Bilstein 6112

I purchased everything from Shock Surplus. I purchased the 6112's and springs pre assembled.

I'll be honest, my expensive 6112's showed up in a tattered and torn box, struts rolling around inside, banging against each other with only a plastic sleeve and a very small piece of packing paper inside the bag protecting them. The box looked like it was dragged behind the truck with zero F's given. They have some light scratches on the circlips and the spring coatings are marred up a little. They aren't destroyed, but I expected them to be pristine. I emailed them with pictures noting my disappointment. I'm waiting for a reply.

I hate to publicly shame a company, but come on. A person pays big money for these parts ( $920 or so after taxes) and expects them to take some care and pride in shipping, with maybe a little foam protection around them? I'm no shipping scientist, but 2 round and very heavy items in a box rolling around virtually unprotected seems like a bad idea.

 

Have you reviewed the install instructions to ensure you clocked the spring rotation with the lower mount and upper mount? Or where they springs installed upon purchase? If so, make sure they were assembled correctly.

https://productdesk.cart.bilsteinus.com//media/products/bilstein/E4-WM5-Y463A00_1.pdf

The loaded tongue weight with the boat may have settled the rear springs a bit...

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Sorry OP. People are just fucking lazy.

 

Top hats were new so there was no need to clock the springs.

 

What a bummer, hopefully they respond and help you out.

 

If it makes you feel any better, the unassembled 6112’s I bought on eBay showed up in a pretty tattered box. The struts were in cardboard boxes and the springs in plastic sleeves. No padding whatsoever. FedEx. I was lucky they weren’t damaged.

 

not true

 

The steps you posted were for reusing the previous top hats. You have to place the new springs in the same position on the top hat gasket that they were before. Because they wear different at different positions of the spring face.

This is not required for new top hats.

 

It doesn't matter if you reuse the old top hats or use new ones, you still have to have the springs clocked correctly.

Where is the end of the spring positioned in the top hat on both of your assemblies?

 

I think you are misunderstanding the instructions. They are directing you to note where the end of the old spring was and place the end of the new spring in the same location. If reusing the top hats. If you’re using new ones there’s no location to note because the gasket has not yet deformed to the end of the spring. The instructions are clearly for, and only for, reassembling with the existing top hats.

Are you saying that you think the end of the spring needs to be positioned in exactly the spot marked in the photo, for a new spring on new mounts?

@Superdave1.0 do you have an opinion on this?

 

I purchased new 6112 assemblies from Bilstein with new top hats. They were assembled prior to shipment to me with the springs clocked as described in the directions from Bilstein. My take off TRD offroad front assemblies were also clocked identically. How are yours springs clocked with the new top hats?

 

Again, my belief is that the instructions are telling you, if reusing your existing top hats, to mark where the end of the coil was prior to disassembly because the gasket will conform to the end of the spring and the coil will not seat properly against the existing gasket unless in the same position as the previous coil. The photograph shows an example, not the absolute required position of the coil. The position of the previous coil is only germane if reusing the top hat.

Don’t you think that if there was something super special about that particular position, the coil would be marked to show what direction it should face, or there would be a diagram to show the precise positioning with some kind of measurement? Let’s just agree to disagree. I have watched probably 10-15 6112 installation videos and not a single one of them mentioned coil clocking.

 

Would love some insight from folks who assemble 6112’s.

@memario1214
@AccuTune Offroad
@Wheeler's Off-Road Inc
@HeadStrong Off-Road

 

Either take it apart and re-clock the bushing or ignore it. I had that bushing clocked wrong on my old old truck (2nd gen) for like 2 years with my OME kit and never had an issue.

 

I don’t think clock position has anything to do with it, rather the coil is pinching the bushing where it lines the inner seat. It was difficult to seat perfectly in install because the coil compressor stand was causing the coil to curve. A shop will evaluate. Might be worth reseating, it won’t be very expensive.

 

Pretty sure the top hat has no step to clock, clocking is done on the base of the spring as it’s not flat. I do believe the clocking is talking about how it would have sat on the other spring and having it in the same location on the new spring. I put mine together with new hats and did no clocking on the top hat other then making sure the stud location was correct.

 

Yep that’s how my passenger side looks.

Correct there is no stepped base or underside of the top hat.

 

Thanks man, I agree. Sorry I should’ve been more clear in the question. Does the coil have a specific clocked position it must be installed in when using new top hats on the 6112s? Or are the instructions for marking the clock position in regards to reusing existing top hats only?