upside down bilstein inserts

[BLUNT]

we need some advice on these. im helping kyle (kweebs) rebuild his suspension and it turns out this car has a bunch of trick bits on it. we cannot get the inserts out of the front struts. we removed the nuts on the bottom of the struts and tried to tap them out after soaking them with penetrating oil. these struts are new to me so im not sure im using the correct method to get them out. there are no threaded gland nuts like youd find on a nornal strut.. i dont want to damage the inserts as we are sending them to be revalved. anyone have any tips on these that has had these before? just bang harder? im worried ill damage the threads. theres a slot on the end of the shaft but i assumed thats to hold them steady when loosening or tightening like normal struts. any help is appreciated

[Guest Anonymous]

Steve what you have their appears to be a pair of Bilstein "Red Dot" (ALPINA) 36mm dia. front struts, pretty hard to come by anymore and long long ago NLA - so be careful with them. I cant recall for sure, but I believe that the rod (insert) is threaded through the bottom. The part coming through the bottom has a notch, you can either try to use a proper sized screw driver and essentially "unscrew" the insert from the bottom OR try to twist the insert from the top. IF that fails, box them up and send them to Bilstein in San Diego. (Call the Bilstein San Diego number and ask for Jack French in the tech/service department), he knows the old stuff like the back of his hand. You can send them out to them and probably have them re-built and or re-valved if you need/want to for not that much $$$. Good Luck.

[Guest Anonymous]

I meant to also add that the taper at the bottom is a tell-tale that these are red or green dots (I also think I see a red dot in the paint on the strut). The tube is wider than what fits into the spindle another reason they are inverted (an insert wouldn't fit all the way to the bottom). These also happily had 1.5 deg of negative camber in them if I remember correctly.

[pkbinplano]

I've got those also. Inverted Bilsteins. Very rare. I called Bilstein a year or so ago and they do revalve them. I forgot about the 1.5 neg camber. Sweet struts. I love mine. Using those with stock springs. When I hit rr tracks it's just a thump thump , not a harsh ride at all, but firm. I also have the inverted rears. Rare also

[BLUNT]

Steve what you have their appears to be a pair of Bilstein "Red Dot" (ALPINA) 36mm dia. front struts, pretty hard to come by anymore and long long ago NLA - so be careful with them. I cant recall for sure, but I believe that the rod (insert) is threaded through the bottom. The part coming through the bottom has a notch, you can either try to use a proper sized screw driver and essentially "unscrew" the insert from the bottom OR try to twist the insert from the top. IF that fails, box them up and send them to Bilstein in San Diego. (Call the Bilstein San Diego number and ask for Jack French in the tech/service department), he knows the old stuff like the back of his hand. You can send them out to them and probably have them re-built and or re-valved if you need/want to for not that much $$$. Good Luck.

real nice mark. this is just what we needed to know. thats great about the 1.5 camber also. there is indeed a red dot on them. thanks mark and paul

[Marty]

I've got 2 pairs one set is the yellow dot setting (about the same as sports) and a set of red dots that I found new at a garage sale cheap just a couple of miles from my house of all things the reds are the race setting, they also made a green dot that was about the same as HD's but with the 1.5' camber and a much larger piston. Anyway they are very rare so proceed carefully with dissassembley. I would try to loosen the screw after soaking with PB Blaster or what ever you have like it, if that doesn't work I would try putting the strut bearing back on and wrapping the rod with a rag and lightly clamping it in a vice so you are pulling against the strut bearing instead of clamping the rod hard if you get what I'm saying then try tapping down on the strut body around the area where the 3 bolts hold the steering arm are. Let us know how it goes as I would like to get my red dots apart to convert to coil overs.

[kweebs]

Guys....thanks so much for the info! I'll be calling the Bilstein dude first thing tomorrow and hopefully i can just send the entire setup out there. Blunt and I have tortured them enough trying to separate them already.

I hope the girlfriend doesn't mind if the struts sleep with us tonight.

[andre2002tii]

what do U think of this ??

this is a picture taken a few weeks ago, now the set is rebuild using rabbit/sciroccco inserts and coilovers.

this is a complete (front and rear) Decarbon D2 bilstein set.

I don't know much about it, but it could be a very rare set.

Andre

[BLUNT]

Guys....thanks so much for the info! I'll be calling the Bilstein dude first thing tomorrow and hopefully i can just send the entire setup out there. Blunt and I have tortured them enough trying to separate them already.

I hope the girlfriend doesn't mind if the struts sleep with us tonight.

whose room would the struts be in? i mean certainly you guys have separate rooms seeing as youre not married correct?

[kweebs]

I hope the girlfriend doesn't mind if the struts sleep with us tonight.

whose room would the struts be in? i mean certainly you guys have separate rooms seeing as youre not married correct?

This is a progressive, modern home, Father Blunt. Regardless she said the struts were too dirty and that I need to get them powder-coated before she will sleep with them.

[BLUNT]

I hope the girlfriend doesn't mind if the struts sleep with us tonight.

whose room would the struts be in? i mean certainly you guys have separate rooms seeing as youre not married correct?

This is a progressive, modern home, Father Blunt. Regardless she said the struts were too dirty and that I need to get them powder-coated before she will sleep with them.

thats what shes telling you but if you really want the truth.... since she met me your puny 38mm strut doesnt measure up.

[kweebs]

I hope the girlfriend doesn't mind if the struts sleep with us tonight.

whose room would the struts be in? i mean certainly you guys have separate rooms seeing as youre not married correct?

This is a progressive, modern home, Father Blunt. Regardless she said the struts were too dirty and that I need to get them powder-coated before she will sleep with them.

thats what shes telling you but if you really want the truth.... since she met me your puny 38mm strut doesnt measure up.

Aww, someone doesn't have Alpina! We can't all have the best dude, it's ok. Your tii struts are nice.

[Guest Anonymous]

I've got those also. Inverted Bilsteins. Very rare. I called Bilstein a year or so ago and they do revalve them. I forgot about the 1.5 neg camber. Sweet struts. I love mine. Using those with stock springs. When I hit rr tracks it's just a thump thump , not a harsh ride at all, but firm. I also have the inverted rears. Rare also

What about these exactly makes them "inverted" the rears yes but the front are not.

[TobyB]

Inverted means that the piston moves with the wheel, the heavier

cylinder, oil, etc stay with the body, reducing unsprung weight

somewhat...

A regular Bils front insert's actually inverted, too- the big 'tube' you see

coming out the top is actually the cylinder, and the piston's attached to the bottom

of the insert tube...

that's why they can fill up with water.

t