PEP coilovers, was there ever a solution?

[s_blazin]

did some reading up on the PEP's and found thread below, talking about shocks breaking due to bad alignment.

http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35709&page=2

did anyone ever come up with a solution to the shock break syndrome?

i don't think previous owner ever finished install/fitting them in so i'm sure they need to be setup before the truck goes out driving.

i will say i have not had a chance to look at how my clearances are, but wanted to have some idea of what things to look for.

can take pics if needed as well

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: PEP coilovers, was there ever a solution?

The truck I worked on with PEP/Bilsteins kept running into clearance issue on one side. He never broke a shock like sytyguy. The owner eventually gave up and used QA1's insteads.

 

[s_blazin]

Re: PEP coilovers, was there ever a solution?

so where lies the problem? is it the coilovers themselves or the tube control arms or a mixture of both?

did he reuse the control arms and just replace the coilovers?

 

[sytyguy]

Re: PEP coilovers, was there ever a solution?

PEP shipped the kit with 2.5" springs. There wasn't enough room (physically....on my truck) to accommodate that large of a spring (even with a shaved control arm bolt head and shimmed 1000 different ways). It would work for a period of time, but eventually, the bottom of the shock rod (in the lower eyelet) would snap (I got to know Bilstein very well). This prolonged fatigue tells me that the rubbing only occurred occasionally or that it was a low stress contact (I back this up with evidence that the pass side never failed). I had the frame of my truck inspected for tweaking, twisting, etc... and it was found to be just fine. I swapped the kit from side to side and the problem stayed with the driver-side.

My final conclusions were that my truck had a tighter tolerance on that side than the other, and that another truck might not experience a failure (which is why I sold it to the guy that Dave installed it for). I always wanted to try a 2.25" spring (as I felt it would've cured the issue), but sold the kit before trying.

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: PEP coilovers, was there ever a solution?

My final conclusions were that my truck had a tighter tolerance on that side than the other, and that another truck might not experience a failure (which is why I sold it to the guy that Dave installed it for). I always wanted to try a 2.25" spring (as I felt it would've cured the issue), but sold the kit before trying.

I forgot that he had bought your kit. His had the same issue, except he didn't break shocks. The 2.25" spring wouldn't fit over Bilstein threaded sleeve that went over the shock (I hated that damn sleeve.)