The Inside Story of C4's Shock Absorber Revolution, Selective Ride Control

[rockycatt]

here is the picture the one on the left there offered by captain z

ok i just got off the telephone with tech support at bilstein california
they told me that a small pin the size of a watch band pin can be tapped
out and the new gear can be installed at my mechanics shop [all things being normal of course ]
and the 1991 corvette is safe to drive they said it reverts back to one of the select drive settings , he actually said sport setting altho it fells like touring but not to split hairs over that
ill update the work when finished thanx every one 8+)

 

[LT4man]

You are very welcome. Always nice to keep track of how a repair progresses.

One thing I like about the Corvette Action Center is this: For the most part, everyone here makes a very diligent and informed effort to help other Vette owners. Sometimes, we get our info a little skewed. Finally getting to a resolution makes me want to come back to the site and try to offer assistance. Notice I said "try!" I know I am not perfect (only one guy in heaven who can say that!). I like to spend my time trying to find a solution as opposed to blasting someone's post.

I am looking forward to how your problem is finally resolved!

AFTER REPAIRING YOUR FX3 ACTUATOR, PLEASE SAVE THE !

 

[KANE]

... For the most part, everyone here makes a very diligent and informed effort to help other Vette owners...

Greg- I'd go a little farther and say that NO ONE lacks passion here at the CAC!:L

Corvette owners (and our ilk) are a passionate bunch.

We all have the common thread of wonder and respect for the machines we cherish. We strive to make ourselves more knowledgeable about our cars, how to maintain / modify them, and sometimes we become more knowledgeable about each other in the process as we are willing to share what we know to advance and preserve the hobby.

I think we'd all agree to that!

 

[92BlackVette]

I have an issue as Hal put it in his articles with the, "idiotic solution is to remove the service light bulb...." I have my shocks being sent back to Bilstein and I am about to have CaptainZ check out my actuators. One thing is for sure the light isn't on at anytime, so what kind of bulb do I need and how do I get to it. Can't fix what you can't see.....

 

[rockycatt]

i have ordered a replacement gear for the top of the bilstein front passenger fx3 shock
can it be simply replaced ,without rebuilding the whole shock [my jetta is 1991 roadster ]

up date today i installed the gear on top of the shock with out even removing the shock [thats correct not even removing the shock]

my gear was so badly damaged that i remove the fragment pieces with a sewing needle used as a pick

do your self a favor and call bilstein ., ans captain z is a vendor that sells and rebuilds these parts Arron is his name and ive spoken with him twice a very interested and friendly person

 

[Hib Halverson]

ok i just got off the telephone with tech support at bilstein california
they told me that a small pin the size of a watch band pin can be tapped
out and the new gear can be installed at my mechanics shop [all things being normal of course ]
and the 1991 corvette is safe to drive they said it reverts back to one of the select drive settings , he actually said sport setting altho it fells like touring but not to split hairs over that
ill update the work when finished thanx every one 8+)

A great thing about the CAC is I can learn new things, too.

To produce the article on Selective Ride, I made two trips to Bilstein of America in San Diego and conducted a couple of telephone interviews with them. I even watched some of the people who work in the shock rebuilding shop overhaul a set of SRC shocks.

Never did they tell me the gear on the top of the bypass valve can be replaced. They told me if that gear is broken, the valve assembly needs to be replaced. Of course...I never asked if the the gear, alone, can be changed.

Earlier I said that a broken gear means the shock has to be replaced or rebuilt, however, as "rockycatt" said in his post, that statement was incorrect. I'm sorry for posting inaccurate information.

I'm curious as to where you obtained the replacement gear?

 

[rockycatt]

A great thing about the CAC is I can learn new things, too.

To produce the article on Selective Ride, I made two trips to Bilstein of America in San Diego and conducted a couple of telephone interviews with them. I even watched some of the people who work in the shock rebuilding shop overhaul a set of SRC shocks.

Never did they tell me the gear on the top of the bypass valve can be replaced. They told me if that gear is broken, the valve assembly needs to be replaced. Of course...I never asked if the the gear, alone, can be changed.

Earlier I said that a broken gear means the shock has to be replaced or rebuilt, however, as "rockycatt" said in his post, that statement was incorrect. I'm sorry for posting inaccurate information.

I'm curious as to where you obtained the replacement gear?

here is arron;s add /link Corvette fx3 shock actuator rebuilding and repair

 

[rockycatt]

for question's or replies aaron@captainzcnc.com

 

[Toms007]

The question still remains....Where did you get the new gear? When I had a gear go bad on my 94 Bilstein said I couldn't get just the gear, have they changed their tune?

 

[rockycatt]

go here for fx3 http://captainzcnc.com/index.html

it was a extremely simple install for the front passenger side the gear was 25.00 +2.oo shipping with a telephone call number on my pay pal receipt easiest thing i ever did on my vette [mind you this was the gear install pictured above
if this is new than its way past due
good luck with your fix

ps im shure rear is a bit more work you will have to bench the shock but for this it was s i m p l e

 

[rockycatt]

The question still remains....Where did you get the new gear? When I had a gear go bad on my 94 Bilstein said I couldn't get just the gear, have they changed their tune?

read the three or four pics and text pages on that link --->

 

[aklim]

I know the shocks are different from some years to others but is there any difference in the actuators?

