Chevy Cruze Bilstein B6 HD Shock/Strut Review
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Absolutely asinine... Bilstein just needs to drop the B6 on this application. I've been looking to order for 2.5 years and can't in good conscious buy the fronts and just by my luck there is an early failure and need to get a replacement. Not waiting 2.5-3 years for a replacement. Love Bilstein for truck shocks, but this is downright stupid.
Apparently the dates they gave me really do mean nothing. I just got an email at the beginning of the weekend informing me that BSN-35-171669 has shipped. Back in July they said this strut would ship on 8/20, then last week said it would be 11/29, but it just shipped on 8/30. It shipped from Bilstein so Summit has no tracking number. Back in July they said the other part number would ship in late Sept. so hopefully it will be along in a month or so.
I have just replaced my front struts with a pair of Bilstein B4's. On the left side this appears to have thrown the camber on the left wheel from minus 1 deg to plus 0.5 deg. I measured this using my digital level on the side of the tire (avoiding the part that bulges at the bottom).
My before measurements on both sides correspond with the measurement taken by Firestone on their lifetime check about 500 miles ago. My numbers were within 0.2 deg of what Firestone found.
As I am on the hairy edge of being out of spec I think I will hog out the bottom hole on the new shock just a touch and reassemble.
I will aim to get about minus 0.5 to minus 1.0. The right side did not change.
My before measurements on both sides correspond with the measurement taken by Firestone on their lifetime check about 500 miles ago. My numbers were within 0.2 deg of what Firestone found.
As I am on the hairy edge of being out of spec I think I will hog out the bottom hole on the new shock just a touch and reassemble.
I will aim to get about minus 0.5 to minus 1.0. The right side did not change.
Ok so the above message appears to be bogus.
I took the car for a drive around some tight curves and the new B4's definitely drive better than with the old 117k mile GM shocks. I then bought it back to my shop and checked the camber with the same digital level.
First I checked the rear wheels as I have not made any changes.. my level agreed with Firestone's printout of the camber to within 0.2 deg.
I then checked the fronts and although I have not made any changes since the POSITIVE camber was noted, the front wheels were both at NEGATIVE 1.0 deg!!!.. Like WTF?
So either something changed during my test drive or (more likely) I was reading the level as a positive camber when in fact it was negative. Now I really don't usually make such bonehead mistakes but it is the most likely reason.
So the B4 Bilsteins out of the box appear to give about a -1.0deg camber which is within spec.
I will go and have a crisis while I forgive myself for being human!
I took the car for a drive around some tight curves and the new B4's definitely drive better than with the old 117k mile GM shocks. I then bought it back to my shop and checked the camber with the same digital level.
First I checked the rear wheels as I have not made any changes.. my level agreed with Firestone's printout of the camber to within 0.2 deg.
I then checked the fronts and although I have not made any changes since the POSITIVE camber was noted, the front wheels were both at NEGATIVE 1.0 deg!!!.. Like WTF?
So either something changed during my test drive or (more likely) I was reading the level as a positive camber when in fact it was negative. Now I really don't usually make such bonehead mistakes but it is the most likely reason.
So the B4 Bilsteins out of the box appear to give about a -1.0deg camber which is within spec.
I will go and have a crisis while I forgive myself for being human!
Here are a few pics people might find handy.
Instead of using a spring compressor I used two ratchet straps.. Seemed to work well.
To remove/replace the strut tower nuts I simply welded an old socket to the side of one the right size. This allowed me to use a torque wrench to tighten the nut while holding the shaft still with the torx bit thru the top of the socket. If you use the torque wrench at 90 degrees to the center line of the two sockets the extra torque length does not have to be computed.. in other words whatever value you put into the TW will be the torque set on the nut.
Instead of using a spring compressor I used two ratchet straps.. Seemed to work well.
To remove/replace the strut tower nuts I simply welded an old socket to the side of one the right size. This allowed me to use a torque wrench to tighten the nut while holding the shaft still with the torx bit thru the top of the socket. If you use the torque wrench at 90 degrees to the center line of the two sockets the extra torque length does not have to be computed.. in other words whatever value you put into the TW will be the torque set on the nut.
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Does the Cruze not have any kind of "easy" method of retention of the center shaft?
When I changed out the front struts on my brother's Mustang earlier this year, the stock center shafts basically had a slot for a flathead screwdriver. The Koni yellows have a hex, which makes it a lot easier to hold it still.
When I changed out the front struts on my brother's Mustang earlier this year, the stock center shafts basically had a slot for a flathead screwdriver. The Koni yellows have a hex, which makes it a lot easier to hold it still.
Thats what the torx bit is for. The trouble is the nut sits low in the well of the strut tower so its hard to get an open ended wrench on it. Thats why I used the sockets welded together.
Now you could use a single socket (with the torx bit through the square hole) then use a pipe wrench to turn the outside of the socket. No good way to torque the nut doing that though.
Now you could use a single socket (with the torx bit through the square hole) then use a pipe wrench to turn the outside of the socket. No good way to torque the nut doing that though.
Gotcha, this is on the new struts?
I think they actually make a socket that is open in the center to allow an allen wrench to fit. The Konis on the Mustang were too tall, especially since its an actual hex up top, but they only needed to go to 85 ft-lbs - pretty easy to do (guesstimating) with the 24mm wrench for the nut, due to its length.
I think they actually make a socket that is open in the center to allow an allen wrench to fit. The Konis on the Mustang were too tall, especially since its an actual hex up top, but they only needed to go to 85 ft-lbs - pretty easy to do (guesstimating) with the 24mm wrench for the nut, due to its length.
Yes there is a special tool but it was easy for me to knock something up from my box of old sockets. The GM shocks and the B4 Bilsteins are basically the same.. The GM shocks use a T50 torx and the B4"s use a T45. The new shock to body nut is smaller than the 24mm (across) flats than the original.. I managed to spin them tight with an impact wrench and not bother holding the shaft.
It worked on one side, but the other side it started to "strip out" to the point where the screwdriver (a big long one, I must add) would just pop right out. My big M18 impact would just spin the nut and shaft together too - I got lucky that my air compressor was a bit low on air that gave my IR air impact just the right combination of slower speed and the proper ugga-duggas to pop it loose from the shaft.
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I'm still running the Bilsteins if anyone's curious. They're still flawless. A little noisy in the back when it's below 10 degrees F, but otherwise they've been flawless.
Better yet, the rear shocks are suddenly available again (Summit Racing and Tire Rack both have them in stock, though the latter you'll have to search by the PN, as they don't show them as fitting the Cruze for whatever reason).
I bought a pair, just for when the time comes. I'll grab the struts later (or now, haven't decided).
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Also, I've been doing A LOT of towing latey. We just moved in August and I've been hauling my 6x10 aluminum trailer. That's 580 pounds of trailer and typically around 500-1100 pounds of stuff in it. These shocks drastically improved how the car handled the trailer.
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