Bilstein HD broke

[chrisN]

So has anybody ever seen/heard of this before? The rod on my Bilstein HD strut snapped in two about an inch below the upper mount. I have had them on for a little over a year, about 40 000 km on them so not sure why it did this. Everything was still tight.

[Opeth]

Well.... It doesn't look like a Bilstein HD strut since they are blue and yellow in color.



How hard did you torque down the top nut?

[chrisN]

It was, but the plastic blue piece completely shattered so it is currently non existent. I cant remember off the top of my head for how much I torqued it, but i did it according to the service manual.

[dvanbramer88]

What springs do you have?

[Diacom]

I've run mine since putting my lift in and haven't been soft on them. No issues so far.

[chrisN]

I just have the stock springs. I havent been easy on them, but it just seems like a very strange place break.

[djthumper]

That has happened to someone that had 89 springs and the 3" lift on his truck. You may want to check other components on that side of the truck for other damage that may be twisting it in an sideways motion to do that.

[DirtyBacon04]

Those look like standard bilsteins, not HD. Regardless of HD or not, the only thing I can think of is you wheel the shit out of your truck, to include alot of rapid front suspension compression/extension. It most likely broke in a "pulling apart" manner. Either way, it probably didn't harm your spacer, as long as your bushings are still there. replace strut and carry on!

[v7guy]

I'd guess the bushings are shot in that upper mount, the rod of the shock ate into the lift spacer, bound up, and then it broke in the threaded area on the shock rod. From my experience they break internally in the threaded section or the bend and snap externally by the upper mount.

Or maybe you just got lucky and you got a shock that wasn't up to snuff and it squeaked by QC. Outside of myself and one other guy I can't say I've ever heard of it happening and we both had/have 89 springs.

Put a spring compressor on there, pull it out, and take pics. We'd all like to see what the failure was.

[chrisN]

Yeah, I will grab some more pics tonight when I pull it out. The new one should be in this morning. I had to overnight it from Calgary.

[navigator]

If you didn't get that top shock bolt good and tight, that could have allowed some "play" which I would expect would stress the part and expedite fatigue. How much thread do you have sticking out on the side that hasn't broke? If I recall it should be about an inch and a half

[The Roadie]

We'll also be interested if the break was right at the end of the threaded section. That's where my Icon broke due to sideways force trying to bend the shock rod, even though the threaded part was at the bottom of the assembly. The bushings in the upper mount allow a bit of movement to reduce the stress (assuming yours are intact). But the bottom yoke mount in the LCA could have a loose or deteriorated bushing, and that's the part that worries me. Check yours for loose or disintegrating bushings. We might be on the trail of a new root cause for damage.

[Cable810]

OUCH...

[chrisN]

Here is the pic of where it broke. I couldnt find anything else that was worn that would cause this. So it may have been a fluke?! It is pothole season here so that could have done it. Or the washboard gravel roads. Oh well, the new one was in.

ps. big thanks to this site for helping me get my TB done the way i need/wanted it.

[v7guy]

that's peculiar.

looks like it was right at the base of the bushings from the discolored section on the shock rod. If the bushings were fine in the upper mount I would guess a bad shock rod from bilstein

[DirtyBacon04]

Very interesting...

Of course, I am referring to the tiny spade shovel in that man's hand

[v7guy]

that's what my " that's peculiar" was about lol


edit: now on my PC I realize it's a dremel lol

[navigator]

I don't think the shock was tight. Look how little thread is sticking out the top of the nut.

[chrisN]

He was was working on a different truck. Maybe it just wast tight

[Trail X]

I don't think the shock was tight. Look how little thread is sticking out the top of the nut.

Chris, that distance varies a good bit between lifts due to different bushing thicknesses.

chrisN, I would definitely contact Bilstein about that. In my experience, they have great customer service and I'd bet that they would replace that unit or give you a replacement discount. Worst case, they say no.

It makes sense to fail at the location it did - especially if over-torqued. All of the compressive load from the bushings, the compressive load from the nut through the collar, and the bending stress from any assembly misalignment (per Roadie's suggestion) is exacerbated by the sharp internal edge to that shoulder.

Interesting though, that noone else has seen this same failure. So that leads me to wonder if there was maybe an error in heat treatment or in the machining that made that internal edge extra sharp and prone to failure.

Keep us updated as to how Bilstein handles it.