General Rear Dampers - Recommendations

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General Rear Dampers - Recommendations

TQ1

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Dec 23, 2019
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Hi,

I rotated my tyres front - rear at the weekend (do it every 6 months) and it gives time to inspect the car.

The top bush on the rear suspension is going on the o/s. Its not quite 3 years old yet.... The exhaust clamp to the backbox is shot as well, but removing and fitting a new one might do more harm than good there... (n)

I could take it to the dealer but I can see a protracted process and it not being covered as it is technically wear and tear.

I've been reading through the threads and it seems to come down to Koni or Bilstein. The Bilstein B4 are available for ~£90 from carparts4less and other websites. The B6 are around double this.

The Koni there seem to be quite a few options, the classic red or yellows. Red are none adjustable and yellow you have to take off the car to adjust (iirc). Then there are Black Koni which are just standard Abarth shocks?

It is just a standard 1.2 Lounge, but does get driven moderately spiritedly. Daily is a NSL twisty bumpy (currently potholed) country road for 3-4 miles, then 10 miles of normal road.

Would I be happy with the B4 shocks? They look to have a similar bush to the standard shock (is the B6 solid?), will they just rip in 2-3 years, is it better to polybush instead?

I'll leave the front shocks alone for now as it looks a lot more involved and maybe not a DIY job in winter for a one car house.
 
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Suspect the Bilstein B4 shocks will be fine. The rear suspension assembly is straight forward, even in winter on a drive if you're a home mechanic. My daughter is home for Chrismas, so her 2009 500 1.2 litre gets a well deserved annual service and check-over when she's here.

Noticed there was a definate clunk when I took it out to warm the oil prior to draining, so duscovered both rear coil springs were broken, and a bump stop rolling about that had sheared off. :bang:

As the car is jacked up and you need to undo the lower shock bolt, I'd fit new bump stops. They deteriorate with age. I'm fitting Febi Bilstein.

Chock the front wheels, a Draper extension bar and 1/2" square socket are needed. Think the lower shock bolt is 19mm. You need another jack to lift the rear axle assemble to line up to refit the bolt. Use a little grease on the thread before torquing down.
 
Thanks for the reply, it looks simple enough, getting to the top bolt to torque it up might be tricky with the wheels back on/car on the ground (as recommended by Bilstein).

I think a 3/8” torque wrench will fit in the wheel arch. I’ll get Xmas/new year over with and then look at it.

Going to rust treat the sump and paint it at the same time.

It’s only a 2017 car, the bump stops looked in VGC still, we don’t load the car up much so they haven’t seen much use.
 
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