Bilstein struts and shocks rusted?

Has anyone else had rust issues with there Bilstein shocks and struts? I’ve had them for less than a year and this was the first winter. I wash my truck regularly with under carriage wash. Kinda upset. Seeing if anyone else is having the same problem.

 

Doesn't seem like your undercarriage wash is doing anything for the undercarriage either...

 

I agree with 14burrito. What are you using for an undercarriage wash?, maybe its ingredients are harsh on paint.

 

It looks worse than it is in that picture. I would think the coating would be better on these.

just going thru a automatic car wash

 

Auto wash isn’t going to get in there. When I got my truck last spring, I took a wire brush and wire wheel on a drill to all the rust underneath. Then I picked a nice warm day and got under there with a pressure washer. I made sure to let it dry for at least a day. Then I treated all the spots with a spray on rust treatment. I then painted what I could with Por15. When winter started approaching I washed underneath again, let it dry and sprayed the crap out of it with CRC marine corrosion inhibitor. I also sprayed some Fluid Film in the hard to get to spots. Oh, and filled the rocker panels with 3m cavity wax.
The CRC stuff leaves a yellow sticky waxy film, but it’s better than rust. Just washed under there this weekend now that it’s warmed up and the water was still beading off. A lot of work, but I plan on keeping my truck a long time.

 

automatic car wash wont do anything, you need to crawl underneath and hit it good with water/soap /baking soda/brush
get all that grime /road salt out. let it dry then some type of undercarriage protectant.

 

If the powder coat on the sway bar is rusted then for sure the Bilsteins will rust.
Aluminum polish and some elbow grease and they should clean up

 

That doesn't look like a Bilstein problem, there's a lot of rust back there... leaf springs, axle, RSB.
I'd address that ASAP before it get's too far out of hand, especially the springs and axle.
The shocks and RSB are relatively cheap parts to replace, the rest of that stuff is not so inexpensive.

 

That is what Bilsteins do especially since you did not buy the upgraded resi clamps.
Aluminum mated to steel makes things worse.

A good coat of Eezox on the suspension every month or so will help.
You also need to really hose it down after the salt.

 

My 6112/5160 were covered in rust after 1 winter. I’d wash all the road salt and dirt off once a week too, but it didn’t matter.

 

Everything is rusty from what I see. There is not a single shock or coilover in the world that won’t look like this without proper maintenance. Mine have zero rust in over 2 years of having them on. Proper cleaning and protection go a long way.

 

Has anyone painted or clear coated them before install? Thinking about doing mine with something. Just not sure what yet.

 

With the looks of that under carriage, you can’t blame Bilstein…IMO.

 

If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow and has salted roads then you should look into applying fluid film to the undercarriage/suspension.