What is the best front shock absorber for x300?

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Apr 24, 2013 | 10:43 PM
  #1  
Hi all,
Quick question - what replacement shocks have you been happy with?
I got new KYB Gas-a-just front shocks yesterday and so far I am underwhelmed.
A bit thumpy for my liking, wondering if there is a superior option

I have a big road trip Saturday so they might soften up a bit then.
But as of now I am not impressed
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Apr 25, 2013 | 12:17 PM
  #2  
Howdy!
I use Bilsteins. You can get Comfort or Performance...
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Apr 25, 2013 | 03:12 PM
  #3  
I took the relatively new KYB's off mine and put on some (used) Jaguar originals.

I did search around for alternatives, but it doesn't inspire confidence when the vendors just say "1994-1997 XJ6" without distinguishing between Comfort, Sport and XJR.
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Apr 25, 2013 | 06:22 PM
  #4  
My mechanic still has the old ones
They are stamped Bilstein Germany Jaguar and have a part number, so are presumably the originals
I have found a guy in Auckland who has trained in Germany at Bilstein, who can rebuild the innards, so that is the plan.
Also apparently Jaguar used a special orange bush at the top mount of the shocks, whereas the KYB has a harder rubber mount, so gonna get me a pair of the proper ones...
I will update the progress in a couple of weeks
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Apr 25, 2013 | 07:46 PM
  #5  
Quote: I took the relatively new KYB's off mine and put on some (used) Jaguar originals.

I did search around for alternatives, but it doesn't inspire confidence when the vendors just say "1994-1997 XJ6" without distinguishing between Comfort, Sport and XJR.

Sadly, it's common for manufacturers to "rationalize" their offerings.

AFAIK all X300s originally came with Bilsteins and the Jaguar catalogs show *several* different part numbers for different applications. By now I wouldn't be surprised of Jaguar itself has rationalized their offerings.

Last time I checked Bilstein itself, via its aftermarket replacement scheme, offered three shocks for X300s: comfort, XJR, and HD....or something like that.

A few years ago I found (and lost) the link to a terrific webpage that listed ALL the variations with applications and part numbers cross referenced. Bilstein had a neat numbering method where the part number actually defined the type of shock. More recent browsings reveal that they've abandoned that system.

Might try Googling the Bilstein number stamped on the shock itself.

All that said.....

Has anyone tried Konis on an X300?

Cheers
DD
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