Rear Bilstein for G5 Camaro fits the G8

[pontiac_wolf]

I was wondering if you or anyone else had the Bilstein part number for the front?

Does the Camaro's part number cross reference as well?

I am one of the guys that went insane and ordered Bilstein shocks from Australia and installed them on my G8.. I have always loved their products and the feel of a well sorted monotube shock - so there.

Here was my original install on the rear..



18 months later, luckily while the car was up on jack stands for a brake job this happens..



Bummer - two weeks of driving to BilsteinUS and emails to Bilstein Australia and Germany I discover a few things -

1. There is no warranty from Australia - the supplier wanted to send me one for $400 then the importer did eventually agree to send me 2 for $400 thanks to what I think was pressure from Germany to make me quit sending emails..
2. BilsteinUS will not warranty them but they are pretty good to talk to - Unless it is break, lunch, inventory, or furniture moving time - which happened about the entire time I needed their help
3. Germany while concerned can't seem to do a whole lot about it

I then started to look into a local procured replacements and found these for the G5 Camaro 24-222976 - they are a pretty new offering by BilsteinUS. Here it is compared to the broken one from Australia.



Stronger looking with a beefier shaft and bushing ring... Hmmm, The shaft is about 3/4 inch shorter (the shaft is the same but there is a 3/4 spacer built into the Commodore piston) - but with my King HD springs I don't need much stroke/droop so the extra spring preload doesn't hurt and many people with lowering springs might like it since it will put the piston in the sweet spot a bit better. For me - I have 2.75 inches between full droop and where it sits with the weight sitting on it and out at the wheels that is almost 4-5 inches of downward suspension movement, I have not felt it hit the end of that travel even coming out of some pretty nice dips found around SoCal.

But here again note that since the G8 is not an "approved Bilstein application" - No Warranty.. but at only $120 a shock with local availability they were a much better deal..

Valving - the Camaro shocks have a higher compression and a little lower rebound than the Commodore shocks and I thought that might be a problem but turns out that on the road it feels pretty darn good. At the autocross track - I am still undecided, it still feels good but I am not sure if the change will ultimately result in faster times around the turns.

I have a few pictures of the FE3, BilsteinAUS and BilsteinUS offering all mounted to the top plate with the KingHD springs both off and on the car but they are on another camera and I will need to upload them later...

[JonRobbinSS]

The front shocks on my car are PE3-H509 - it is an insert that requires cutting the original and welding on a threaded collar to the top.

I think they might have changed the part number system since then.

The Camaro front shock offering is a replacement and it is not a match for the G8 piece