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3rd thread concerning the Bilsteins.
Got the rears yesterday, did the fronts today. Relatively easy and straight forward EXCEPT THE THROATS CUT INTO THE TOP MOUNTING TABS WEREN'T DEEP ENOUGH, NEITHER SHOCK WOULD BOLT INTO POSITION. Look like they were cut out by a kid with a hacksaw. Had to deepen the cuts, took nearly an hour on one shock, got the other in 5 or 10 minutes (not much of a shop in my garage).
I splurged on these things based on Bilsteins reputation and the reviews I read on VMF. Nothing but good. But if this is indicative of the product they're turning out I don't have a real good fuzzy going forward.
Photos tell the story. Cautionary tale for those who follow. Cars off the road right now, so didn't get to test them, but will follow up once it's drivable again.
Get off my lawn.

 

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The photo's are from before you modified them? In that case they do indeed look like a kid with a hacksaw made them.

Yup.

The problems may relate to that they aren't "real" Bilsteins, since Bilstein don't officially sell shocks for old Mustangs. They are RCD shocks based on Bilsteins, so those top mountings are probably something RCD put on the shocks. It kind of also fit with that other mounting parts also don't seem to be designed exactly for the Mustang and the torque specs are wrong.

Well that's interesting. Purchased from Shaun at SoT, and based on every thread I've read assumed they WERE Bilsteins. Didn't come across your tidbit of information. Well, they're in the car, so as long as they do the job I guess....

 

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I put street-valved Bilsteins on my '68 a few months ago, but the tops of mine were very different from yours. Here is a pic next to the ****ty old KYB's...

Interestingly, that is the top shown on the SoT website for this shock (67 68 front). Didn't catch what I received was different, just took it in stride. Heading to SoT now to let Shaun know. Thanks for all the input, folks, really appreciate it. Learned a thing or two.

BTW, from an earlier thread, here's a shot of one of my rear shocks, and you can see the RCD sticker. Interesting.

 

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OK, passed to Shaun. If I get a reply I'll post. meanwhile went through my photos again and found this one, so adding to the mix. Shows what I received pretty well.

 

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Thanks, Shaun.

 

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No need to apply aerospace tolerances to a classic Mustang.

Nah. It's two bolts. On a standard part. That most vendors (like KYB) nail.
Heaven knows there's plenty of crap out there, had a lot of it in the last 20 years working on mine, but RCD isn't mass producing a generic part, they're offering a premium product at a premium price as an upgrade. On a part like this I expect better. It's two bolts. I expect them to fit. I don't think my expectations are too high.
And like the thread title says, yeah, it's a bit of a rant and I know it, hence the 'Get off my lawn' at the end. No harm done, got them in, but disappointed, made a point of it. So it goes.

 

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I suppose if I want to express anything further, I should start another thread.

Nah, this is just banter. Good give and take.

 

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Had a response from Shaun this morning. Talked to RCD, they're going to look at their tooling and offered to replace the shocks, which I declined. On the car, so done.
Hats off to Shaun for a quick follow through. Nothing but good things to say.

The shock studs are metric...10mm-150mm thread pitch.

Bless you.

 

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But they do ride nice!

Looking forward to getting my car back together and driving it, the hype round these things is what drove me (ha) to buy them. I do wonder what the root cause is. Mine looked like they were hacked out by hand, but certainly that's not the case, nobody could afford to do that, hell, if they just bought the part from the KYB supplier (or KYB) they'd fit perfectly (comment based on the KYB's I took off). Covid supply chain issues? The inability to find good help? Scrooge McDuck bought the company?