I changed over to Bilsteins struts and shocks 2 weeks ago and completely love the stiffness that comes with these bad boys. Had ranchos that were way too soft.
They are excellent. Firm (supposedly 10% greater than stock), but still provide suspension articulation. The car felt very planted on hairpin and carousel turns encountered on a recent mountain drive.
I've had several sets on many VW over the years , rocking them on my mk4 tdi now .
Buy once, cry once. Get the good stuff (I agree Bilstein, Koni orange, Tein). You'll need new bushings and strut bearings to replace what comes out.
If you want to keep the stock ride height, you can probably save the stock springs and run Koni Yellow struts and shocks for a slightly sportier ride.
Installed Bilstein B4 Struts and Shocks all around @ 80-85k miles. The car feels very planted. I drive 90-100MPH (140-160kph) daily for up to an hour, and I can tell you that it does not feel like it crashes into potholes or bumps like people say. The rebound on the struts are a tad far but that’s at high speeds and takes a quite a launch for it to rebound as far as I’m saying.
Something else to consider are Koni Reds. I coupled them with Neuspeed Sport springs. The struts are variable response so they absorb the small bumps, like the expansion joints on freeways, but stay stiff for corners.
I had one fail inside the warranty period and Koni made it an easy exchange. No other issues.
Nice, I like the Bilsteins they do feel better than stock but it does feel like it's missing something.
I tried Bilsteins B8 because they said AWD and FWD compatible, but nope and the holes won't align and same for some from Monroe. The spindle that accepts the struts won't align properly.
I've tried loaded struts a few times on these trucks, they just can't stand up to use of such a heavy vehicle, the bushings fail nearly instantly.
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