New shocks, Sachs HD touring or Bilstein B4/6

[Padraic]

Hi all, as per my other post, I'm planning a few jobs on my Cali and considering replacing my shocks. However I've read that Sachs HD Touring are very good and so are the Bilstein B6's.
I'm very cautious about going away from the OEM setup, and wanted to get feedback from anyone who has fitted the Sachs HD Touring or Bilstein B6 shocks to their T4 Cali.
I'd like something firmer than the standard shocks. but I don't want to end up with a Cali that is too stiff and uncomfortable.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Padraic.

 

[sidepod]

Blimey P, I’m doing the same research at the moment.

I’m tempted to stay away from the stiffer Billies and go with the B4. They are almost OEM fit but a gas unit instead of just oil. Long story but gas is better.

I’ve been looking at Koni adjustable.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

Sachs HD fitted a few years ago. No complaints. Nice compliant ride even with a 40mm drop riding on 17” wheels.


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[B J G]

GAZ do adjustable ones for the T4; GT7-5089 - £67.28

 

[Padraic]

Sachs HD fitted a few years ago. No complaints. Nice compliant ride even with a 40mm drop riding on 17” wheels.


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Hi, good to hear that they are good. I'd be sticking with the standard springs due to the rough Irish roads. Hoping they would get rid of the bounce and firm things up.

 

[Padraic]

Blimey P, I’m doing the same research at the moment.

I’m tempted to stay away from the stiffer Billies and go with the B4. They are almost OEM fit but a gas unit instead of just oil. Long story but gas is better.

I’ve been looking at Koni adjustable.

Hi, just saw your reply, yea I’m thinking the same. Don’t want to destroy the standard feel, just improve it. Just interested in the reviews of the Sachs HD super touring shocks before I decide.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

GAZ do adjustable ones for the T4; GT7-5089 - £67.28

Yup. Rubbish experience of these. Our Westys previous owner fitted them. Adjusting knobs seized up in no time, bushings wore out and the ride was way stiff - unpleasantly so.


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[mrcheesbrough]

Hi, good to hear that they are good. I'd be sticking with the standard springs due to the rough Irish roads. Hoping they would get rid of the bounce and firm things up.

Firming the suspension won’t get rid of the rough ride you get on Irish roads but keeping standard springs or maybe fitting a fresh set matched to new shocks would improve things. The shock absorbers will reduce bouncing but not necessarily improve handling - I’m assuming this is why you want to ‘firm things up’. Heavy Duty or lowering springs would achieve this, along with up rated ARBs (the effect of this on straight line travel is another discussion). Further improvement could be gained by fitting polyurethane bushes but as these are a firmer material than the OEM rubber I imagine you’d get more noise/bump transmitted through the chassis. Dare I say it - smaller rims and higher profile tyres would go a long way to smoothing things out for you.


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[Padraic]

Firming the suspension won’t get rid of the rough ride you get on Irish roads but keeping standard springs or maybe fitting a fresh set matched to new shocks would improve things. The shock absorbers will reduce bouncing but not necessarily improve handling - I’m assuming this is why you want to ‘firm things up’. Heavy Duty or lowering springs would achieve this, along with up rated ARBs (the effect of this on straight line travel is another discussion). Further improvement could be gained by fitting polyurethane bushes but as these are a firmer material than the OEM rubber I imagine you’d get more noise/bump transmitted through the chassis. Dare I say it - smaller rims and higher profile tyres would go a long way to smoothing things out for you.


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I'm not going to try to change it too dramatically. I prefer to keep it as standard as possible, so the Bilstein B4's may be the best option.
As I've mentioned in another topic, I'm contemplating replacing the ball joints and bushes all round, so that may get it back in good shape.

 

[sidepod]

There is always the option of changing the torsion bars for a softer/stiffer unit.

They’re colour coded from the factory. I have data detailing what colours are used.

It’s prob not a five minute job but straight forward enough, assuming you can source the bars.

I’m with Chese on the rim/tyre combo.
That said you’re running BIG brakes like be (Red i) so smaller rims may not be possible.

Last option is drive quicker and just float over the bumps.

 

[sidepod]

Yup. Rubbish experience of these. Our Westys previous owner fitted them. Adjusting knobs seized up in no time, bushings wore out and the ride was way stiff - unpleasantly so.


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That was the gut feeling I got when I looked at them. Adjusting is a gimmick really as once you’re happy you rarely alter it so it may as well be fixed.

Better not to have the option to fiddle.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

That was the gut feeling I got when I looked at them. Adjusting is a gimmick really as once you’re happy you rarely alter it so it may as well be fixed.

Better not to have the option to fiddle.

Yeah. The option to fiddle distracts from the view - I’d rather be admiring the scenery than bothering about rebound damping and compression strokes. Running Eibach -40mm and Sachs HD touring now. Very happy so far.


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[sidepod]

Just got word my rear ARB has arrived from the Fatherland.

Quite why one wasn’t fitted from new is a mystery. Obsolete in the UK but I found a new one on Gebay.

 

[Padraic]

All sound solid advice so far. Honestly I'm not having any problems with the handling, driving a cali is what it is. I think the tyre rim combo is a good balance for motorway driving and rough roads also.

