Broken Bilstein. 3 Qs.

[Snk-Byet01]

Several years ago, I replaced the OEM struts with some used Bilsteins off of a 03-04 Cobra. A while ago, I went out for a short drive and hit a very small bump and "Bang"!. WTF? When I pulled into my garage, I noticed some moisture on the driver side rim. Upon closer inspection, the Bilstein strut had leaked and probably most of the oil was out of the strut. So...
Q1) Should I send these struts back to Bilstein to have them refurbished? Shipping ain't going to be cheap and I think the rebuild is $127 each. Maybe I should look for another set of used Bilstein struts.
Q2) I have lowered the 01 Cobra using Vogtland 1.6" springs and I have removed both the upper and lower ISOs. Do you think this caused the strut to fail or just normal wear and tear?
Q3) I have MM CC plates. I had to put one large spacer on the top of the strut under the nut and one large and two small spacers on the bottom of the strut under the CC plates to keep the top of the strut from hitting the hood when I lower the hood. Has anybody else used this setup? An additional problem is that I can't properly torque the top nut because I ran out of threads on the top of the strut. Am I doing something wrong? I thought I tried one small and large spacers on both the top and bottom, but if I remember correctly, the top of the strut just "kissed" the hood when closed. Any help would be appreciated.
TIA

 

[01yellercobra]

Several years ago, I replaced the OEM struts with some used Bilsteins off of a 03-04 Cobra. A while ago, I went out for a short drive and hit a very small bump and "Bang"!. WTF? When I pulled into my garage, I noticed some moisture on the driver side rim. Upon closer inspection, the Bilstein strut had leaked and probably most of the oil was out of the strut. So...
Q1) Should I send these struts back to Bilstein to have them refurbished? Shipping ain't going to be cheap and I think the rebuild is $127 each. Maybe I should look for another set of used Bilstein struts.
Q2) I have lowered the 01 Cobra using Vogtland 1.6" springs and I have removed both the upper and lower ISOs. Do you think this caused the strut to fail or just normal wear and tear?
Q3) I have MM CC plates. I had to put one large spacer on the top of the strut under the nut and one large and two small spacers on the bottom of the strut under the CC plates to keep the top of the strut from hitting the hood when I lower the hood. Has anybody else used this setup? An additional problem is that I can't properly torque the top nut because I ran out of threads on the top of the strut. Am I doing something wrong? I thought I tried one small and large spacers on both the top and bottom, but if I remember correctly, the top of the strut just "kissed" the hood when closed. Any help would be appreciated.
TIA

1) Depends on shipping cost. If the total cost gets close to a new set I'd just get the new set.

2) Probably normal wear and tear. I was lowered about 1.75" and never had any issues. And I drove that car.

3) If you don't have enough threads then remove a small spacer. You don't have to use them all. I don't remember the combo I'm running.

 

[Snk-Byet01]

1) Depends on shipping cost. If the total cost gets close to a new set I'd just get the new set.

2) Probably normal wear and tear. I was lowered about 1.75" and never had any issues. And I drove that car.

3) If you don't have enough threads then remove a small spacer. You don't have to use them all. I don't remember the combo I'm running.

1) Depends on shipping cost. If the total cost gets close to a new set I'd just get the new set.
That is what I am thinking.

2) Probably normal wear and tear. I was lowered about 1.75" and never had any issues. And I drove that car.
Thanks, that gives me some peace of mind.

3) If you don't have enough threads then remove a small spacer. You don't have to use them all. I don't remember the combo I'm running.
What I tried to explain, is that the top nut goes all the way down to the end of the threads on the strut shaft. I could probably add a small spacer on the top if I had two extras. Removing a small spacer from the bottom will cause the shaft to rise higher and hit the hood.