GuyB
Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2015
- Messages
- 132
- Country Flag
To be fair, it was never supposed to be a permanent solution. I needed a lift kit in short order, and Pedders were both helpful and had available stock.
I went for their foam cell, heavy duty shocks (not the entry level kit Milner used to sell) with 50mm lift springs. Bout the same money as the equivalent OME kit.
They were fine for day to day, and some light off-roading, but the heavy load and harsh terrain of Budapest - Bamako, back in January, proved too much for the rear shocks. First one, then the other let go after a day of dune-hopping. We tried to continue but apart from the motion sickness, it just didn’t feel stable, so we pulled into a bush mechanic in Senegal, who found two mismatched van shocks and welded the pedders mounts onto them. Brilliant!
I called Pedders on my return, and they (without inspection) surmised that they must have been fitted with the vehicle lifted, but nevertheless agreed to replace them (they were under warranty when it happened, but not at the time of claim) free of charge.
Alas, they said they needed the batch numbers stamped on the shocks, which I had left in Africa! Hmmm...
I was about to take them up on a secondary offer of a half price replacement, and then this happened...
Yep.. that’s the oil from one of the front shocks, apparently a casualty of a day of (fairly) hard off-roading.
I don’t know if there’s any merit in Pedder’s claim of the likely cause concerning the rear shocks, but it’s not impossible. The fronts, however, I know for certain, were fitted on the ground.
I know people who give their trucks soooo much more abuse than I do, and haven’t had to change their kit for a decade or more. I can’t fault the service of Pedders UK, but I’m afraid I’ve just lost all confidence in their product.
So time for a new kit. I’m considering the usual suspects, OME, and also Icon, EFS and others. I assume, the best kit may comprise shocks from one and springs from another... would appreciate some guidance as to a good outlet... knowledgeable and with decent aftersales. I would usually go to Julian at Overland Cruisers but can’t get a response.
I went for their foam cell, heavy duty shocks (not the entry level kit Milner used to sell) with 50mm lift springs. Bout the same money as the equivalent OME kit.
They were fine for day to day, and some light off-roading, but the heavy load and harsh terrain of Budapest - Bamako, back in January, proved too much for the rear shocks. First one, then the other let go after a day of dune-hopping. We tried to continue but apart from the motion sickness, it just didn’t feel stable, so we pulled into a bush mechanic in Senegal, who found two mismatched van shocks and welded the pedders mounts onto them. Brilliant!
I called Pedders on my return, and they (without inspection) surmised that they must have been fitted with the vehicle lifted, but nevertheless agreed to replace them (they were under warranty when it happened, but not at the time of claim) free of charge.
Alas, they said they needed the batch numbers stamped on the shocks, which I had left in Africa! Hmmm...
I was about to take them up on a secondary offer of a half price replacement, and then this happened...
Yep.. that’s the oil from one of the front shocks, apparently a casualty of a day of (fairly) hard off-roading.
I don’t know if there’s any merit in Pedder’s claim of the likely cause concerning the rear shocks, but it’s not impossible. The fronts, however, I know for certain, were fitted on the ground.
I know people who give their trucks soooo much more abuse than I do, and haven’t had to change their kit for a decade or more. I can’t fault the service of Pedders UK, but I’m afraid I’ve just lost all confidence in their product.
So time for a new kit. I’m considering the usual suspects, OME, and also Icon, EFS and others. I assume, the best kit may comprise shocks from one and springs from another... would appreciate some guidance as to a good outlet... knowledgeable and with decent aftersales. I would usually go to Julian at Overland Cruisers but can’t get a response.