Technical Suspension Advice - Shocks/Bushes

[Turtle]

Hello again!

Had my 2008 500 1.3 diesel booked in for it's service today, and have come away with a list of faults that need to be rectified. Tyres I knew about, brake discs/pads I knew about as it went through it's MOT with both of these as advisories a few weeks ago.

As part of Arnold Clark's '32-Point Service" (which I am most dissatisfied with) the mechanic identified the n/s/f shocker to be leaking (replacement £220.39) and the rear shocker bushes to be split (replacement cost £228.98). Even if I was happy with those prices, I wouldn't trust them to carry out the work after today's experience, but I suppose that's a story for another thread!

To get to my point/question: Ideally I will get these parts from eBay/Dingbro and have my local (trusted) independent mechanic fit them for what i'm guessing will be a fraction of the price. Has anyone had to replace these parts before, and if so which brand(s) did you go with, and how much did you spend all in? I just want to rectify any issues before putting the car up for sale, so Koni FSD's or Bilstein's are probably more than i'm after. A good quality OEM part would suffice.

 

[306maxi]

You can get bilstein b4's, they will do the job just fine

 

[Turtle]

That's helpful, thanks! A quick search suggests it would be more economical to buy the front and rear kit together - would that solve the rear bush issue? My lack of technical knowledge means I don't know if the bushes are part of the shocks only, or if there are more, and a search of the forum didn't help!

 

[Turtle]

Part No's seem to be:

Front Left: 22-197351
Front Right: 22-197368
Rear: 19-184104

http://www.bilstein.de/de/produkte/suche-service/online-katalog.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Shock-A...s=Car+Make:Fiat|Model:500&hash=item43bb9ead9e

 

[AndyRKett]

Rear shocks are fairly easy to replace your self 2 bolts and about £30 each or as I found out recently these bushes can be repaired using a product made by 3m and called windo weld which is now commonly used to repair this type of bushing.

If I were you I would assess the front shock your self, they tend to be gas so don't really have a lot to leak

 

[bgunn]

If I were you I would assess the front shock your self, they tend to be gas so don't really have a lot to leak

Common misconception with 'gas' dampers is that they use gas as the fluid for damping. That's not true, they're gas pressurised to help stop the oil (which is the damping medium) from foaming.

By now, the damping performance will be pretty pitiful on a 2008 car, so you'd really be silly not to replace both front dampers if one is leaking. As said, don't replace with the rather cheap COFAP dampers though - they're just cheaply made OEM rubbish. Very few cars don't have dampers built down to a price fitted in the factory, so you're always going to find something better from reputable manufacturers on the aftermarket.