Bilstein B6 unavailability

[Stein-man]

I have been looking for lowering springs and slightly-stiffer-than stock-dampers.  IE can fix me up with their stage 1 spring set and Bilstein B6 rear shocks, but no fronts.  Another vendor I talked to said his supplier contacted Bilstein, and they have no stock and seem to be going away from "aftermarket" shocks.  Waiting for something that may never come is not part of this resto project.  Is there an alternative that's not KYB?  Has anyone had a good experience with KYBs?  I'm currenly skunked.  Let me know your thoughts, thanks!

 

- Rob

[Son of Marty]

The KYB shocks are great for air cooled VW buses, but they missed the boat for 2002s way to stiff in the rear.

[Emyers]

Koni shocks.....

[ssp2019]

Bilstein UK has them: the B6 HD front strut insert (34-000236).  I got mine several months ago.  Here's the link:

 

Front Bilstein B6 - Sport Shock Absorber - 34-000236 - Bilstein-Shocks.co.uk.webloc

[Stein-man]

SS-

A gold star for you, sir!  I have ordered them, and they *haven't* told me (yet) that they can't ship because they are out of stock.  So, keeping my fingers crossed.  I also went ahead and bought the B6 rears from IE.

- Rob

[Tdh]

I've put several sets of KYB's on the fronts of TR6's (rears on a TR are lever shocks), for other people and get varying reports.  I ran a set on my own TR in a rally and hated them.  I removed them when I got home.  Junk IMO. Compression is so stiff that it feels like the car is going to explode when you hit a pothole.  From the standpoint of cornering, they're an improvement over stock for a TR, but still too damn stiff.   

Edited May 20, 2020 by Tdh

[M3M3]

Lack of b6's had been a problem for a very long time and there are many threads on the topic.

 

Just get Koni sports front and rear and don't look back.

[Gordon]

Go with Koni shocks, they are 20% off right now

https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Shock-Value-Sale/

[Mike Self]

I put KYB inserts  on the front of my '69--shot in less than 35k miles, while the Bilstein fronts I installed around 1981 on my '73 are still going strong after 140k or so miles.  Maybe KYBs have improved since then but I wouldn't count on it.

 

mike