Front shocks goooooooooooooooone!

[boogz]

I was waiting for this to happen once I put the Eibach springs in and left the stock shocks...

Travelling from Sydney (Blacktown) to Canberra on the Hume and Federal Highways, I encountered some scary dips. I had a full load and when I say full I mean 350kgs plus of my mates in the back (football front rowers) and another 160kgs in the front (myself and the front passenger) it probably didn't help with another 50-60kgs of gear in the boot.

Anyway, travelling at an average speed of 120 clicks, the dips came up pretty fast and unexpected. So when we hit them it was the car felt like it was jumping off a trampoline!!!

So a day or so later, the car starts acting uncharacteristically around bends and the knocks and bumps becoming more violent. A vibration was coming the steering wheel and so I knew this is not a good sign.

Took my car to the mechanics and he proceeded to show me the oil on his hand after checking the front right shock. As suspected it was blown.

So brings me to the point, what shocks do I replace with? Any had experience with the following - Bilstein, Boge and/or Koni?

I want a smooth ride as I've got a pregnant wife (soon to give birth) and 5 year old. I'd love to say stuff it and go the hardcore sports suspension but you'd be wasting your money on Sydney roads. I'd be replacing them after 24 months from the 4WD driving I'd be doing down the M4 lol!

Thoughts and advice please?


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[boogz]

Front shocks goooooooooooooooone!

Also one of the control arms bent, so I'll be looking for a new set or just replacing.

[gldgti]

I dont know how you bent a control arm, they are massive - but I have a set sitting at home doing nothing. PM me if your interested - probably I'd want $100 for the pair.

I just bought these for my wagon:
eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d�r

that ebays store will have ones to suit your car too.... about the best price I could find.

[DunlopRS]

I can't help myself - "from my perspective that is one of the best pieces (read least holes / best - smoothest surface) of road in the country......."

[pologti18t]

Koni FSDs or Koni Yellow?

[Guest001]

Perhaps observing the speed limit may give you time to amend your speed to the road conditions and prevent car damage.

Along with a payload limit of 555kg including fuel may have been a bit much for the poor wee thing.

[brad]

Short answer: Koni Yellow Sports.

I have a set on order / in transit at the moment ~$750 for F & R.

The Bilstein B4 that GLDGTI linked to are like an OEM replacement.

The sportier Bilstein are usually a bit harsh on compression (from my experience), especially of road joins, etc.

The partno is exactly the same as a Golf GTI

edit: I recently fitted Koni Yellows to a 2012 Polo 77tsi. The owner loves them. He's pretty fussy. His weekend car is a Lotus Evora.

Also did Koni Yellows on a Gen4 Liberty. Pretty good but the owner was constantly fiddling with the rebound settings. IIRC, Koni are fixed compression & adjustable rebound.

Have fitted aftermarket B5 Bilstein to a Liberty & they were fairly harsh out of the box. Had them revalved & they were still harsh on road joins etc.

[boogz]

Front shocks goooooooooooooooone!

I can't help myself - "from my perspective that is one of the best pieces (read least holes / best - smoothest surface) of road in the country......."

Hume Highway I'll admit is a smooth piece of road, but can be deceiving. There are humps and dips everywhere. As for the Federal, are you kidding me?! That's about a smooth as a bush track! The closer you get to Canberra (from Sydney) it improves...

[boogz]

Front shocks goooooooooooooooone!

Perhaps observing the speed limit may give you time to amend your speed to the road conditions and prevent car damage.

Along with a payload limit of 555kg including fuel may have been a bit much for the poor wee thing.

In my defence, I didn't have a choice in the passengers as I took 3 of them after their XR6 broke down. As for observing the speed limit, our road rules and roads are a joke compared to other countries who have less than us here in this great land. We were sort of in a rush to get to a game after the break down saga. I think my car did quite well considering the circumstances. It has about 166k on the clock and by slightly lowering it, the poor stock shocks could not bear the brunt... But I take your point

[DunlopRS]

Try some of the bitumen 'highways' off the nationals around Dubbo (while on stock wheels on my RS they were impossible to traverse at more than 70 km/hr...... or even the hay plain (what should be considered a major route)..... or some of the bitumen on the Yorke Peninsula in SA……..

Each to his own. I know that when I leave town I will always find 6” deep sheer sided holes at full speed that will be impossible to avoid somewhere on the trip (unless I want to go under the road train coming the other way….)

[code618]

Agreed Dunlop - I used to cover the Yorke peninsula as a sales rep and they are shocking roads (no pun intended). It was my first experience aqua planing at speed - scary.

Boogz - I would be more worried at running into your mates at speed than bumps - that is a big payload.

As for shocks recommendation, cant assist as I have no idea....

[cyclesoul]

Look at the super pro lower arms, I very nearly bought a set off here. They are alloy, lighter, and include anti lift and come with bushes, bout 500 n a good upgrade over stock I reckon, as for shocks I will see wat u experience as I think mine will b on a limited lifespan with 50mm lowered springs

[Fireside]

Front shocks goooooooooooooooone!

I'm rockin the koni fsds, they are softer than I had expected and can take a serious beating too!
I surf almost everyday and most of the time I'm carting a full car down some stupidly rough tracks and the Koni/eibach combo has held up for the past 35000kms, and still going great.
My missus is also up the duff and no complaints from her either.

[woofy]

Geeze you live in the wrong place, how long does it take you to get to a surfing spot?

[BottomScratcher]

.....I want a smooth ride as I've got a pregnant wife (soon to give birth) and 5 year old.....

1. So, let's get the real problem out of the way first. You are in denial that your needs are better filled by a Superb or a Yeti than a vRS. Perfectly understandable, but keeping your head in the sand while trying to make sports suspension family friendly is going to cost you a lot of money in the long run.

....and by slightly lowering it, the poor stock shocks could not bear the brunt...

2. So it's already lowered, AND you've got the front row from The Team That God Forgot, and their kit onboard. Just how much travel do reckon was left before bottoming out? No spring compression left + no shock travel left = bent control arm.

3. As much as you don't want to do it - see 1.