VS SII Suspension Problems - Pedders 28 point Safety Check

[Fonzie]

I was hanging around town today and had half an hour to kill, So i dropped into pedders and got one of their 28 point safety checks. Cost me all of $14. The news I got back at the end though, was slightly depressing if not anything else. They told me the following needed repairing:

Front
Shocks: Soft, boots torn.
Sway Bar Bushes: D Bushes worn (26mm), Links need to be tightened
Tie Rod Ends: RH very worn
Upper Bushes: Strut tops raised
Lower Bushes: Unbonded
Radius Bushes: Front + Rear Worn

Rear
Shocks: Leaking Oil
Upper Bushes: Trailing arm bushes unbonded
Lower Bushes: Front Trailing arm bushes unbonded
Lateral Arms: Panhard Rod Bushes Very Worn

Now the car seems to be handling fine - as fine as it ever has (Shopping trolley spec). Do the above problems need repairing? They quoted me just shy of $3k to fix it all. I'd like to keep the car for a few more years (Until I'm off P's and can drive something with a real engine), Would i be better off just repairing this stuff when it breaks?

If some of the stuff needs repairing straight away, and other stuff can wait, please list which is which.. And what i should be paying for each.

Cheers, Fonzie

[Tom_1569]

Pedders are great at making shit up, do a search about other peoples quotes, its nothing but humerous.
For peace of mind, get a second quote or do some checks yourself:

Front
Shocks: Soft, boots torn. - Check they rebound fine when pushing down on bonnet, nearly all boots are torn, I wouldnt worry
Sway Bar Bushes: D Bushes worn (26mm), Links need to be tightened -Check, tighten it need be
Tie Rod Ends: RH very worn Not 100% sure how to check, but look for cracking on the rubber etc
Upper Bushes: Strut tops raised Dont get this at all, unless they mean the metal has bent/stretched
Lower Bushes: Unbonded Assuming they mean come lose? Visual check, and move to see if its loose.
Radius Bushes: Front + Rear Worn - Check for cracking etc on the bushes, key signs they are getting worn.

Rear
Shocks: Leaking Oil Visual check, you will soon see
Upper Bushes: Trailing arm bushes unbonded Visual check, move them up and down (may have to do with a jack and make sure they arnt twisting
Lower Bushes: Front Trailing arm bushes unbonded - Same as Upper
Lateral Arms: Panhard Rod Bushes Very Worn - Visual check, crackings, and free play.

[alex2_s]

A worn tie rod end will give a loose or free play in the steering as it connects from the tie rod (steering rack) to the knuckle... check for play. Thats the only only 'worthwile' thing i would get fixed, if you're not planning on doing up/keeping the car forever etc

If the shocks are bad enough, 4x cheapies might be enough to give it a bit of handling back until you get rid of it if you want....

[maldotcom2]

3K for that! Fix your panhard and check your shocks though.

[spirto]

Pedders are always finding faults in suspension.

I took in a car that was making a noise when you had the steering wheel on full lock, they quoted me about 5K worth of repairs, with the disclaimer "we can't guarantee that we will find the noise".

They also suggested I change all the suspension bushes with rubber ones not nothalane, only because there was already nolathane bushes in there. (RIP OFF B.....d's)

The noise ended up being the front shockers needed replacement and the previous owner had fitted the strut assembly incorrectly. So total cost $150 for a set of shocks.

I would get a second opinion, and most of what you just listed is easy enough to do if you are mechanically minded.

Best of luck

[S2_VR_]

yeah man pedders in my area are a bunch of dog's...

they makeshit up... i got one done (saftey check) and they told me my panhard, "D" rubbers on sway bar, and my Linkage arms needed replacing...

which is ttall bullshit because i replaced them about 2 weeks prior.... there was more to the list of what needed doing... but those sure didnt ...

[Scooter79]

My local Pedders pulled the same rubbish on me. I had problems with wandering steering. It would pull hard both left and right. Upon Pedders suggestion they re-bushed the front end of the car with a mix of rubber and urathane at a cost of $650. When doing the job they called me and told me the radius rods had begun to straighten and needed replacing at a cost of $100. This was before I really knew anything about suspension. You what what? It made bugger all difference to the feel and handling and I still had the problem of it pulling left and right. After that the Pedders mechanic said "I think it just might be your tyres?".

Meanwhile they also suggested I have the whole rear end rebushed and new shocks and struts at an additional $2500

Pedders are a joke and their advertising with the 'No Bull' slogan sucks in the ignorant and non mechanically minded. You'd be surprised all the quality new suspension parts you can find on ebay for a fraction of the cost. Even if you bought all the parts and payed a mechanic to install everything, it would still work out cheaper than going to pedders.

