Rear Shock Problem
 

Car: 1986 Carrera Coupe, believed to be Boge shocks/struts all around (black/dirt colored). ;)

I had a knocking sound coming from the driver rear side, and found the source of the issue - the top of the rear shock is loose. However, the nut seems to be tightened down all the way on the shock thread with about 1/4" of thread showing above the nut. The top bushing is old, cracked, but in place. The shock itself can be moved around by hand and it clunks against the body. There is about 1/8" to 1/4" of slack/space between the top shock bushing under the nut/washer and the body.

So, question is, is this just a rotted bushing on the top side of the shock (where it would mount against the body on the bottom side), or is this just a rotted/crushed top bushing under the washer/nut? Is there something else amiss?

I haven't disassembled it yet, but want to get a better sense if there is something more than a new set of rear shocks needed to replace the old worn ones before I place an order with the host. (i.e. is there an additional bushing needed? is there some other problem I will find?)

Of note, the driver side rear ride height sits about 1/4" lower than passenger side as well, as expected given the slack on the top side.

As a second question, I've seen more than I can read about different shock options...I see posts of folks upgrading to Bilstein all around, but want to confirm direct fitment if I go this route. Street driver only, but would upgrade for sharper handling if worth it and direct fit with Boge struts, etc.

TIA!

Bilsteins all around is a great upgrade for a boge car. Night and day.

The shock upper floats in a two bushing sandwich, with the body sheet metal as the meat. If the nut was loose and the shock was rattling around, that could have caused the destruction of the lower one.

Afaik rear shocks are all interchangeable fitment wise. Bilstein makes nice stuff

I replaced my shocks with the stock boge only because my bank account was under duress at the time,if you can get bilstines do it!! I will get them the next time. I have them on all my other cars

Speaking from experience - I have an 85 Carrera - I just installed Bilsteins front and rear to replace my Boge ... the rears are very easy to replace. If it were me, i would buy the Bilstein HD's for the rear and install them in 2 hours or less. Very easy job. The fronts can be done fairly easily as well - IIRC, lift the front, impact socket to reomove top nut, drop down and pull strut outside of fender, remove top strut protector and bushing, use big pipe wrench to remove top cap on strut cartridge, remove old boge hydraulic strut cartridge, use paper towels to soak up old fluid, slide in new Bilstein HD struts (mine are threaded on the top to screw into the inside threads of the strut assembly in place of the top cap), push strut back into fender and install top nut.

I've got a used pair of Bilstein rears on the floor of my garage that are about 40 years old and hundreds of thousands of miles. They might out-perform new Boges. There has to be a used pair in Texas you could get for cheap.

+ 1 on Bilsteins as just installed green HD's all around... massive improvement

Thanks all! Bilstein B6's sitting in boxes in my garage awaiting install this weekend!

I have an 86 Carrara with 89,000 mi. Just put 4 Koni adjustable On last year, set them to middle stiffness and love the feel. Of note is that my original Boge were worse than I thought when I took them out of the car and compressed them.
I do not think the front spindle fitted with Boge shocks will fit Bilsteins in them. They do take Koni.

Bilstein makes inserts to fit Boge struts. It's a very common upgrade. Available in both 3" & 3 1/2".