Detroit Axle Rear shocks or Bilstein rear shocks?

DR1

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I have a 2008 Nissan Titan 2wd with 146k on it. I want to have my mechanic replace the rear shocks. Should I spend the extra money on the Bilstein 4600 or should I go for the detroit axle rear shocks?
 
I would use a kyb gas adjust over the detroit brand. I like bilstein but rock auto lists a price of $172 each, um no. I put bilsteins on my avalanche when i had it and they were at that time around $80 each if i remember correctly.

Edit , i see the bilstein monotubes on amazon and rock auto for under $80, i'd use these.

 
Here is a pic of where i replaced gabriel ultras with bilsteins on my avalanche. Take note of the rubber bushing size and that the bolt bushing was uniform on the bilstein, a flat piece rolled into a circle on the gabriel.


Bilstein, hands down.
img_20201004_112042338-jpg.31532
 
I would use a kyb gas adjust over the detroit brand. I like bilstein but rock auto lists a price of $172 each, um no. I put bilsteins on my avalanche when i had it and they were at that time around $80 each if i remember correctly.

Edit , i see the bilstein monotubes on amazon and rock auto for under $80, i'd use these.

These don't fit a 2008.
 
These don't fit a 2008.
rock auto and amazon both list it as a fit. Unless something is different about your truck. I realize sometimes these can be off , but 2 sites list it.


Bilstein also lists it.

 
Here is a pic of where i replaced gabriel ultras with bilsteins on my avalanche. Take note of the rubber bushing size and that the bolt bushing was uniform on the bilstein, a flat piece rolled into a circle on the gabriel.


Bilstein, hands down.
img_20201004_112042338-jpg.31532
There's no question the bilsteins are better, but a larger busing or how they made the sleeve aren't really near the top of my concerns list.

Bushing, meh +/- dampening but the sleeve, makes no differences until rusted through at end of life IF due to that, which is practically never the cause of end of life for a shock.

Internal design, ability of powder-coating to resist rust, and component quality matter more to me. Gabriel shocks would be fine for the average vehicle if they focused on those things. Funny how a couple dollars worth of changes results in around 3X the price difference. It stinks, the BS we have to put up with to get premium components where you end up paying 50X the construction cost difference.

Even so, Bilstein wins, no way I'd put detroit axle on anything unless the only goal was get it working enough to sell ASAP, as cheap as possible with a pretend real brand instead of the same chinese generic under some laughable brand name.
 
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Unless you plan on flipping this thing, go bilstein. On my trailblazer, I replaced the shot oem shocks and struts with Monroe, possibly sensitrack or however they are spelled. Worked great right off the hop but I think I got 60,000km out of them before they were beyond shot. Replaced with 4600s which are as tight now as they were when I put them on 3 years back.

When it comes time for shocks on my 3500, bilstein are what's going on.
 
I bought some Detroit Axle stuff from ebay and they sent me the wrong parts twice.

It's annoying to deal with when you have something apart and find you got the wrong part.

I would say that Detroit Axle is similar in quality to your no name parts store parts, but harder to return.
 
No question this is not even a comparison, Bilsteins are one of the top brands in the world.

I wouldn't touch Detroit axle with a 10 foot pole.
 
Put first set ever bilsteines on 17 silverado. Made me realize every other cheapo shock is just krap. A little firm at first but very controlled damping is what you feel instead of mush for the rest.
 
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