[greenacc]

All the parts in your list would cost about $800 total if they actually needed doing.
I'd only be replacing whatever feels like it needs it.

[VSSS_5L]

Big question is: What do your front tires look like?
Someone who owned my car before me liked pedders coz all my suspension is from them, their shocks and springs are top notch, I like their heavy duty swaybar linkages too but their policies are up the creek. I always take the no bullshit approach, and I've found a store that doesn't try to rob me blind every time I go there.

[shiftySLE]

what happened to "No Bull", is it a 28 point check or do they garantee you will pay over 28 hundred or that they will try and find 28 things wrong, sounds like a load of Bull. If it was excessively lowered I could beleive some of it, lowering has a heap of bad effects on suspension but even then, geez.

[MY-42-VT]

geeez reading all this....wow im glad i just get my mates old boy to check mine..hes one of those jack of all trades bloke..can do anything with a spanner and a hammer...works for local holden dealers... good contact to have =)

but yeah pedders = bullshits

[Cobez]

Quite true, Pedders are full of shit sometimes. They will do a 28 point suspension check for $14 because for say, every 10 people who get that done, 3 people will think "oh shit, i had better get that fixed" and spend upwards of $1000.

That's an example though, it's a good marketing ploy for business, they may only make $98 from those other 7 out of 10 people who figured they were full of it or didn't care, but they still made $3000+ off those 3 people who got suckered in.

Times that by all the other people in Australia who fall for it too. Not a bad profit for Pedders.

[pjdm1980]

I'll back all those quotes up their full of BS!!!!

[sircruisealotVS]

Definately agree that pedders will try to take you for a ride. I once took my VS in just to have an adjustable panhard rod fitted after lowering and they "did the safety check for free".
They showed me the results and i just laughed at the bloke. One of the items on the list was replace power steering pump, as it was supposedly leaking. I told the guy that the pump had a new seal kit done all of 3 days earlier and he just went bright red for being caught out in a lie.
They simply tend to prey on people who don't know any better and then tell them it's dangerous not to fix all these thousands of dollars worth of stuff in the hope of getting them to spend up big - using pedders overprices suspension components to boot.

[DannyboyDS]

I have to agree as well, but only to a certain extent. My "local" Pedders isn't too bad, at first I had thought they were trying to take me for a ride, but after close inspection by myself and a friend of mine who is a mechanic most of what they said was true.

The only thing they cna never decide on is whether to tell me that my Radius rods are bent or if its the K-frame thats at fault. They might always push there own brand but almost always advide me on how to go home and do the labour myself, not to mention that they hit the nail on the head when I had an issue with a "bouncing" strut top.

Every time I went over a bump the little bit of thread that sticks up at the top fo the strut would bounce up an inch and nearly put a dent in my bonnet, turned out to be a combination of worn shocker and a soft albiet brand new strut top rubber, I bought pedders sports rider shocks and pedders strut top rubbers and went home and did it myself.

All was good and I was happy.

[Cobez]

Definately agree that pedders will try to take you for a ride. I once took my VS in just to have an adjustable panhard rod fitted after lowering and they "did the safety check for free".
They showed me the results and i just laughed at the bloke. One of the items on the list was replace power steering pump, as it was supposedly leaking. I told the guy that the pump had a new seal kit done all of 3 days earlier and he just went bright red for being caught out in a lie.
They simply tend to prey on people who don't know any better and then tell them it's dangerous not to fix all these thousands of dollars worth of stuff in the hope of getting them to spend up big - using pedders overprices suspension components to boot.

LOL, like when they told me i needed an adjustable panhard rod to centre my diff due to lowering my Senator. Lol, my Senator is still on FE2's, the way it will always be when i own it. Came FE2 from factory. Twit. My diff is still fine.

[Blown V6 Hatch]

LOL, like when they told me i needed an adjustable panhard rod to centre my diff due to lowering my Senator. Lol, my Senator is still on FE2's, the way it will always be when i own it. Came FE2 from factory. Twit. My diff is still fine.

Not to mention your cars IRS....

[VTCommoDude]

I did my VT. Shocks were buggered (which I already knew) and they said new strut tops were needed. I have the springs and shocks and they quoted me over $800 to fit them!!!
I eventually got it done for about $350 down the road. Strut tops and bearings seem fine.
Also said my steering rack was about to fall out (another $800) which is bs because I had a rap of work done on the engine and there was nothing wrong with the rack (and there isn't still).

When they say something is 'worn', no shit. Everything gets worn, esp bushes. It doesn't mean they need replacing. Pedders try to word it so that people think they need replacing.