[NeilBlanchard]

I received my Bilstein B6 shocks last week, and I installed them on Sunday! I had much thinner stainless steel washers, so it took 8 per shock. They installed really easily - jacked up the car, removed the rear wheel, removed the 18mm bolt, removed the two 13mm bolts at the top, removed the nut at the top of the stock shocks, transferred the bracket with its plastic sleeve and the foam bumper stop to the new shock. Reinstalled in the two 13mm bolts at the top, put the wheel back on, and lowered the jack slightly to push the bottom mount up into alignment with the eyelet, put the washers on each side, and tightened the 18mm bolt. Repeat for the other side. I put a bit of Loctite Blue on the bottom bolt for our friend Justin Case.

The ride is much better, and the handling is also much better.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Summit Racing is down to just one shock - so hopefully they get more! Here they are on my 2017 Bolt EV:

 

[mosfet551]

I received my Bilstein B6 shocks last week, and I installed them on Sunday! I had much thinner stainless steel washers, so it took 8 per shock. They installed really easily - jacked up the car, removed the rear wheel, removed the 18mm bolt, removed the two 13mm bolts at the top, removed the nut at the top of the stock shocks, transferred the bracket with its plastic sleeve and the foam bumper stop to the new shock. Reinstalled in the two 13mm bolts at the top, put the wheel back on, and lowered the jack slightly to push the bottom mount up into alignment with the eyelet, put the washers on each side, and tightened the 18mm bolt. Repeat for the other side. I put a bit of Loctite Blue on the bottom bolt for our friend Justin Case.

The ride is much better, and the handling is also much better.

My 2023 EUV is like a boat when I'm going over small hills, did you find the Bilstein's fixed this?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

My 2023 EUV is like a boat when I'm going over small hills, did you find the Bilstein's fixed this?

Yes, the rear suspension is much better with the Bilstein shocks, for sure. The stock ones are underdamped, and it now rides and handles significantly better.

 

[mosfet551]

Thanks Neil, I'll put in a set. Can you still get them, what's the part number?

 

[ElderGeek]

Yes, the rear suspension is much better with the Bilstein shocks, for sure. The stock ones are underdamped, and it now rides and handles significantly better.

Did you shim the bottom hole in the Bilsteins? Using Google Shopping, I found 3 places which seem to have the Bilstein 24-171687 in stock, napaonline.com, danaport.com, and suspensionconnection.com. And thank you for the detailed description of the installation!

 

[mosfet551]

Did you shim the bottom hole in the Bilsteins? Using Google Shopping, I found 3 places which seem to have the Bilstein 24-171687 in stock, napaonline.com, danaport.com, and suspensionconnection.com. And thank you for the detailed description of the installation!

Thanks, I'll order them. I have a small machine shop so I'll probably machine bushings instead of washers. There's a wait at NAPA, you won't get them until April if you order them now (Mar. 4th).

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Did you shim the bottom hole in the Bilsteins? Using Google Shopping, I found 3 places which seem to have the Bilstein 24-171687 in stock, napaonline.com, danaport.com, and suspensionconnection.com. And thank you for the detailed description of the installation!

I had washers on either side - I used stainless steel fender washers that are thin, so I needed 4 on either side of both shocks; 16 in total. My impact driver (1/4" Makita) got the bolts pretty snug, so the shocks are firmly held; and I used blue Loctite on the threads.

 

[tradosaurus]

I think the Bolt rides great. What I would be afraid is changing the shocks out and then feeling every bump in the road because it now "rides better".

 

[zbrown]

I think the Bolt rides great. What I would be afraid is changing the shocks out and then feeling every bump in the road because it now "rides better".

You can put your mind at ease because nobody that has changed out the rear shocks has ever had anything but positive things to say. The OEM rear shocks are horribly under damped which leads to the car bucking back and forth over bumps. Replacing the shocks has even solved motion sickness issues for some people's families.

 

[tradosaurus]

You can put your mind at ease because nobody that has changed out the rear shocks has ever had anything but positive things to say. The OEM rear shocks are horribly under damped which leads to the car bucking back and forth over bumps. Replacing the shocks has even solved motion sickness issues for some people's families.

I've only 15000 miles on my Bolt and it rides smoother than most cars I've owned. Maybe when my Bolt gets a few years old I might look at replacing shocks but when I do I'll go OEM.

Maybe you got a bad batch of shocks on your because my Bolt rides like a Cadillac!

