"Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

"Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Hello all,
I just got a set of 4 shocks/struts off ye olde internet, and went to install them with some curious results.

It seems I lost roughly 5/8"-3/4" of droop travel in the front. My tires were just barely sitting on the ground on removal, and then I had to lift them up to install. Similarly, the shocks in the rear are an inch shorter than the OEM shocks, eye to eye at full extension.

What are the odds that there is a top out spring in the bilsteins, or some other such feature that would account for this difference?

Also, with the rear shocks, the lower eyelet is too small for the mounting bolt. The upper eyelet is correct...

Trying to ascertain if this is a minibus model quirk, or a part number mixup (although various sources on the net tell me that these are, indeed, the correct part number) before jumping to the conclusion that I got scammed with some knockoff parts by some dubious vendor or something.

Anyone have any ideas?

2009
3500
170 Extended
Dual rear wheels
High roof
shuttle bus/passenger

Bilstein PN:
22-184245 front
19-169279 rear

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

I would say you got dubious parts.

What numbers are on the boxes?
Check the same on the lower part of the shock body--Miss boxed?
You can check application numbers on Bilstein web site.

Happens to the best of us--at times !
AND you did remove the storage shipping arrestor strap?
Dennis

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

No arrestor strap to remove. They were shipped fully extended.

Part numbers are:

22-184245 front
19-169279 rear

Boxes match the shocks. They otherwise *look* exactly like the real deal.

About to swallow my irritation and take one of the front struts back out to measure against the OEMs.
Lawdy do I ever hate undoing work.

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

I can't speak to NCV3 shocks, but the T1N 2500 vs 3500 have different inside diameter lower bolt sleeves and slightly different length upper mount bushing sleeves.

Check if the NCV3 shocks are different 2500 vs 3500.

vic

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Aqua Puttana said:

I can't speak to NCV3 shocks, but the T1N 2500 vs 3500 have different inside diameter lower bolt sleeves and slightly different length upper mount bushing sleeves.

Check if the NCV3 shocks are different 2500 vs 3500.

vic

Click to expand...

They are on some applications !!
Dennis

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Hi Kimball,

I was looking up some HD Bilstein shocks for my 2014 LWB single rear wheel Sprinter here down under in Australia and came up with the following;

22-184245 - Front

19-169279 - Rear with 12mm bottom eyelet
or
19-169163 - Rear with 14mm bottom eyelet

I think you need the 19-169163's for the rear if you have the larger bolt.

I'd be interested to hear your feedback on the Bilstein shocks once sorted.

Cheers Chris

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

That's exactly the size difference on the eyelet. I think you're onto the solution for the rears.

I also just got done swapping the oem front back in and making some comparisons. There is a difference, but it's smaller than my initial impression. More like, ehh, 3/8 inch. I couldn't think of a repeatable way to measure, and the comparison photos I took only don't exactly have hash marks.
Anyway, there's a slight difference in shaft lengths, and another slight difference (2-3mm) in the depths to which the threaded shoulders are turned at the top end of the shaft. Both shafts felt like they topped out solidly, but when I gave the oem a pull, it seemed like it extended some small fractional amount, although I don't *quite* trust my eyes on that one.

I also knicked off a bit of the paint on the shock body (whoops) and underneath found what looks to be a nice, turned surface on the steel. I doubt a cheap knockoff would use quite that high quality a production method, so between my findings and your info, I'm satisfied that these aren't fake garbage and that there is just another part number that I need to order for the rears.

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Hi Kimball,

My guess is as follows;

19-169279 - 12mm eyelet - single wheel
19-169163 - 14mm eyelet - dual wheel

Makes sense having the larger bolt as it's carrying more weight.

I haven't checked mine to confirm though.

Cheers Chris

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Most likely, but the part number I posted was what was given for the dual rear wheel option pretty much everywhere I looked. I'm getting the strong vibe that these vans are just rare and precious enough to regularly have their parts mislabeled. The myriad (and flatly incorrect) names that the parts stores called a DPF sensor was boggling. I had to read through like four different threads to figure out if I had an aux heater or a heater booster under my van. Half the planet calls every 170 a "170 extended." It's no surprise to me that the part numbers get weird between single and dual rear wheel shocks.

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

I didn't get very far towards an answer with the place I bought the shocks from. Just got a one sentence reply that said that the shocks "definitely fit" and a screenshot of the bilstein website.
So I called bilstein's office and talked directly to an applications engineer. Surprisingly easy. All I said was that I had a fitment issue with the rear shocks on a 2009 sprinter, and he said "lemme guess: the lower eyelet is too small." Yes sir, it is.
He went on to say that "there seems to be very little rhyme or reason to the choice of rear axle configuration on those sprinters" and that some of them just require the B6 shock instead of the B4. The B6 has a 14.1mm lower eyelet, and is just over 3/4 longer than the B4. It all matches up.
The correct part number is 24-177702.

Also, while it was annoying to have to swap the front struts a bunch of times to contrast and compare, it's also fun to get to the point where it's barely a ten minute job. Unless you work in a shop, rarely do you get to repeat this kind of process often enough within an appropriate time frame to get really fast at it.

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

Hi Kimball,

Glad you got a result!!
Wanna come down under and change mine

Cheers Chris

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

I saw some on eBay someome had bought for a 3500 twin rear wheel 4x4 and they were for a normal 3500 twin rear wheel. So there is a few variations for the 3500, mines different again I think

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

BritzSprinter said:

Hi Kimball,

Glad you got a result!!
Wanna come down under and change mine

Cheers Chris

Click to expand...

Buy the plane tickets and I'll do whatever you want to your van!

Re: "Bilsteins" don't fit correctly. Less droop travel; wrong size lower eyelet?

After careful research, I ordered the said-to-be correct shocks for my 2005 2500 Class B. They had the large lower eyes, and I needed the small. I bushed up the bolts. I have a few spare bushings if anyone needs them.