Warranty Shocks?

[mbeach]

I have the RS9000Xs on the Ironman and I have been pretty happy with them. For the money, they work exceptionally well. My next set might be the Bilsteins, only to say that I've tried them.
I've also been looking hard at the Fox 2.0 shocks.

Whetever I choose for the I-man, I'd still like to have the stock units on the wifes VX.
Now I'm dealing with another shirt at Isuzu -someone named "Marie"

Here's the rundown/runaround as of today,
Isuzu: We'll cover the shocks if the dealer says that they need replaced.
Dealer: We'll replace the shocks, if Isuzu says they'll pay for them.

..and now we've come full circle...

[mbeach]

Red Tape, Fear, and Incompetance

Since Isuzu is on the way out of the market, I no longer have a regional service rep. I have some tool named "Clode" and a local service manager who's scared of getting stuck with a bill for 4 new shocks.

The dealership's ONLY way of testing the shocks is the manual bumper bounce test -which I pointed out is neither quantifiable nor repeatable to any degree of precision. The shocks pass this 'test', and I'm stuck with them. He mentions a fear that he will replace the shocks, then Isuzu's engineers will deem them alright after conducting some mystery 'test' on them. This same person had also never heard of a shock dyno. Unacceptable.

Regional Warranty Guy, Clode, claims that the engineers who will actually do the testing to verify whether or not the shocks can be replaced under warranty are "unreachable by telephone" -WTH?
I just want to know what test they are going to perform, I'm sure that they are not going to bolt them up to a 01 VehiCross and jump up and down on the bumper.

This is just one more reason to debadge. I'm even wetsanding the 'Isuzu' off of the mirrors now.

[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.

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Remove the questionable shock(s) and check compression & rebound by hand