carmudgeons.com  

Go Back   carmudgeons.com > Automotive Forums > Car Talk

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-20-2019, 07:01 AM   #21
rumatt
Mugwump
 
rumatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
No, just shocks.

Before I ordered you guys were pro bilstein, but I didn't see any coilover hate. Now you're making me nervous these are going to suck. I expected them to be far into the finishing returns bucket but I obviously don't want them to be worse than the $300 option.

I'll give them a call Monday and express my concerns, and see what they say.
When I talkd to them last time they seems pretty confident that I'd be happy with the tune they were giving me. But it doesn't hurt to double check. Buried in the valving for me, but they haven't been yet.

They also fix things after the sale if you're not happy. Revalve, re-spring, etc. That would be a pain, but I'm not stuck with something I don't like.

Last edited by rumatt; 01-20-2019 at 07:45 AM.
rumatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2019, 05:04 PM   #22
John V
No more BMWs
 
John V's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
Okay. The Eibach comment confused me.
John V is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2019, 12:01 AM   #23
lip277
The old cranky SOB....
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: several cars... way too many....
Location: Near Seattle
Posts: 4,798
Just reading the title of this thread had me chuckling....

Rancho in the F250 and Bilsteins in the Yukon - those have worked out great. And are not fancy. Just good.
__________________
Kevin


1970 2800CS - - 2001 740iL - - 2006 997.1 - - 2012 Escalade
1968 Mustang GT Convertible - - 2003 Ford F250 PSD - - 1985 728i
lip277 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2019, 09:53 PM   #24
rumatt
Mugwump
 
rumatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post
Firm shocks on a truck are a disaster. Get the Bilsteins. Seriously. They are really good and really cheap.
OK, so you weren't as right as you thought you were... but you were still more right than I was.

Round 1: Nick 1, Accutune 0.

I installed the shocks and at full soft (both low and high speed compression) it was not a good recipe. The body control was meh, and yet the small bump compliance wasn't great either. A bit of a floaty ride and still not plush over bumps.

I called Accutune and spoke someone who knew what he was doing. He looked at the valving given to me and said, "oh yeah, that's a stiff setup. You ordered while Ryan and I were out of town. The guy who set up your valving is new and made choices he shouldn't have."

But he was super nice and spent almost an hour on the phone with me, explaining how he's going to soften it up a lot and give it a very different characteristic. He'll plug one of the bypasses to give me more low speed compression, and then use a flutter stack to have less high speed compression. He insists that when he's done my, it will be far more pleasant and that my desired street setting will fall somewhere in the middle of the range of both adjusters.

So it absolutely sucks that they shipped me a shitty valving and I have to deal with this because I called at the wrong time. That's fucking lame. But he somehow quelled my rage by being super nice, no nonsense, honest about the mistake, and being committed to make it right. That said he's only paying for shipping 1 way (these fuckers are heavy). I debated making a scene over it, but it's not clear it's worth it. I mostly just want to end up with the ride I'm looking for.

Oh and he insisted that even what I have now is better than what I'd have gotten from Bilstein. He says they're valved far more digressively, so you get more body control at the cost of harshness. I've read multiple people in the colorado forums complain about the bilsteins as well.

Last edited by rumatt; 02-05-2019 at 10:04 PM.
rumatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2019, 11:47 PM   #25
rumatt
Mugwump
 
rumatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
6 month update.

I sent them back (twice... long story) and the guy tuned them on his girlfriend's Colorado. They're the best recipe for street driving that he could produce.

The result? Hit and miss

The bigger the bump, the better they are. Hit a speed bump at like 10 mph and you think, "Holy crap that should have been way worse than that! These things are amazing."

But the large pistons have a lot of static friction. This means it takes a decent amount of force to get the piston moving initially. So small bumps in the road are transmitted to your ass more than you'd think they should be. But I hit a small highway crack and I'm like, "Damn, I shouldn't have needed to feel that"

So I'm torn. It's fun to have shocks that can handle anything. I find myself intentionally hitting bumps and potholes just for kicks. But not being able to absorb small/medium highway cracks on a street vehicle is pretty stupid.

The stock shocks are best at the small stuff - because they basically don't do anything.

If I weren't so lazy I'd try a set of bilsteins. I've read good reports, but also a lot of negative ones (for the colorado) saying they're harsher than stock, yet still blow through their travel and bottom out on big bumps.

But for now, I'm too lazy to change anything so they stay.

Last edited by rumatt; 08-08-2019 at 08:36 AM.
rumatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2019, 08:29 AM   #26
kognito
older fart than ZBB
 
kognito's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: On the road again
Posts: 8,887
you know you bought a truck, right?
__________________
2017 GMC Sierra 1500 SLE
2020 Fusion Titanium
kognito is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2019, 08:34 AM   #27
rumatt
Mugwump
 
rumatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3
Location: NY
Posts: 17,475
Does a midsize count as a truck?
rumatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2019, 09:48 AM   #28
Nick M3
Relic
 
Nick M3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,438
Have you considered putting 500lbs. in the bed?

Also, is your colorado leaf sprung? I'd look at Sulastic shackles if so.
__________________
2011 M3
2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison
2004 X5 3.0i 6MT
1995 M3 S50B32
1990 325is
1989 M3 S54B32

Hers:
1989 325iX
1996 911 Turbo


Nick M3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2019, 09:49 AM   #29
equ
Alphanumeric
 
equ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i
Posts: 9,580
How are the secondary oscillations?

I sometimes miss my JGC; it's go anywhere character, decent interior (at least up front) and diesel/ZF-8 combo... But, I don't miss lane changes; those were awful up to and including my accident.
equ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2019, 04:51 PM   #30
kognito
older fart than ZBB
 
kognito's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: On the road again
Posts: 8,887
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post

Also, is your colorado leaf sprung? I'd look at Sulastic shackles if so.
Cool stuff there, but looks like they only list Colorado's til 2010 not the newer version
__________________
2017 GMC Sierra 1500 SLE
2020 Fusion Titanium
kognito is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Struts/Shocks SCA Technical Superiority 15 03-06-2013 03:19 PM
anybody install new shocks on their e46? Jeff_DML Technical Superiority 28 12-13-2007 07:13 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Forums © 2003-2008, 'Mudgeon Enterprises - Site hosting by AYN & Associates, LLC