Quote Originally Posted by blacksambo View Post
We've been around this block before (hate to remind everyone).
Those black rubber figure eight things are not bump stops!

They are technically spring helpers. What does that mean?

They stop body roll and quiet the ride. They are supposed to be about one-half inch above the rear axel, at rest.

So, where does that leave us? if you shorten them they will not stop body roll or help deaden sound. That's all..........? You can remove them permanently, and your VX will stiil move forward....but without the factory ride, safety and quiet the VX was mean't to offer. (Remember 1996? Isuzu was sued by Consumer Reports for excessive body roll. Neither side won but the seeds were planted in Isuzu's mind on what to do next.) It's your choice. Nuff said!

IMHO, what they're called isn't as important as understanding what they do and trying to give the initial poster some background info and detail on them.

I've found they often come in contact with the axle at rest and cause an extremely jarring ride on bumps.....many other owners have said their "black rubber figure 8 thing" is actually resting on the axle (as in my picture).....Other SUVs I own have between 4-6" clearance. That may well be because they aren't marketed as a "PUV" like the VX was.

Based on the comments in the thread below, I really think we're describing the same "function"........the nature of the ride, the very similar "jarring", insulate frame from body, insulate vibration, prevent metal on metal contact, noise reduction.... You says they also help in cornering.

If cutting them in half increases coil compression and changes the spring rate from OEM....I'll still take it and any consequences that may cause, because the improvement in the ride is worth it to me.

Here's the thread from a few months ago Black Sambo started about them, and a couple highlights of comments:
http://vehicross.info/forums/showthr...spring+helpers

  • They stop coil compression and isolate the frame from the body. Mine rusted away sometime back. Maybe way back? But replacing them really really helps stabilize the ride and reduces the noise factor, significantly.


  • These "helpers" take the body and insulate it from the frame. Without them you're talking metal to metal contact between the frame and the body, and that means noise. If you study a VX underside you'll see rubber isolaters at all the mounting points. These spring helpers do just that, they help the spring and shock mounting points avoid a metal to metal ride in the rear. Renew yours and and you'll immediately hear the difference.

  • ironing out the vehicle vibrations and undulations.

  • they more gently "stop" your compression on up travel so that it is not a sudden "bump" when your springs(or shocks) reach max compression, or when the top of your tire contacts with the bottom of your rear cladding (wheel well).




  • Using Merlin's St. Charles Isuzu parts site, they're PART #10 in the schematic, and are called "BUMPERS, VEHICROSS", MSRP $50.64, PRICE $43.04.

  • Using "myisuzuparts.com", they're called "RR SPR HELPER RUBBER", PART #8-94374-448-1