 

[Robaroni]

Suspension Connection has my order on the Bilstein B6 shocks, they just told me 3/24/2023 they expect them in June or July. I'm waiting, I'll live with the originals. Hey, maybe I'll get used to them. Not likely!

 

[RoadTripBiker]

My Bolt generally rides well and only has 15,000 miles on it. Just the other day hit some bumps and noticed the lack of good dampening particularly in the rear and on rebound. Defiantly will replace sooner than I normally would and will go with Bilstines

 

[Louis Chevrolet]

I have to agree with @tradosaurus that Chevy put a bad batch of rear shocks on Bolts. The very first week I owned my new EUV I noticed a lack of rear rebound damping. After the first large bump the rear of my car kept bouncing on the smooth road. Really weak damping even brand new with empty cargo area.

 

[Robaroni]

I have to agree with @tradosaurus that Chevy put a bad batch of rear shocks on Bolts. The very first week I owned my new EUV I noticed a lack of rear rebound damping. After the first large bump the rear of my car kept bouncing on the smooth road. Really weak damping even brand new with empty cargo area.

The first couple of weeks I had more bounce that I do now, it seems to have firmed up a bit but I'm still going to change the shocks. My wife noticed it also. There was someone on YT who showed the bad shock action, he changed them out.

 

[Packard V8]

I've only 15000 miles on my Bolt and it rides smoother than most cars I've owned. . . . Maybe you got a bad batch of shocks on your because my Bolt rides like a Cadillac!

Now we have proof of either alien takeover or AI chatbots at work!

In sixty-five years, I've owned more cars than I can count and the Bolt is the worst riding thing this side of my old Studebaker pickup. Rides like a Cadillac? Not even. Again, indications AI has been told to scrum the net for a comparison which would be favorable to Bolt ride quality, regardless.

jack vines

 

[Robaroni]

Now we have proof of either alien takeover or AI chatbots at work!

In sixty-five years, I've owned more cars than I can count and the Bolt is the worst riding thing this side of my old Studebaker pickup. Rides like a Cadillac? Not even. Again, indications AI has been told to scrum the net for a comparison which would be favorable to Bolt ride quality, regardless.

jack vines

In 78 years I've owned and restored more cars than most people and even raced motorcycles. Had several really nice Porsches and I've rebuilt 911 engines - works of art. I know cars and I know electronics, I can tell you what every semiconductor on an EV does and I can program the microcontrollers that dim the interior lights. I can machine a balance staff for a vintage size 16 Hamilton Railroad watch too and write the Gcode for the CNC machine to make it. You want technology, I'm your guy.

Let's understand the Bolt, some people think it's an econobox, it's absolutely not. Econoboxes don't have heated cooled seats, Bose, HD surround vision, sunroofs, a power driver seat and sophisticated displays. Yes the rear suspension is not independent but so what, it's not a race car, it's a well appointed nice sized car for a small to medium family and it gets from point A to point B very well. If you want a really bad handling car go buy a used Saturn sedan, it literally bounced across lanes when it hit bumps, even worse, which is hard to do, was the AMC Gremlin, now that was a horrible mistake of a car, one of the guys I worked with got one for free and gave it back!

The Bolt is a great car, it does what it's designed to do exceptionally well and it handles well enough for most people. Yes, I'll put different shocks in the back but truth is if I had to live with it the way it is I could, I love driving it so much that I can overlook the soft suspension until my Bilstein's come in anyway.

 

[Louis Chevrolet]

The first couple of weeks I had more bounce that I do now, it seems to have firmed up a bit but I'm still going to change the shocks. My wife noticed it also. There was someone on YT who showed the bad shock action, he changed them out.

Now that you mention it, I do think the rear shocks firmed up since when they were new. It was so bad I just drove slower to keep the car from bouncing off the road. But now time has passed, and the fear has passed, and speeds have crept up. The worn out rear shock feeling is gone. I didn't think about it until you mentioned it. It defies logic because new shocks would typically loosen up as they break in.
Good call, @Robaroni.

 

[Robaroni]

Now that you mention it, I do think the rear shocks firmed up since when they were new. It was so bad I just drove slower to keep the car from bouncing off the road. But now time has passed, and the fear has passed, and speeds have crept up. The worn out rear shock feeling is gone. I didn't think about it until you mentioned it. It defies logic because new shocks would typically loosen up as they break in.
Good call, @Robaroni.

That's why I was reluctant to believe it also, you would think just the opposite.