 

[92BlackVette]

If you send it to Bilstein to get it replaced, they replace the gear on top along with the entire rod (one unit). The trick is to have it replaced at the same time you are getting the shock rebuilt, it costs $45 for the rod that has the gear on top, and $100 for the rebuild of the other part of the shock.

I would think if I just had one of my shocks rebuilt and the gear broke, I would opt for captainz's replacement gear.

 

[rockycatt]

just a update my fix of replacing the passenger side front bilstein shock gear 25.00 is still working fine

 

[GRANDSPORT]

Hib, you are the man.
Thank You for taking the time to reply...

I know this is an old thread, but there is so much inaccurate information here, I need to comment on a post made back in January. I'm sorry "LT4Man" but you've got no idea how much incorrect information the old post, above, contains. You may believe a lot of that stuff but some of it is just flat wrong.



I've driven several and understand the system quite well.
I'm confident of my facts.



Dude...I freakin' do not publish or post "old wives tales."

Here's the 411 on this sitch...

Delphi was the ride control products designer, developer and manufacturer for GM back then. Cadillac was a marketing group. As for the engineers who developed Cadillacs, they worked for GM engineering on Cadillacs, Buicks and even GMC trucks. Delphi designed, developed and made all the "RTD-type" ride control products (the shocks, the electronics hardware and software) used by Cadillac, GMC Truck, Chevrolet SUVs and Corvettes.

What the various vehicle development groups did is take that hardware, integrate it with the vehicle platforms and do the calibration work, which, of course, was platform-specific, ie: a ride control calibration for a Cadillac DeVille obviously wouldn't work for a Corvette Coupe.


That's inaccurate.
Neither MY96 F45, MY97-03 F45 or 04-10 F55 were ever standard equipment, ie: installed on "all" C5s or C6s. Those ride control systems were always an option and, thus, was never installed on "all" Corvettes. I'll add that, with respect to Corvette, there never was any thought to making F45 or F55 standard equipment.

Why?

Cost.

The statement above about F45 being based on the Cadillac continuously-variable systems is partially inaccurate. In fact, the development that resulted in F45 for MY96 occurred before the Cadillac CV system was completed. What was "based" on a Cadillac system is the CV RTD which was introduced for MY97 on C5 and for MY96 in selected Cadillac products. Now, it may have been that the 1996 Corvette RTD was based on some previous bi-state system used in the mid-90s on some Cadillac products. I suggest that's possible because, the time that work may have been going on at Cadillac may have been the same time that Hill was still the Chief Engineer for the Allante. I'm not an Allante expert but I recall that some Alantes had some sort of variable ride control system as an option or maybe as std. equip.



You say you talked to "Corvette Engineers"
Ok.
Who were they?

My information came directly from interviews I conducted with: 1) Scott Allman who was the Lead Engineer for Corvette Ride and Handing between 1988 and late 1994, a period which included the time MY96 F45 was developed, 2) Mike Neal who took over Allman's job and had it until 2005 and 3) Mike Rizzo who was the Technical Integration Engineer for Corvette Chassis Controls in the mid 00s. Those guys were the people who actually ran Corvette ride control development of both F45 for 96, F45 for MY97-03 and F55 for MY04 In addition to those three guys, my statements are based on several interviews (both on 96 RTD, 97-04 RTD and 04 F55) with Darin Dellinger who, back then, worked for Delphi and worked in the group that developed the shocks which were used in the two F45 versions and in the F55 system introduced for MY04. He was the point man for Delphi's relationship with the Corvette engineers.

Now...which Corvette engineers did you say you spoke to about Corvette Ride Controls?

Finally, let me restate the facts about F45 in 1996
1) It was a bi-state (ie: two discrite levels of damping...soft and really soft) system with very limited bandwidth in damping.
2) It was a ride enhancement only and not a performance enhancment. Just the fact that Z51 did not includeit and all 96 RTD cars had incredibly soft springs further supports the ride-enhacement-only idea.
3) It was a one year system and parts support going forward, if it hasn't ended already, is going to become impossible.

At this point in time, I'll suggest that the existence of F45 in MY96 was more GM internal politics and a wet-dream of various GM marketing groups than it was a useful feature for customers. At the same time F45 for MY96 was being developed over at Delphi and advocated by Hill who was, of course, partial to Cadillac, Bilstein and the Ride and Handling engineers at Corvette Development were working on a "high-speed" "third-generation" version of the existing Selective Ride (FX3). It would have used more powerful actuators on the shocks which could move the bypass valves in the shock much faster. It also would have used the same type of "ride sensors" the Delphi RTD system was going to use and, because it would have become ride-movement dependent rather than speed-dependent, would have resulted in nearly the same ride enhancement as 96 F45, but also, because the SRC shocks had so much more bandwidth of available damping, it would have resulted in some significant performance gains, too.

In the end "high-speed" SRC (which also may have been known internally as "fast shocks") was killed and the pet project (the bi-state RTD) of Dave Hill and bunch of moronic GM marketing weenies, which used shocks made by Delphi (which, back then was still owned by GM), got the nod for production.

That was a big mistake which did not serve Corvette customers (or the car's performance) very well.