I'm just going to refresh the suspension with new ball joints bushes etc, I'd like to have it as good as new and don't want to ruin it with any aftermarket parts that take away from the type of vehicle it is.
One of the dilemmas was the choice of shocks. Get new standard shocks or Bilstein/Sachs
Mr Cheese, what are the Sachs like on really bad rough roads? Are the noisy or better/worse than standard?

 

[Padraic]

Just got word my rear ARB has arrived from the Fatherland.

Quite why one wasn’t fitted from new is a mystery. Obsolete in the UK but I found a new one on Gebay.

That rear bar should make a big difference.

 

[sidepod]

That rear bar should make a big difference.

It should. I’m also going for a big re-jig of all camber/castor angles so it behaves itself, not that I select Twat mode when I drive it but I do think there is scope for improvement.

I do a lot of vehicle dynamics schnizz at work so I’m keen to have a play.

 

[Padraic]

It should. I’m also going for a big re-jig of all camber/castor angles so it behaves itself, not that I select Twat mode when I drive it but I do think there is scope for improvement.

I do a lot of vehicle dynamics schnizz at work so I’m keen to have a play.

Interesting stuff, I'm sure there is scope for improvement, but it may be tricky to find a setup that works when the Cali is empty and then fully loaded at times. keep us posted on the progress as I'd have an interest in that kinda stuff from when I worked in rallying.
For me though, I'm just planning to keep things OEM as much as possible including the geometry settings. I'm gonna spend a few quid now on preventative jobs, then get out and enjoy it without any worries.

 

[mrcheesbrough]

All sound solid advice so far. Honestly I'm not having any problems with the handling, driving a cali is what it is. I think the tyre rim combo is a good balance for motorway driving and rough roads also.

I'm just going to refresh the suspension with new ball joints bushes etc, I'd like to have it as good as new and don't want to ruin it with any aftermarket parts that take away from the type of vehicle it is.
One of the dilemmas was the choice of shocks. Get new standard shocks or Bilstein/Sachs
Mr Cheese, what are the Sachs like on really bad rough roads? Are the noisy or better/worse than standard?

Difficult to say really as my expectations may be different to yours. It’s sounds like our roads are. And our suspension setup is different too - 17” wheels running 55 profile tyres all dropped by 40mm - this will be quite a different feel to your standard (Red ‘I’) setup. Despite this I’d be happy to recommend them. They’re a step up from standard shocks for sure, high praise received for them on the T4 forum and when you look at them they just look more up to it than regular shocks.


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[sidepod]

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/t4-sachs-hd-shocks.9994/

 

[ArcticMatt]

Just been looking at replacing the shocks on mine as its wallowy as hell! I've found them on Brickwerks but then I found them for £100 cheaper on BMF autoparts. That link above seems to be dead for that other site with the discount code.

I need to smuggle mine back to Norway.

 

[Padraic]

So I fitted the Sachs HD super touring shocks today. Did a ten km test drive on some of our finest Irish roads, the Sachs worked very well, very pleased with them so far.
They feel slightly over damped, but nothing to worry about.
A big improvement aver the standard shocks that I removed.

 

[ArcticMatt]

Awesome. Just waiting for mine to arrive.

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[Erem]

Just been through this as noticed Albert's front shocks were weeping and an MOT failure. Even the 4 motion has standard shocks that you find on a panel van, so I went for the Bilstein B6's in the end and have absolutely no regrets. Albert is firmer, all wallowing has gone, a huge difference in ride quality, less banging over potholes and far better road manners. Changed all 4 shocks on the drive (interesting, but not that difficult, had to cut off the front drop links and replace them). It might be subconscious but I think the rear ride height is better as well. What I also did was replace the rear spring lower cups as they were completely shot with the rear coil springs grinding on the lower suspension arm over speed bumps. (See photo) So if you have a clunky/grinding noise from the rear it could be these - £17 for the pair. I was going to upgrade the anti-roll bar but the B6's have removed the need for that. All round I'm chuffed.

 

[B J G]

Just been through this as noticed Albert's front shocks were weeping and an MOT failure. Even the 4 motion has standard shocks that you find on a panel van, so I went for the Bilstein B6's in the end and have absolutely no regrets. Albert is firmer, all wallowing has gone, a huge difference in ride quality, less banging over potholes and far better road manners. Changed all 4 shocks on the drive (interesting, but not that difficult, had to cut off the front drop links and replace them). It might be subconscious but I think the rear ride height is better as well. What I also did was replace the rear spring lower cups as they were completely shot with the rear coil springs grinding on the lower suspension arm over speed bumps. (See photo) So if you have a clunky/grinding noise from the rear it could be these - £17 for the pair. I was going to upgrade the anti-roll bar but the B6's have removed the need for that. All round I'm chuffed.View attachment 53378

Rubber spring mounts appear to need replacing every 4/5 years of normal use, independently from spring/damper changes.

Bilstein B6 for standard ride height vehicles.
Bilstein B8 for lowered ride height vehicles.

 

[ArcticMatt]

I finally got my Sachs shocks fitted. I've only test drove them for a couple of miles so far but they've made a big difference the roly-poly ride. The shocks I took off looked the same I had fitted to my Syncro when they were changed in Norway and they lasted 5 minutes! Hopefully, these ones will last a lot longer!

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