Unfortunately, no. Far as I’m concerned it’s a case of functionality over looks. But it would be great if they would once again offer the hooded style. Either they didn’t sell well or they wanted to shave a few cents off production cost.
The rear Bilstein C2 Corvette shocks on my rod are hooded. The shocks came painted and the hoods are soft plastic. The hot rod front shocks are no longer available with the hood.
The chromed hooded Bilsteins were great looking shocks with their flared covers but, to the best of my recollection, whilst the open shock was made by Bilstein the hooded part was added by another party, possibly a rodshop, who's name escapes me. It wasn't one of the 'big' names. Conjecture on my part but their availability possibly declined with the advent of the covered So Cal Speed Shop shocks. I tried to get some of the covered Bilsteins about 15 years ago but drew a blank. I'd previously used the SoCals on another car but found them to be very harsh (in a 4 banger fenderless 32 roadster, so possibly too light a car) so opted for the open Bilsteins. Chris
i have aldan eagle adjustable coil overs on my off topic drag car after twenty plus years one started to seep aldan rebuilt them for only shipping charge i only had to provide a purchase receipt they have great customer service i was shocked to learn of the lifetime warranty to original buyer
Bilstein manufactures a TON of different shock models and types, ranging from stock replacement to high-end performance. You really need to specify which exact shock is being discussed as they can be different even if they externally look the same. At one point Bilstein did have a line aimed at vintage vehicles that had covered rods; I'm not sure if its still available, though. You would need to inquire with Bilstein. They're popular in the Pro-Touring and adjacent markets because that's what they've focused on. They aren't likely going to be the "most common" in the entirety of the the performance world, though.
Anybody ever attempted to weld a piece of tubing - flared on one end - to a non-hooded shock? Instant traditional!
Recently installed ride tech adjustable in the rear. Don’t have a ton of miles logged yet but so far I am throughly please with the ride quality. Will probably switch to their front shock too. They offer a fully shrouded front.
Maybe I'm jibber-jabbered in the head, I had to cut the hoods off my fronts to get them where they needed to go without undue clearances on the P&J shock mounts.
Hey Don, Curious on what differences you noted (if any) with the front shock change bilstein vs ride tech?
AH, My 32 Hi-Boy roadster weighs around 2,400 lbs without me in it. The Bilsteins gave a better ride than the Ride-Tech in my opinion. The Ride-Techs have WAY too much rebound dampening for my car. I started removing leafs on the front spring and now have 4 leaves which gives a very nice ride. I corresponded with Pete Eastwood regarding my front end woes and he uses stock '32 springs with leaves removed to get the correct ride. He also recommended Pete& Jakes shocks. P&J have covered and uncovered shocks with the same dampening in both. I went with the covered shocks and am quite happy with the ride. This was after years and a bunch of shocks trying to come up with something that I was happy with. Removing leaves made a big difference.
I started this thread in July and there's been lots of good comments. I currently have the polished Ride Techs on the front of my deuce highboy sedan and they seem to work good. I've also used a lot of So-Cal gas shocks on customer chassis with no problems. I have sold way more P&J shocks than any other brands over the years also without customer complaints except they may have a shorter life than some? I've decided to do the P&J's chromed covered shocks on the deuce roadster I'm building now. Can't justify $1200 worth of polished aluminum shocks.
I did a recent update on my roadster and went from rear buggy spring to coil overs. They used Vikings with compression and rebound adjustment. Wow what a difference in ride quality.
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