Please help me understand Bilsteins on my truck

Guys, I'm as lost as last year's Easter egg on this one.

Alright, I need good shocks (affordable for me - $350 for the set or less is preferable) because we do endurance (14+ hour) road racing. After two races, believe it or not, our Monroe's have completely blown out. We are eyeing the Bilsteins but I'm running into more questions than I am answers about the Bilsteins.

Let me tell you what I have:

1995 S10 LS. It has cut springs in the front (about 2" of drop) and 2" drop spindles and 0.5" ball joints. In the rear, we have ZQ8 leaf springs and 1.75" lowering blocks.

In half the places I look, I find that some of the Bilsteins say "Excludes ZQ8." Since my truck has ZQ8 rear springs, would that eliminate them for me? Can someone please offer some guidance on which front and rear shock part numbers I need before I get desperate and call Bilstein?

Thanks.

i don't know the part #s offhand, but the stock zq8 bilsteins will be good for you. you are probably getting confused with the aftermarket non-zq8 bilsteins. (blazer xtreme may have non-zq8 bilsteins, but i'm not sure)

So what are is different between the ZQ8 shocks and the regular shocks (the factory code escapes me)?

They used bilsteins on ZQ8 and non ZQ8 trucks, but they are different shocks.  Different rates and different height/stroke.  Both of those are advantages to run the ZQ8 bilsteins over stock bilsteins as they are setup for a very similar ride height and spring rates. I'd wager they will last longer than the Monroes too as they are a high quality shock.

ACDelco 540-46 for the front ZQ8
ACDelco 540-44 for the rear ZQ8

I typically encourage purchasing at Amazon, but for some reason they're quite expensive right now. Google around and you should be able to find them for ~$400/set or less. If that isn't working for you I can dig up the GM part numbers too, which can net some deals.

So I'm digging and trying to confirm this, but looking at what I ordered from Amazon for the Isuzu... I ordered a quantity of 1 for the 540-46 front shock kit and a quantity of 2 for the 540-44 shocks. I do remember a box with 2 shocks in it too... that would cut the costs significantly if the front shocks came together in one kit. Does this ring a bell for anyone else or can anyone confirm that the front part number is indeed a kit? I might be able to dig something up at work, but not sure the GM part number relates that directly with the AC Delco.

Another budget option looking through my notes would be the Blazer Xtreme front shocks. Front suspension geometry and spring height is the same and the spring rate is very similar.  AC Dleco 540-65 is the part number I have written down.

Harley, my research tonight concludes your comments regarding the differences and part numbers.

I am curious about the Xtreme Blazer fronts and also curious about the quantities as well. The price on Amazon for a 540-46 is $175. Lawd, I would hope that's for two.

Xtreme Blazer Front shocks are $85 each on Jegs. Can anyone speak to how these work on an S10. Our front coil springs are cut, so think increased spring rate.

Everywhere I search the 540-46, it says "kit." I'll give Summit or Jegs a call tomorrow to verify.

Thanks!

Like mentioned, if you want the OEM ZQ8 Bilsteins the part numbers are 540-46 and 540-44. Those are an AC Delco part number. The average going price for the fronts is around $168 each, and around $100 each for the rears.

Bilstein makes 4600 series shocks for our trucks which are the ones most people go with. The part numbers are 24-187428 and 24-016810. They're listed for $76 each on Summit.

There is a difference in the valving and appearance of them. They are both the same length. The Bilstein 4600s are very stiff to compress by hand, and also have a stiff rebound. The AC Delco shocks have a slightly softer compression, and much softer rebound. On my truck I have the Bilsteins on the front and ACDelcos on the back. I originally had the Bilsteins on the rear as well, but I found the ride a bit too rough for daily driving. On your truck however, I would recommend going with the Bilstein 4600s all around since yours is setup for road racing. I'd imagine the stiffer valving would keep the shocks performing well longer.

I can confirm that 540-46 is just one shock.  I found the other one I purchased off eBay, so I did order 2. I paid $115 on Amazon and $90 on eBay in October of 2014 for reference.

I was also able to find the valving for the front Blazer & S10 Xtreme shocks. Blazer has essentially twice the rebound as the S10, but practically the same compression rate.



I am actually much on the same page as SS with the rates.  The ZQ8 shocks are more likely designed for street performance and you may find you want more stiffness on the track.  I'd be curious on the back to back performance difference between the two, but that would be twice the cost. The Blazer front shocks might be a good middle ground and currently cost much less than the S10 shocks too.

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smile.amazon.com.
exactly the same as regular amazon, same selection and prices, but some of the money you spend on there goes to a charity of your choice.
I have mine set up to ASPCA

It's free money for the charity with no cost to you. no-brainer to use it imo.
only small issue is the lack of phone app support.

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more info below
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_abtpo_r_about_smi

Just checked on Rockauto, they have the Blazer Xtreme front shocks for $59 each. I'm interested how they compare to the Bilsteins. Since the price is right I may be the guinea pig. The ZQ8 shocks are definitely more suited for street performance. I did notice since switching out the rears it soaks up bumps better at higher speeds.

Thanks guys. I think we are going to try the 4600's as mentioned because they are better suited for the track. We race at Road Atlanta in February and I'll report back.

I think you'll be happy with them. That's what I was running when I did a track day over the summer. I had no complaints, the truck handled quite well.

id say they'll be fine until you try out some bigger budget motorsports grade shocks.