4722 replies to this topic

[Nev]

Sheesh, I was reducing a shim setting on the rear of the car only to discover a new dink in the uppper side of the O/S/R upper wishbone. There is only 1 way that this can occur - incorrect bump stop on the Nitrons, where the wishbone is allowed to strike the chassis.

 

I am about to ring them up and give them another bollocking (the exact same thing happened 5 years ago). Honestly, if you spend circa £1400 on a set of coilovers you'd expect them to at least be designed well enough to serve their basic range of motion correctly. Last time they admitted liability and sent me a free set of wishbones and refurbed the coilovers at a discount, yet it seems they still haven't set the bump stop foam inserts correctly on the refurb'ed ones!

 

I expect I will have to make a home remedy myself, I can see a possible solution, but it's bloody annoying to find they simply can't get basic stuff right time and again.

Edited by Nev, 27 April 2016 - 11:53 AM.

[Exmantaa]

Several topics on this. Get yourself the longer NTR bottom eyelets to make the right schock length. Done.

[chickendippers]

Sheesh, I was reducing a shim setting on the rear of the car only to discover a new dink in the uppper side of the O/S/R upper wishbone. There is only 1 way that this can occur - incorrect bump stop on the Nitrons, where the wishbone is allowed to strike the chassis.

 

I am about to ring them up and give them another bollocking (the exact same thing happened 5 years ago). Honestly, if you spend circa £1400 on a set of coilovers you'd expect them to at least be designed well enough to serve their basic range of motion correctly. Last time they admitted liability and sent me a free set of wishbones and refurbed the coilovers at a discount, yet it seems they still haven't set the bump stop foam inserts correctly on the refurb'ed ones!

 

I expect I will have to make a home remedy myself, I can see a possible solution, but it's bloody annoying to find they simply can't get basic stuff right time and again.

WOAHHHH NEV!! How dare you speak out about Nitron!

[Nev]

Several topics on this. Get yourself the longer NTR bottom eyelets to make the right schock length. Done.

 

Hmm, interesting, I've found the (infamous) thread now, I wonder why Nitron didn't mention their longer eyelets to me last time. Surely the simpler solution is to just install the correct length foam bump stops around the piston base in the factory though.

 

I am waiting for them to ring me back tomorrow.

Edited by Nev, 27 April 2016 - 06:15 PM.

[Exmantaa]

Something to do with droop length.... (Call Scuffers to explain. )

[Nev]

On my rears I have very good droop, really a lot, I haven't measured it but it must be around 80mm. All that needs fixing is the bump stops.

[slindborg]

note that OEM dampers ec can still let the wishbone hit the chassis.....

 

The initial fury started at GAZ, then turned out Nitron and OEM suffered too egg meet face for the naysayers

[Nev]

note that OEM dampers ec can still let the wishbone hit the chassis.....

 

The initial fury started at GAZ, then turned out Nitron and OEM suffered too egg meet face for the naysayers

 

Sadly, so much automotive after-market stuff simply isn't fit for purpose

 

What is demoralising is that clearly Nitron (and all the others in the same boat) didn't even bother to fit a set of their own equipment onto a VX220 to see if they were fit for purpose. It's completely wrong that an amateur such as myself can observe the problem and can come up with a solution in 15 minutes, yet the original company can't/won't.

 

Lastly, at the end of the day bent wishbones are a source of genuine risk to life and limb, it's not a trivial matter. I've noticed since the ding that I now have 0.2 degrees of extra negative camber.

 

I am still waiting on them returning my call as they were too busy yesterday.

Edited by Nev, 28 April 2016 - 08:55 AM.

[Nev]

Now in contact with them by phone and email, lets hope they are professional about the situation - fingers crossed

[Mopeytitan]

I completely agree with you regarding a lot of aftermarket stuff not being fit for purpose, but with regard to Nitron etc trial fitting a set to a Vx220 I get where your coming from but from their point of view it wouldn't be economical for them to do this. As they can't really go trial fitting sets of shocks to every single car aswell...

[siztenboots]

actually it was TMS the gave them the spec. I had Exige NTR40s on mine without a problem.

[Nev]

Had a swift and professional email off them

[Nev]

Another day, another ball joint replaced! The one I took off today was in a desperate state, only 3.5 years old and floppy and lose as hell already. I might have to start doing track days as they will be less expensive than non stop suspension replacements due to harsh Welsh roads

 

Also took some pics and a video of the Nitron bump stop issue at max compression, and sent it off to them.

 

And did more "silent running" mods on Simons car, he now has the most rattle free VX220 in the UK I reckon ! Oh, and reset his front toe in from a crazy +0.9 degrees to +0.1 (was meant to be 0.05 toe out but we ran out of time).

Edited by Nev, 28 April 2016 - 09:40 PM.

[Mr Apex]

Thanks again for your help with the geo Nev. Getting used to the steering feel now. Certainly a big difference.

[Nev]

Thanks again for your help with the geo Nev. Getting used to the steering feel now. Certainly a big difference.

 

We really need to string box your car and check for crabbing too.  

Edited by Nev, 30 April 2016 - 04:02 PM.

[Nev]

Spent 2 hours this morning dismantling the suspected leaking joint on the T3 manifold, only to discover the gasket is in fine order, so I just reassembled it.

 

This leaves me wondering where my new slight leaking noise of exhaust gas or possibly boost is coming from. The car appears to boost fine and I've done a quick check of the exhaust joints which all seem fine, so at a loss to find whats leaking. Will probably just keep driving until it gets worse and becomes easier to detect, though maybe I will check the boost pipe train with my bung and pressurise the system if I feel inspired.

 

 

Edited by Nev, 30 April 2016 - 04:02 PM.

[Nev]

Installed a magnificent Dave Hardwick coolant header tank in the car yesterday and re-glued the non standard front floor pan onto the edge of the clam.

 

I also had a jig around of my crank breather pipe (chopped 2" off it) in order to get it to fit into the engine bay better.

Edited by Nev, 03 May 2016 - 05:27 AM.

[Duncan VXR]

They are a great bit of fabrication and certainly never going to fail like the oem items 😉 DG

[Nev]

Yea, I had a good look at it, there absolutely no way on earth I could weld like that

[Nev]

Got a great response from Nitron yesterday:

 

They are going to refurbish all 4 of my coil-overs at their expense and fix the bump stop issue on them at the same time. Also, they are going to buy and send me 2 new rear upper wishbones as they are both "dinged".

 

Though it has been rather irksome and time consuming issue, I could not have asked for a better outcome. They have been both professional and easy to deal with, a rare treat in the automotive world in my experience.

 

They are also being kind enough to expedite the refub so that I can go on the Highland Hoon trip. Normally a refurb takes around a month, but they have been good enough to let me jump the queue.

 

Thanks go to Mike Hodder (Sales and Marketing Manager at Nitron), IMO if/when things go wrong a key indicator of a good company is their after sales care.

 

I'm off to the garage now to whip them off and put Nipper up on bricks - it will be the first time he's been off the road for about 4 years now.

 

 

 

Edited by Nev, 07 May 2016 - 06:29 AM.