Best rear dampers for lowered Caddy

[VanLife]

Obviously a lot of people on here have lowered their Caddys and I'd like your opinions on which is the best rear damper for lowered Caddys. The most expensive doesn't always mean the best quality so I'd like to hear your thoughts. Hopefully this will be helpful for other people too!

These are the options I've found and the rough prices:

Bilstein B8 - £300
Koni heavy track - £200
Gaz ultra low - £90
Stance+ - £80

Please feel free to suggest others if I've missed any.

Are the B8s worth the premium?

Thanks

[caddychris2002]

I've just put the Gaz ones on mine and they're spot on. Speak to Overboost they're about £70

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[VanLife]

Thanks! Who is Overboost?

Is anyone running the Bilsteins or Konis?

[Lister79]

I have Bilsteins on mine, now on my second set
The first set were B6’s and were spot on, no issues at all and are still going strong in my old van.
The second set were ones that came with the ABP air suspension kit (apparently custom ones, which I don’t believe), these I’ve had issues with knocking due to the bush size being incorrect for the bolt, meaning that if torqued to factory spec they would end up moving (companies fitting them must be over tightening them). I ended up drilling and sleeving the bush to correct the issue as the company (Plush) just didn’t want to know.

Part number of original set below





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[VanLife]

Cheers Lister, good to know!

What's the ride quality like?

Don't suppose you've been in a Caddy with Gaz or Koni to compare?

I've got air bags on the back of mine to stiffen the rear when carrying a load or towing my trailer. They make the rear bounce even more than without them so I'm hoping decent dampers will sort it (I'm currently on the stock dampers), if not I'll have to ditch the air bags.

[Doc]

I'd stay clear of the Gaz, I've had my second set fail. They quoted me £190 to refurbish the first set which had the failed within warranty. I foolishly had bought a second set to keep me on the road thinking the failure was a once off.

[Zeberdeecaddy]

Really , really , really unimpressed with the GAZ ultra low shocks on mine .

Need to be on full stiffness to stop the rear bouncing .

Had a set of 4 on a T4 about 10 years ago that blew 2 within a couple of months & said i’d never buy them again , unfortunately I didn’t learn from my mistakes & thought they might have improved by now .

[VanLife]

Thanks Doc and Zeberdee. I'll give Gaz a miss then.

Doc what are you running now? Or have you not replaced the second set yet?

Anyone got Konis?

[Doc]

I've still got the second set on but I've got a set of BC racing to go on when I refurbish the whole rear come summer.
Sounds like an old 2cv at the moment, the shocks screech that much over bumps.

[VanLife]

Do BC sell the rear dampers separately? I've not seen them anywhere.

Tbh I didn't know BC did coilovers for Caddys. I've got a clio 172 track car and BC coilovers are popular on those. They're supposed to be good quality so I hope they would be for the Caddy too. Although I have just seen a thread on here with someone struggling with the rear bouncing with the BC coilovers but the thread is from 2019 so it's possible they're different/better now.

[Doc]

I bought a full kit in the last sale they had, I didn't ask about the rears only but I guess it's worth dropping them a message.

[VanLife]

Thanks Doc, I'll drop them a message.

After doing some more digging it seems the Konis are designed for standard height, not lowered cars so run the risk of damaging seals. Seems lots of people do run them on lowered Caddys though.

Bilstein B6 are also intended for standard height, B8 are for lowered cars.

So it's looking like the B8 or maybe the DC dampers (if sold separately) might be the best option.

[VanLife]

@Lister79

Do you know the part number of the second set at all?

Aside from the knocking, is the ride quality good?

[Lister79]

that’s strange I could have swore my first set were B6’s but could have been B8 as they were the ones intended for lowered vans (physically shorter shocks).

Unfortunately the number on the label was incomplete when they came so don’t have the part number.
As with all Bilstein dampers the ride is really good and now that I’ve solved the knocking I’m happy (ish).
One thing that does annoy me is the fact they are mounted upside down. Bilstein have confirmed it OK to run their shocks either way, but this is the reason I believe they are originally intended for another vehicle and not an “air specific” set. As if they were “air specific” I’m sure they would have designed them to mount the correct way or at least had the branding the right way. This is possibly the reason the part number is incomplete (maybe removed intentionally).
I won’t get started about the fact they were supplied in black and not yellow to match the front (apparently this was due to COVID, and a temporary shortage)…..



I had a quick look and found some B8’s at Darkside (other retailer will be available).

https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... rbers.html

If you end up getting some B8’s I’d be very interested to know how they mount etc. If you could update this thread with your progress that would be great.


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[VanLife]

Thanks Lister!

The part number on the picture you posted is for B6 shocks. That's was when I looked up the difference between B6 and B8s.

If B8s are supplied with air ride kits then they are probably my best option as they're tried and tested.

I have seen a few sources saying they mount upside-down which seems a bit odd as the dust covers won't be as effective. Do you think it would be possible to fit them the correct way with some modification?