Pedders Adelaide

[nj swb]

I'm not traditionally a fan of Pedders, but I truly appreciate what they have done for me.

As posted elsewhere, I have Dobinson MRR shocks on my NT, and not having the best experience with them. After one failed and I had the pair re-built, they came back without top bushes. Because they had passed through too many hands, all parties were denying responsibility, so I needed to buy new bushes.

Dobinson don't sell them - they claim their shocks are designed to use the factory bushes, so I had to buy from Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi didn't have any in stock in this small backwater part of the country, so I rang around Adelaide trying to find something. Pedders had kits in stock, for the princely sum of $8 each.

Done.

Towards the end of a recent Simpson crossing, one had failed. For reasons explained elsewhere, I blame the design of the Dobinson shock rather than the bush.

Yesterday, I took the remains of the failed bush back to Pedders, and started by explaining that I wasn't complaining, as I don't believe the failure was any fault of Pedders. I then asked if they had an alternative product that may withstand better the demands of King EHD springs and Dobinson MRRs.

They spent some time researching on their computer, hunted around in their store, and returned with two alternative urethane bush kits. I chose the one I thought better suited to my application, and asked the price.

"No charge."

A $73 urethane bush kit supplied free of charge to replace a cheap rubber bush that failed under some fairly extreme circumstances.

I appreciate that.

[m_and_m]

Now that’s how to look after a customer.
I wish more companies valued their life blood like this.

Problems happen, but it’s how you deal with the problem that makes the difference.
I literally just gave my son a lecture about this 1 hour ago.

[sharkcaver]

Agreed, top work by Pedders. Sometimes I wonder if pedders just get hammered by those online due to the sheep mentality.

Though, I have heard some horror stories too.

NJ you mention top bushes....I assume you mean the upper and lower top mounting rubbers? How did they fail?

I have been without my rear MRR's for some time now due to the lower bushes parting company with their mating housing. The vulcanising has failed.

That said, they have been shaken to death and although I keep telling the dealer there is no hurry, I have been without them for 4 weeks now.

[nj swb]

Agreed, top work by Pedders. Sometimes I wonder if pedders just get hammered by those online due to the sheep mentality.

My first ever experience with Pedders wasn't good, and I've read many similar reports over the years. But I guess we typically only hear the complaints, which I why I felt I should report some good news.

NJ you mention top bushes....I assume you mean the upper and lower top mounting rubbers? How did they fail?

I have been without my rear MRR's for some time now due to the lower bushes parting company with their mating housing. The vulcanising has failed.

Yes, this was the upper top mounting rubber - it basically fell apart. Because of the shoulder on the top stud the bushes can only be tightened so far, and there is movement easily visible in the upper bush under even gentle rocking of the vehicle. My guess is that hundreds of km of rough roads and corrugations "over-flexed" the top rubber, which led to the failure. Having said that, the lower rubber seems fine, and the other side also looks fine, so why this one?

I have a new Masten TPMS with internal sensors, and a display that displays both pressure and temperature all the time - so I was watching tyre temps the whole time. That rear tyre was always warmer than the other side while we were on rough roads - for a while I was blaming it being on the "sun" side, then I thought perhaps the (newly rebuilt) caliper was dragging - but once we hit bitumen, both temps equalised. So perhaps that corner was carrying significantly more weight, leading to more work in the tyre and the shock bush on the rough stuff? Obviously, as the tyre pressure came up with the temperature the tyre would be absorbing less energy, passing more onto the shock. Or maybe there really was something wrong with that bush?

Either way, I can't complain about Pedders response, and I should get the new bushes in this weekend.

That said, they have been shaken to death and although I keep telling the dealer there is no hurry, I have been without them for 4 weeks now.

Déjà vu...

[sharkcaver]

I always like to hear good news stories. The interwebs just seems to be a focal point for negative stuff, and on that, I am guilty as well. But I try to pass my comments on fairly, good or bad. The bad has to be done diplomatically sometimes, so you may not get the whole picture of my appraisals in the first instance, but the overall picture will leak out over time.

As for the shaft step and washer movement, shouldn't this be the case. The step creates the amount of crush on the rubber to hold the shock in place to a degree, but also to allow some movement when the forces dictate. If it was rigid, stress and strain will be imparted to mating parts of the vehicle and the shock itself. That could lead to fatigue failure.

I'm thinking dobbo still has some way to go to get their product bullet proof. Rubbers and washers shouldn't be an issue, but they still seem to be. My rubbers are fine BTW, but my lower shock bushes definitely are not.

With this latest incident, I even looked into an alternative but drew a cost effective blank.

Getting OT, what can you tell me re the masten TPMS. I was only looking at them again this week. You are welcome to email your thoughts to keep the thread on track.

[KiwiNTPajero]

hmmm you guys have put me off dobinsons i was seriously consifering them for my lift.

[nj swb]

As for the shaft step and washer movement, shouldn't this be the case. The step creates the amount of crush on the rubber to hold the shock in place to a degree, but also to allow some movement when the forces dictate. If it was rigid, stress and strain will be imparted to mating parts of the vehicle and the shock itself. That could lead to fatigue failure.

I agree. Flex is required in the bushes for exactly the reason you describe, but I believe the length of the shoulder doesn't allow enough crush for the factory bush with the Dobinson shock.

hmmm you guys have put me off dobinsons i was seriously consifering them for my lift.

Most of my issues have been associated with the remote reservoir and/or tubing. The standard monotube won't have as many issues, but I'm still disappointed that they can't supply a bush to suit their product. I thought they're supposed to be a heavy duty product for those looking for something better than the OEM product, but they expect the standard duty OEM bushes to work?

Stiffer springs require more damping, which equals more resistance to movement. More resistance creates more force, so the factory bushes are worked harder.

In my case, it's the top bush that failed, which is the one that would be compressed under re-bound. A couple of times waiting in the Dobinson showroom I've heard staff on the phone extoll the virtues of the MRR's increased rebound control - perhaps its too much rebound control?

Or perhaps the Pedders bush was simply one of those rare "early failure" items. They do happen...

[nj swb]

Getting OT, what can you tell me re the masten TPMS. I was only looking at them again this week. You are welcome to email your thoughts to keep the thread on track.

Finally got around to posting about it: https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum...058#post590058.