Dampers (shocks) lasting nearly “forever”?

[UG_Passat]

The Sachs dampers on my Tiguan lasted a little over 100,000 miles, then switched to Bilstein.

iirc, Bilstein is a supplier to Mercedes.

 

[AlphaOmega]

The Sachs dampers on my Tiguan lasted a little over 100,000 miles, then switched to Bilstein.

iirc, Bilstein is a supplier to Mercedes.

Did they leak or what happened?

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Could you please quantify it?

How?

Other than my current vehicle which has factory sport (mag-ride) suspension and only 37k miles currently, I've changed the suspension in every vehicle I've owned at least once. Granted, I'm 41 and have only owned five cars. If we include my wife's JK Wrangler that she had for eight years/130k miles I changed the shocks in that vehicle twice.

Once it starts to feel "off" at all, it gets changed. An actual leaking strut only happened two times in those instances, but stuff can certainly wear before it starts leaking.

 

[UG_Passat]

Did they leak or what happened?

Leak.

Replaced them with Bilstein B4's

Had Bilstein Sports (B8) for nearly 200,000 miles, before the front strut leaked, replaced with Bilstein B4's

 

[Bjornviken]

They might not be unsafe, but there is no way they work as well as new. I’ve never encountered dampers that didn’t feel tired compared to their replacements, and I’ve replaced them as early as 50k on some cars. It creeps up on you, but if you put them on a damper dyno I’m sure it’s not the same as new.

High end dampers need rebuilding quite often if you want to maintain performance.

That's why i replace them IF they fail the dyno test at yearly inspection. Inspection is statutory in my country.

 

[chris719]

That's why i replace them IF they fail the dyno test at yearly inspection. Inspection is statutory in my country.

I mean a real shock/damper dyno though like a performance shop would do. Not something you'll get at inspection. I'm sure they are safe, it's just I doubt they perform like new.

 

[Bjornviken]

I mean a real shock/damper dyno though like a performance shop would do. Not something you'll get at inspection.

its a dyno, same goes for brakes.

 

[AlphaOmega]

its a dyno, same goes for brakes.

Finnish standards are like science fiction for many Americans

 

[chris719]

Finnish standards are like science fiction for many Americans

Could be wrong, but all high resolution shock dynos I have seen require removal from the car.

 

[AlphaOmega]

I mean a real shock/damper dyno though like a performance shop would do. Not something you'll get at inspection.

What’s the scoop on dampers lasting in Finland, given annual proper testing? Like what “do you hear” from friends and family on the matter?

*Congrats on joint NATO and thanks for your help to “friends-in-unhappiness” with respect to having a certain common neighbor

 

[chris719]

What’s the scoop on dampers lasting in Finland, given annual proper testing? Like what “do you hear” from friends and family on the matter?

*Congrats on joint NATO and thanks for your help to “friends-in-unhappiness” with respect to having a certain common neighbor

They are testing to ensure safety. They are not testing to ensure OEM as-new performance. This is common sense.

 

[Bjornviken]

Finnish standards are like science fiction for many Americans

Hahha you get whipped for owning a car in Finland, would prefer to have American standards when it comes to cars

 

[Bjornviken]

They are testing to ensure safety. They are not testing to ensure OEM as-new performance. This is common sense.

dyno test it is, maybe not high end test. But to measure the oem specs you must surely remove them. But it is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration when most of them are completely ordinary cars

 

[AlphaOmega]

Hahha you get whipped for owning a car in Finland, would prefer to have American standards when it comes to cars

It’s always a package, with its own pluses and minuses

 

[AlphaOmega]

They are testing to ensure safety. They are not testing to ensure OEM as-new performance. This is common sense.

Is not sufficient for our purposes? An engine with a 100k miles on it is not to OEM spec either, but theres hardly a meaningful difference between them - for our purposes

 

[chris719]

Is not sufficient for our purposes? An engine with a 100k miles on it is not to OEM spec either, but theres hardly a meaningful difference between them - for our purposes

In my experience shocks with 100k are tired and it’s extremely noticeable when they are replaced.

 

[Audiman]

I have a 2005 E61 BMW msport package that still has its original sachs front shocks with 205,000 miles on. Shocks still function correctly and get a good rebound test everyday I’m at work going over the speed bumps.

I would notice pretty quickly if one of my shocks was failing as I do the same route over the bumps in customer cars and see some older Audi ones with high rebound.

So no I would not replace based on age or mileage. As with any car part I would asses it’s function and go from there.

 

[meep]

I’ve seen wildly different lifespans for oem dampers.

my family has driven several Hondas to the grave with oem struts. The springs may have been sagging some, but as far as general commuting duty, they were still controlled. in general, my family is pretty easy on cars.

I had 3 Volvo s60s near 200k. Two were still well controlled and one even rode a bit stiff. At 180k, one was getting tired but spring sag was worse than dampening; it was probably time for a refresh. One still had good dampers up front but did float in the tail a bit, but not enough to be a problem.

ford f-150 with interstate towing - rear shocks were .Done. at 20k. Surprisingly enough, bilstien 5100s that I then installed in the rear lost rebound dampening after after 30k more miles. Have fox shocks on the rear now - they seem incredibly well made but they ride hard.

97 Subaru. rears were bad by 50k, fronts fine. Swapped all 4 for KYB GR2. I do like swapping all 4 together when that can be done. That transformed the car.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Depends on how bad the roads are and how bad the rust is

I've had a couple rusted strut mounts, and even a rusted spring that fell off the perch

Easier to just replace the complete assembly. Quick struts are awesome

 

[Elroy the Brave]

I think most shocks and struts are replaced unnecessarily. I have found that in the absence of severe fluid leakage or obvious signs of failure, replacing the unit often yields very minimal improvements.

More often than not, folks replace the OE unit with an aftermarket unit that is tuned differently. The aftermarket unit is tuned to be stiffer (or softer), and because the driver notices a difference (after the work is done), they assume that the OE unit had failed.

I had springs that sagged on a few Ford vehicles, which resulted in too much negative camber and tire wear.

To fix it I opted to throw some Quick Struts on the car which fixed the problem.

But the old struts didn't seem to be leaking at even 135,000 miles.