 shocks from Bear on this site, as he decided to go with coilovers. . But I agree with Third-Reef, from what I have seen and read they are meant to be that way. I found a H&R PDF about the springs on their coil overs that says: On coil overs with ‘full bodied’ springs you may see coils which are very close to each other. These are dead or inactive coils. These are also designed to be completely compressed when loaded. So I am guessing some of their regular springs are meant to do this. The car is very low - I may go back and put spacers in.
01-24-2019, 05:05 PM
H&R B8 install question
