Do Bilsteins need to be bled?

[Honus]

My 1985 300D spent several weeks on jack stands while I replaced all the bushings, ball joints, and other stuff. The front shocks (Bilstein comfort shocks with about 30,000 miles) laid horizontal on the floor the entire time. The car is back in operation, but it has a jarring ride when I drive over the washboarded areas on our dirt road. It seems like a shock absorber issue to me.

Should I have bled the shocks before re-installing them? I have seen recommendations for bleeding shocks that consist of standing them straight up, extending them fully, turning them upside down, and fully compressing them. The process is supposed to be repeated several times.

Should I take my Bilsteins back off and bleed them that way?

[t walgamuth]

i have never heard of bleeding shocks. prob everything is just stiff from being new. i bet it will soften up with use.

tom w

[stayalert]

My experience is identical to tom's

[barry123400]

This is indeed strange. Could be of course because of all the new parts installed as mentioned. Believe you are only supposed to torque certain rubber bushings tight when weight of car is on suspension so normal bushing movement is centred.Also shocks prior to being sold are stored in all kinds of positions. So unless there is something specific to a used shock absorber I would not think them the problem. How does the car do on a fender bounce test? If too stiff or will not move one or the other shocks may have frozen as that is not that uncommon. Also perhaps some of the new parts are just semi binding but will loosen with miles. If both fenders bounce test the same you may want to ask a real shock specialist working for one of the manufactures what he thinks.

[Honus]

I torqued everything I could with the weight on the suspension. The fender test seems OK, although the right seems slightly bouncier than the left.

[barry123400]

Well since you torqued things with weight on suspension that pretty well eliminates binding bushings. I would just try to accumulate a few thousand miles unless problem is severe as tom suggested before looking further into it. It may loosen up with some use. Other things that come to mind. Were original parts badly worn and you have changed alignment to some degree by putting in new parts? Watch for any new tire wear pattern as well. I agree the first suspect would seem to be shocks though. I would like to know how this problem is resolved or resolves itself. If you could post again sometime in the future it would be nice. Wonder if blistein has a website that might help?