Shocks Choices and Part Numbers

[Dan Fowler]

I put Bilstein HD on front and love them. Just like oe sport feel. Mine is 4.4 with sport package. Rear is air self level so I have not replaced those shocks yet.

[jcorreanyc]

Hoaesq, what did you end up doing? I'm about to buy the H&R spring set myself, and was thinking about going with stock shocks all around. I hear the Bilstein HD's are too stiff and I live in New York where the roads are awful.

Does anyone have feedback about going with stock shocks and a 1.2 inch drop? All the aftermarket options say that the shocks are not applicable with air ride suspension. I don't want to mix and match front and rear shocks and it'll be much cheaper to just swap springs.

Also, for anyone with the H&R springs, how much does it actually lower the car? Is it 1.2 inches as they claim? Do I need to program the rear at all or do the links do the trick alone?

Thanks!

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by jcorreanyc

Hoaesq, what did you end up doing? I'm about to buy the H&R spring set myself, and was thinking about going with stock shocks all around. I hear the Bilstein HD's are too stiff and I live in New York where the roads are awful.

Does anyone have feedback about going with stock shocks and a 1.2 inch drop? All the aftermarket options say that the shocks are not applicable with air ride suspension. I don't want to mix and match front and rear shocks and it'll be much cheaper to just swap springs.
Also, for anyone with the H&R springs, how much does it actually lower the car? Is it 1.2 inches as they claim? Do I need to program the rear at all or do the links do the trick alone?

Thanks!

I have the H&R lowering kit for rear air which is the two front springs and height sensor links. I tried the Bilstein HDs and took them off. The ride was too harsh. I could have lived with that but the X was skittish, darted around the lane, felt like a handful all the time, was not even comfortable to passengers. In the rain it slowed me down and kept me on full alert. I went back to OEM struts and shocks. FYI- The Bilstein setup was with Eibach sway bars that contributed to the resulting handling.

The front drop was closer to 1.5. I don't recall if the links for the rear were enough, I think they were. I replaced then with metal adjustable links. I also added spacers which dropped it a little more because of the geometry and added to the new look.

[jcorreanyc]

@bcredliner, tell me about these adjustable rear links! Where did you get them? How do they work exactly? How much of a range do you have with them?

Thanks to everyone for the great info. I think I'm just going to put H&R's on my stock struts and shocks. Why spend an extra $700 on shocks to just make the ride worse? I just hope I don't destroy my stock struts by bottoming them out on potholes... We'll see.