they still have it as $75 on their site

i hope it isnt $125 now, ive been trying to gather the money up to send my bilsteins in for a couple of months now

 

I thought that GTWorx springs and Swift rates were designed with the MR Bilsteins in mind already?

 

^ ours work with both...the Swifts have a separate version that's like 5 lbs/in stiffer, really no difference.

There is an improvement to be made by revalving them to a more "sport" setting....Myles just spent a week out in CA working with Bilstein engineers......the results are fantastic.....for WRX. We'd like to get some used MR Bilsteins and work our magic and sell them as a complete, revalved for a more aggressive yet still very street friendly, damper.

- andrew

 

D'OH! Where's the love?

Yes please. There is an undeniable market for this. Hopefully enough for it to be profitable for you to do that. I'd be interested.

 

2 weeks for those wondering the waiting time.

 

I ship out my Bilsteins every winter for one thing or another.. my PSS9 coilovers are $125/each. non-adjustables should still be $75 each.

Ramon and Raul over at Bilstein are awesome at their work, but sometimes their turnaround time varies. I'd call and talk to Clairance (sp?) who is the customer service manager and verify that they received your shocks, and check back at the end of each week until you hear from them that they're ready to send back to you.

I've had times vary from 1 week to 3, and I was told 2 weeks each time. Good suspension setup BTW.

 

was just told this too

they also confirmed that the prices on their site are still valid

it did NOT increase to $125 to revalve/rebuild mr bilsteins

 

^^^sure hope not^^^ lol

 

yesss! :d

 

I wouldn't waste my time or money sending shocks to Bilstein for a re-valve. Do some research on "Bilstein re-valving" and you'll learn that that Bilstein is probably your worst option (this shouldn't be a surprise; stock Bilstein shocks are notorious for having weak compression and overly strong rebound). I'd suggest contacting Bernie Stewart @ Stewart Development in High Point, NC. SD does custom re-valving of Bilstein shocks for a wide range of racers (Spec Miata to NASCAR). Standard rates for shocks (not sure about struts) are $100 per (more than Bilstein, but you get a true custom re-valve vs. Bilstein's coarse re-valve for $75). Miataturbo.net just put together a group buy with Bernie and got $80/shock pricing for custom re-valves; I'm waiting to get my Bilsteins back.

 

Interesting info mx5tc. So do they ask you what spring rates you will be running, etc, or how else do they base their re-valving? Thanks.

 

id be interested in seeing more data to back up your claim.

i believe smikevo has had good experiences with custom valved bilsteins. gt worx just said that they spent time with their engineers and the results were good, so obviously they know what they are doing.

and this is probably the first time ive heard anyone say anything bad about the stock my bilsteins...

so i am just curious to see how you have come to this conclusion, thats all

 

^ Yes, that.

 

This is partially true....from what I understand, who is doing the revalving at Bilstein can make a difference and you can ask for specific things....some of which they will be willing to do. With our custom valved Bilsteins for Subaru, Myles flew out to Poway for an intense R&D session and their engineers were very receptive to working with us. Several damping profiles were tested on the shock dyno and real world conditions. We made sure extra special attention was paid to low speed compression damping, knowing Bilstien's reputation for a lack of solid compression damping. The result is really really good and we're hoping to carry that over to EVO.

The standard Bilstein HD valving is not that bad for EVO....definitely room for improvement, but not bad. The MR's are fine too, but both have a lot of untapped potential from a good revalve.

- Andrew

 

Based on the collective experience of many Miata enthusiasts/racers and a lot of shock dyno testing done by Shaik (Fat Cat Motorsports, check out his website). It is pretty common knowledge that Bilstein HD and Sport shocks have relatively weak compression and rather firm rebound characteristics; rumored to be due to much smoother roads in Germany than the US. I have not seen dyno tests on the MR spec Bilsteins....so I don't know if they have the same rebound harshness of HDs and Sports .

If anyone has shock dyno results from stock MR Bilsteins, I'd like to see them...I'm currently trying to decide if I should re-valve or just try them with GTWorx or Swift Sport MR spec springs (anything has to be better than my stock IX springs/KYBs...Shaik bounce tested and drove my IX last year and couldn't believe how harsh the rebound characteristics of the KYBs were.

If you look at some of the more successful Miata autoxers and Spec racers, they have had hit & miss results with Bilstein USA re-valves (I've heard a key individual at Bilstein's California location where the re-valves are done left in the last year or so). Shaik/Fat Cat Motorsports and Stewart Development have been praised by a number of Miata racers for improving shock setups over Bilstein's coarse re-valves.

Bernie Stewart can shorten Bilsteins, convert standard Bilsteins to adjustables (speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?) or valve a shock to a curve that you supply. Bernie traveled with NASCAR for a few years and won 2 championships ( Bobby Hamilton, Truck Series 2004; Kevin Harvick, Nationwide Series 2006.). He also has a good number of Spec Miata customers.

For my Miata re-valve, I gave him the front/rear spring rates I'm running, ride height & rake, other suspension components (GC coilover sleevs, FCM 46mm MCU bumpstops, NB tophats, sway bar sizes) and intended primary use (street car w/some autox and track days).

FWIW, I've also run Bilstein HDs on my old Volvo 240 (IPD lowering performance springs, sway bars and poly suspension bushings) and currently run them on my Jeep GC. Certainly better than stock shocks or KYB whites but still need more compression and less rebound.