New to this forum! Does anybody have any Bilstein inserts for 240z?

[Steve Edrington]

What was that old line in Mr. Mom: "220/221 - whatever it takes"

[bacarl]

I'm glad Zed cleared up the issue of hydraulic vs. gas shocks. All conventional dampers are hydraulic. They use a piston moving through a fluid (oil) to generate a damping force. The faster the piston moves through the fluid, the greater the generated force. That's why you can articulate the damper by hand - all you're doing is slowly moving the piston through the fluid. This does not indicate the shock is bad. You wouldn't be able to cycle the shock by hand very quickly because the damping force generated would be too high.

The "gas-charge" also works the way Zed explained. Imagine the piston whipping up and down through the fluid as you drive over a rough surface. The oil would cavitate, or get loaded up with air bubbles, if not for the high pressure gas charge in the shock. The "secondary" effect of raising ride height is because that pressurized gas acts like a little balloon inside the shock and adds a little bit of spring rate. So you're right that your ride height raised a little back when you installed your gas charged Bilsteins with stock springs.

Zed made one comment that I do want to correct - he said that the only decent bolt-in shock available these days is the KYB. This was the case until recently, but now that Tokicos are available again, add those to the list. Tokico Illuminas are adjustable at the top of the shock rod, meaning their adjustment is accessible just by popping the hood, or opening the hatch, and twisting a little knob with a screwdriver. It's super easy and neat to be able adjust your damping almost on the fly. The Tokico HPs are non-adjustable but they also offer a good drop-in option.

I just finished putting my car back together with Eibach progressive-rate lowering springs and second hand Tokico Illuminas. If I were doing it again now, I'd buy brand new Illuminas since they're available again, and I'd get Vogtland springs because they're a linear rate instead of progressive. This would lower the car by a conservative amount, and not have the odd lower-in-the-rear issue that Eibachs seem to have.

[bpilati]

Back when I had Bilstein's on the rear, I had Koni's on the front. Never had a problem with them as I recall...

Any advantage/disadvantage to gas inserts (Tokico) vs hydraulic (Koni)?

Looks like the Tokico HP and the Illumina are about the only choices on gas, any comments on either of these?

Very disappointed in the KYB gas that has literally been sitting until now.

All shocks are gas/oleo. Few shocks are made without a gas charge (e.g., nitrogen). When the 240Z was new they didn't use gas charged oleo shocks (the void area was just air), so the ride height is a bit lower than if you use gas charged oleo shocks with the same springs (e.g., stock springs). There are both low pressure and high pressure gas charges depending the shock you buy.