Hi all,
A bit off topic as it is about shock absorbers, not dampers, but I
mentioned a few days ago about my experience with Bilstein shocks and
which brand is worth chosing.
The Bilsteins I have were bought in France from a local distributor
called Eurofac in Chelles near Paris. It's a heavy duty gas shock with
an external reservoire (a.k.a "bonbon"). It's used mainly for desert
"raids" French style, i.e. eyes closed and pedal to the metal, on any
surface, in any location. So, I thought, at reasonable speeds on the
piste they would last even longer.
I fitted these shocks 11 months ago and all seemed fine until I
discovered that one front shock lost gas pressure. No problem, I
thought, just ring Bilstein UK and have it replaced under warranty.
Hell, no! I had to send it to France (p/p =A330). From France it went
to Germany to the factory for tech inspection. A replacement shock was
shipped from Germany also to the French seller, who charged me EUR30
for shipping it back to the UK. The whole business took over a month.
Tough luck, I thought. Then I went to Libya and on the second day of
driving on a relatively easy piste the new shock failed by spilling
oil though the shaft seal. It must have done 3k km from new.
On the way back I went to see Eurofac and showed them their product.
Their first reaction was "Ce ne pas possible!!!! Two shocks failing
one after another? Bilstein shocks just don't do that!!! You must have
damaged it deliberately. "
Following a lengthy argument they repaired the shock free of charge, but...
- My other three shocks are now past the warranty, so if any one fails
the charge for repairs will be EUR 175 + p/p. A new shock costs EUR
250.
And ..
- the Koni Heavy Track Raid shocks cost about the same, are just as
good or better in terms of technology and built quality and are
available locally from several UK dealers.
So no prizes for guessing whether I am going to buy Bilstein again.
--
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80