Forgive what may be a dumb question, but before I go out and spend money...

My wife occasionally feels ill riding in my Xterra because of its somewhat bouncy ride. Yes I know it's a truck, as does she, but my `97 Dakota 4x4 never bounced like this. We're going on a 10+ hour drive this summer, and we may take my wife's Subaru Forester due to the ride. I don't want my wife arriving at our vacation place feeling sick!

I read the many posts on the Bilstein shocks and they sound great. Most posts sounded relative to off road use though. So for those of us who just want to make the ride less bouncy on paved or gravel roads, do the Bilstein shocks make a difference? I suspect they do but I'd like to hear it from those who've already been there, done that!

Thanks

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Al

Mine definitely seem somewhat better at controlling the "bounciness" on the road. However, I don't think it's enough to prevent her from getting sick if that's a problem now. It still definitely drives like a truck.

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Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4

From another point of view - I have the Rancho 9116's on the rear (stock up front, still) and I've noticed that after a hellish bikeride on my way home, my back and neck ache if they're set on '5' (stiffest setting), but if I drop it down to 1 or 2 it's a much softer, more comfortable ride - especially for driving on earthquake-cracked freeways around here.

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Cheers!,
-John
Silver, '00 - 4x4, 3pk

I think you may be confusing the question a bit. The Bilsteins are also quite soft and comfortable, but I think he's talking more about motion sickness, not ride harshness. And any truck with the amount of suspension travel of the X is going to have that problem--certainly compared to a car like the Forester.

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Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4

With gas prices going up and up, take the Forester anyway, and buy the Bilsteins with the money you save!

Brent

I only drove on them for a few miles in Schlud's truck, but I thought they were really smooth. You could definately feel the sharp impacts, but the ride was very controlled and I didn't notice any bouncing or floatiness in the front end. The road I was on was not very bumpy though (but kind of lumpy), so I don't know how much help that will be. Maybe Schlud will speak up now that he's been driving on them for awhile.


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ChuckH
2000 SE 4x4, Aztec Red

[This message has been edited by ChuckH (edited 04-18-2001).]

i dont have bilsteins in my X yet but from my past experience with bilstein compared to stock shocks they rebound much quicker and tend not to give the 2-3 bounces a stock shock needs to level back out. they are stiffer but not so stiff that they give an extremely harsh ride. i dont know if they will make your wife sick or not but i hope this helps alittle.

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Silver Ice Xterra Xe
4x4 auto 3pk

Thanks for the comments folks, please keep them coming! My wife only feels ill in the Xterra occasionally, not every time. Basically if she isn't feeling real well before getting in the X then she feels worse after getting out. She never felt that way in my `97 Dakota 4x4 or my `90 Nissan 4x4.

I think it's the way the X tends to take a second or two to settle out after a bump. My other trucks didn't do that, and I believe they had a good amount of suspension travel too. I know the Dakota sure looked like it did, even with the stock 31x10.5 tires. So if the Bilsteins helped it settle out faster after a bump then they may do the trick.

By the way, the main reasons for taking the Xterra versus the Forester are that we may be taking a lot of gear, and her Forester doesn't have cruise control. I agree that for mileage, ride quality, and interior noise level the Forester would be the better choice.

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Al

I like my bilstiens on road ride quality a lot. Every one has posted the same info I would give you about the travel and rebounding.

I find that the "floating" feeling is gone from the stock days and body roll and pitch have decreased considerably.

As a related note, I recently took my parents on a short road trip in the X and they both commented that the ride quality was "better than stock." I dont really know how to qualify that statement but it makes for a good, outside opinion I think.

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Xavier
All your trail are belong to us

Well, I have more experience than anybody with the Bilsteins mounted on an Xterra (I was the first - they prototyped them on my Xterra).

I LOVE THEM!! I have been EXTREMELY happy with the on-the-road ride -- I felt they made a night-and-day difference in body roll and ride quality. As the others have said above, they recover MUCH quicker than stock shocks, so you don't have the couple oscillations after a bump you get with the stock shocks. I have had coworkers comment on how smooth the vehicle rides over railroad tracks near the office on lunch runs (I don't slow down -- they only grabbed the assist handles the first time).

BTW....the improvement off-the-road is just as dramatic! Just this past weekend, (with over 13,000 miles on the shocks), I had a chance to blast down a sand wash at about 55-60 MPH, and I can't get enough of it!! They just continue to soak up all but the bigger bumps/dips (after all, suspension travel hasn't changed).

Are they worth the $ investment??
IMO, A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y!!

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Onward and Forward
or at least Onward
SCCX: http://www.sccxterra.com/

Does this mean you got them free? If so, I don't believe your review. Just kidding.



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Eric Konarske & Lara, my X
'01 Solar Yellow XE 3 Pk. 4x4