[bandgeek99]

That's just inexcusable. I'd be punching holes in walls if all that had happened to me.

My experience tells me that your problem is more with the installer than Pedder's, like you've said. My install took 2.5 days with Brandon (Pedder's East Coast Tech/VP of something) there helping to train the shop. When I did have problems (bushings that were not greased) the shop paid for my rental and fixed it, no questions asked. Every problem I've had, even if it really wasn't a problem and in some case's wasn't a result of Pedder's (bad tire mounting), has been addressed and Rob went over it all with me in the shop on my car.

I actually trust Rob enough now that if I were to buy a new car, I would just have the dealer put it on a rig Massachusetts bound and call Rob so he know's its coming. OK, that's a slight exaggeration. . . but still he'd be one of my first calls to see what could be done.

 

[bandgeek99]

Yes - there may have been splitting on some bushes - this is a risk with this design and will happen eventually due to ultra-violet light and oxygen attacking the rubber - but not in a year or two (unless the vehicle has been used pretty much exclusively for racing and itself has been over-fatigued!).

I wonder how many of these 'splits' occurred after the 'tester' had 'over-excersized' a part-worn bush (ok abused it...) in front of a customer!!!

I was in the shop when they took off my rear cradle to put Pedder's in. This was done around 18000 miles on the odo, and I saw split bushes. I saw these split bushes before they were separated from the subframe and no one had a chance to modify them before I saw them; like I said I was there when the dropped it and was there during the initial inspection while it was still on the jack. And I have witnesses to that fact.

I'll try to remember when I get home to go through the pictures. I don't know if I have any pictures that show the split before a lever was used, but I didn't need a lever to see the split first hand.

I also had bare metal at the subframe mounts on the body from (I presume, since I can't actually witness this) the subframe moving around while driving and rubbing off the paint. I can't say that Pedders fixed this (again, I can't actually witness it) but what they did to fix it makes sense to me.

While your logic about the lever is completely valid, that does not necessarily mean you can imply they altered the bush or that split bushes do not happen with OEM equipment under any driving style.

 

[bandgeek99]

I'm not getting at you - you put yor trust in sales people. We all do. I just get sick of scaremongering whilst showing a 'test' that has no validity (in reality).

I'm not taking it personally. I actually did Pedders because I was able to get to a killer deal by being a shop's first car more so than seeking it out and getting sold on it. The information I had on Pedders was good (GTO forums, Pedder's web site) and the ideas intrigued me and made sense based on my knowledge. The theory of replacing the bushes etc was run through my trusted independent mechanic and had solid reasoning to both of us. In other words, opportunity knocked and I answered (with some research inbetween).

Now that its done, I'm sold on it. . . and recommend it.

Now that I've thought about it, my review at the time had ALL the pictures:
http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70231

But the flickr link seems to have died (my pro account expired today apparently, and yahoo login is blocked at work so I can't fix it until I get home).

Fine - you will note that I actually did say it was possible. Not that it was impossible. 18,000 miles is a very low mileage for this kind of failure - how many years was this? If these had been in that state at 18,000 and within 3 years, this would have been a warranty claim. Was the car seen by a dealer (who would LOVE the business) prior to the Pedders touch? Also - what do the bushes look like new? Do they have slots designed into them, which have got ragged with flexing, or was the rubber actually perished? Was the splitting all the way through, or was it at the surface (more akin to cracking)?

You did, I didn't mean to pounce on you. My reading of your post certainly made it seem like you were trying to say it doesn't happen in a statistically relevant level of occurance. My car is an '06, on the road since July 3rd, 2006. No, the dealer did not see the problem. My dealer and I had a very bad relationship before they were closed, and unfortunately they were the best dealer within 30 miles so I haven't established a relationship with a new dealer. And I didn't know they were split, a credit to your point. The splits were jagged anyway, they looked like rips, but did not penetrate all the way through the bush.

 

[bandgeek99]

Cheers buddy - you had your reasons and they were the right ones for you - so no harm, no foul .

:beerchug:

PS sorry for the edit while you were replying. . .

 

[bandgeek99]

My Flickr account is back up. As promised here's the pics.

Here is a bush off of my car unmolested straight off the car:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bandgeek99/2329224261/in/set-72157604107813353/

And here it is again being molested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bandgeek99/2330058594/in/set-72157604107813353/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bandgeek99/2329237393/in/set-72157604107813353/

There are more if you go through the link in my previous post.