Warranty Shocks?

[Moncha]

With past experience as a service writer, my advise is to take your business to another dealer.. The brunt of Isuzu dealers are by far the worst for passing thebuck I have ever seen. They forget, they get paid for the work, just not as much as the cash customers so, the hate to do the extra step as it lowers their actual earnings.

[mbeach]

You guys rule.

I'm on my way out right now to chew a new hole in the SM's hindquarters, then I'm heading over to another dealership (or two).

I'm fortunate that I have 3 major Isuzu dealerships within a few miles of me, I wonder what will happen when we move up to Fairbanks, where the nearest dealer is 360 miles away...?

[VehiGAZ]

Don't be afraid to demand to speak with the regional service rep - he will be more interested in doing right by a customer with a warranty than the dealer might, and he can trump a dealer's service manager any time.

I had to do that with my Prelude when I first got it... two different dealers had three tries to fix a gear-grinding problem, and when the dealer I was using at the time wanted to replace the synchro and gear yet again, I asked him to call the regional service rep and get him to OK a new tranny for me, and if he didn't, then I wanted to speak to him personally. Guess what - I got a new tranny (of course, the new one did the same thing, so it was a design flaw, but whatever).

Good luck!

[VX4EJR]

This might be a stupid question, but I'll go for it anyway...

How do you know if you have a bad or blown shock?
Obviously if you see an oil substance coated on the tube itself, that's a sign you have a leak....right? (other than dirt and other crap that accumulates under there)
Otherwise with the hard and stiff way the VX handles the road and bumps, I'm not even sure I would be able to tell if a shock was bad.
Would it bounce a lot more and not quite recover as quick? Is that the idea?
Is there any audible signs or noises that you might hear with the suspension?

Also for some reason, when I pull out of the garage in reverse and go over this little bump at the door, I sometimes hear a sort of knock or click sound coming from just the front left wheel, almost like there's something hanging there that just gets bumped but I checked and nothing is loose.

[mbeach]

Drive over a speed bump and you'll know for sure if your shocks are blown.
You'll pitch fore and aft like a boat on rough water.

Don't believe the dealers' "bounce test" -the VX's wheelbase is so short, that it only rebounds 1-2 times with this method. I tested this by removing a shock altogether and bouncing the front corner -same result as with the blown shock in place, and neither result was enough to convince the dealer that replacement was required. The dealer want's to see 3-4 bounces.

Now I'm dealing with some meatrocket named "Clode" at Isuzu. We'll see where this road takes me.

[VX4EJR]

Drive over a speed bump and you'll know for sure if your shocks are blown.
You'll pitch fore and aft like a boat on rough water.

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

[mbeach]

Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness.

A vehicle on toasted shocks will continue to pitch after crossing the bump -it's pretty obvious if you see it occur. Just hang out in a parking lot and watch the different vehicles go over the bumps -the new ones (good shocks, hopefully) will eat up the impact and translate little motion to the driver. The beater cars (unmaintained, likely bad shocks) will flop about like fish out of water. In any case, this fore-aft pitching is not normal, even for a 'stiff' vehicle.

It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

The shock absorbers do not suspend the weight of the vehicle. They only serve to control the motion of the spring. Your ride height will remain unchanged as the shocks wear out.

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

Mine was pretty far gone when I finally got to it -and it took over 2 months just to track down. The best method I found was to crawl underneath the truck, and have my wife bounce up and down in/on it. That's the only way I was able to find the source of my noise. Once this $26.00 part was replaced, ALL of my weird noises were gone. It was amazing.

[Spike]

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

I'll double check the swaybar and see, but last I looked around the front left wheel well and underside...nothing looked broken, out of place or worn.

Hey man, been a long time!

I have that click in front driver side once in a while too. I also notice if i run over a manhole cover or some similar unevenness.. the front driver side 'chatters' slightly... this has been going on for a few months (winter)

I had it over at Murphy... they coundnt find anything wrong with the suspension or shocks... but did do an alignment and spin balance (at my request)... it seems to be a LOT better... but not 'perfect' Murphy has me irritated. Now that I am out of factory warranty, they almost dont want to work on it, even though I have a bumper to bumper aftermarket warranty and would get paid something for their 'hassle'

[Raque Thomas]

Thanks for the info! Thing is, I feel like the/my VX does this anyway because it is so rigid as many have posted with the stock suspension. In other words, you go over a speed bump and almost feel like you'd get whip-lash because of the stiffness. It's hard to tell if a shock is doing it's job or not, but I guess if the fronts were bad you'd have a low rider....??

"It is so rigid" - if that is the case, your stock shocks are working as designed. The VX is designed to have a rough ride - some of us like that, others are looking for different shocks to soften the ride. If your VX starts wallowing and riding soft with a lot of soft bounce - that will tell you that it is time to replace the shocks. The standard ride is going to be VERY tight, hard on bumps with a quick rebound. If you don't like that kind of ride, there are other shocks available and a couple of SUV's from Cadillac that ride a little softer. The VX was designed to be a "sport" SUV with a tight suspension.

[mbeach]

Also for some reason, when I pull out of the garage in reverse and go over this little bump at the door, I sometimes hear a sort of knock or click sound coming from just the front left wheel, almost like there's something hanging there that just gets bumped but I checked and nothing is loose.

Check the endlinks on your swaybar -when the shocks wear, this part takes a lot of abuse. It will wear around the stud (on each end) and it will flop and clank when you cycle the suspension. It gets louder with time.