Need some help with my bilstein shock. It slipped out! Sitting on springs.

[s1ick]

Ok so the other day I was driving and I heard a big bang. Afterwards I started to heard clunking from the drivers side rear. I was hoping it wasnt the RSM. Luckily it wasnt. The rear shock had slipped off. When I took a look at the car, the bolt was still on the hub. Bolt was still attached and the metal piece that goes between the bolt and rubber stayed attached as well. There was no washer.. I attempted to fix it with my roommate but it was too cold outside. The metal piece would not fit back into rubber. My guess is that its too cold for it to expand? Has anyone had experience with this before and know for a fact that it can be pushed back in? If it cant I will have to buy a new pair for the time being.

I don't have pictures of my exact car but will try to get some tonight. Here are a few examples.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t179/carsmiami/DSC02156.jpg
In the picture above, theres the bolt and after that theres a small bulge of yellow. That yellow piece is the metal piece. So when I took a look underneath the car, the shock was just dangling and the bolt and the yellow metal piece was still on the hub.

Thanks for any help in advance,
Steve

[mitchelrl]

I suggest pulling it off completely and sending it back to Koni.

If you HAVE to drive on it, heat it back up and try to press it back in and when you put it back in your car, put a washer large enough to stop the metal portion of the shock from moving out past the bolt.

That is only a temporary fix though.

[s1ick]

I suggest pulling it off completely and sending it back to Koni.

If you HAVE to drive on it, heat it back up and try to press it back in and when you put it back in your car, put a washer large enough to stop the metal portion of the shock from moving out past the bolt.

That is only a temporary fix though.

I do plan on evaluating my options. I am going to call bilstein in a few hours and see what their objective is on this problem. If it can be replaced then I guess I will have to buy a rear shock from dealership for the time being.

Thanks for your post

[s1ick]

Sweet car btw. I say keep those rims.

[M3BimmerBilly]

This is known to happen. It has been suggested you use a washer bigger than the yellow sleeve when installing it.

[s1ick]

This is known to happen. It has been suggested you use a washer bigger than the yellow sleeve when installing it.

Yea the PO had it installed at the dealership. They didnt put a washer on either side :mad Do you happen to know if the metal piece can be pushed back in?

[madspeed]

Yup, the metal piece can be pushed back in. When it happened to my car a long time ago, I took it to a machine shop and he put it back in for 20 bucks.

[///Mmmm, Donuts]

I dealt with this before on a track day. If you remove the shock you should be able to press the collar back in place with a vice. You can also hammer it back in, but you will have to file down (taper, fillet, chamfer, whatever you want to call it) one end of the collar because it is quite a bit larger than the hole in the rubber. Then be sure to use a large washer when you put the shock back on the car. Problem solved.

Why Bilstein doesn't use a retainer like the stock units is beyond me.

[s1ick]

Yup, the metal piece can be pushed back in. When it happened to my car a long time ago, I took it to a machine shop and he put it back in for 20 bucks.


I dealt with this before on a track day. If you remove the shock you should be able to press the collar back in place with a vice. You can also hammer it back in, but you will have to file down (taper, fillet, chamfer, whatever you want to call it) one end of the collar because it is quite a bit larger than the hole in the rubber. Then be sure to use a large washer when you put the shock back on the car. Problem solved.

Why Bilstein doesn't use a retainer like the stock units is beyond me.

Thanks for the response guys! It looked like an easy fix but I just wanted to make sure that it could be done.