Gaz coil over kit problems

2nd October 2011, 11:58

This is an email I sent to dt motorspot recommended fitters of gaz kits but I thought I'd post it on here and see if any one had any ideas, thanks guys

Hi, my name is Gary and I was looking for some help.
I recently purchased the gaz coil over kit for my mk2 Saxo vtr, Inc some inch shorter custom springs. This week I had the kit fitted by a local garage (using the standard springs for the kit)
But I fear they may not have been fitted correctly for couple of reasons...
1st the guy who fitted them said he has never seen anything like this kit.
2nd he said he didnt know what the grub screws were for.
3rd I previously had 40mm lowering springs on the car, and when the kit had been fitted the front end of the car was sky high even on it's lowest setting, which I know from gaz web site and other Saxo owners with this kit should be about 65mm lowered (25mm lower than my 40mm springs).
I then asked him to try and fit the custom springs to see if they would bring the car down but even with these springs on it was still a lot higher than my 40mm springs.
It has cost me £110 for the kit to be fitted but like I say I fear it has been fitted incorrectly and I know you are recommended fitters of these kits and was hoping you may have an idea of what this guy may have done to make this kit make the car be so high.
I really hope you could help me, thanks a lot Gary

2nd October 2011, 12:01

Grab a pic from within the arch of how they've been assembled. Will be able to tell straight away if there's anything glaringly obvious that's been fitted incorrectly.

2nd October 2011, 12:07

Ok mate will do, may be a stupid question but iv never uploaded pic to sax-p how do I do it just real quick thanks

2nd October 2011, 13:15

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=271487
there you go m8

2nd October 2011, 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny-vts

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=271487
there you go m8

Thanks I'll try it now

2nd October 2011, 14:13

Hope that's worked and hope it helps.

2nd October 2011, 14:57

Yep problems there straight away, that standard bottom spring pan needs to be removed.

Take the strut off again, tap off the spring pan, a couple of gentle taps with a hammer work, the coilover collar then will wind all the way down and the grub screws then hold it into place

2nd October 2011, 15:21

I thought It was somthing like that but I'm not an expert so wanted to ask around. Thanks a lot for that mate

I'll go and see him Monday, might aswell get him to do it if iv already paid.

6th October 2011, 11:42

Been and seen guy at the garage about the coilovers explained what you had told me, he said and I quote " they are wrong that makes no sence, the shocker would wobble all over if you cut that out ".
Don't worry I trust you guys over him any day.
Guy just don't want to amit he got it wrong or he simply still don't understand

So I need to know if there is any one local to Nottingham that could sort this mess out for me and not to expesivly eirther.
I would have a go my self but so busy at work at mo I just want to sleep when I finally get home been doing 14hr days for last 3 weeks it killing me lol.
And if any one is mobile and can do it there is a garage for you to do the work and a car park for any testing ( car lives at a pub so get I nice big car park to play in lol) and I would make sure you would be supplied with as much tea and biscuits as you like lol

Thanks a lot guys

6th October 2011, 17:10

The blokes a clown. If you're willing to travel I'm in Nuneaton cv109ea postcode.

6th October 2011, 17:32

Im wondering how hes got the damper collars on with it like that
he may have destroyed your kit due to incorrect fitting as you shouldnt even be able to fit it like that with the lower pan in place

I would be very cautious on how much you drive it till its sorted out as if hes not got the damper collar in it wil be dangeous

Hes either left them off or cut our threaded collars down and destroyed your kit in the process

6th October 2011, 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by willsy

The blokes a clown. If you're willing to travel I'm in Nuneaton cv109ea postcode.

You can say that again mate, wish I had never taken it to him lol

6th October 2011, 17:37

Alex has a point, looking at the pics again they're a long way off being in the position that they should be secured in.

6th October 2011, 18:33

Also In the first pc is the spring directly on the bearing??

if hes left the op pans out then hes definatly a clown and has probably trashed the bearings ect too

6th October 2011, 18:59

Getting me really worried now guys lol

but thanks for your help

6th October 2011, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by willsy

The blokes a clown. If you're willing to travel I'm in Nuneaton cv109ea postcode.

And thanks for the offer

will have to think about the treck if you say car may be dangerous

6th October 2011, 19:06

Pics of properly fitted coilovers need posting up hear then he can go to this cunt and get his money back/ fitted proper.

6th October 2011, 19:13

Here you go mate, 2nd post down has a pic of them fitted correctly

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=398122

6th October 2011, 19:22

Cool. OP go take that pic to him and tell him you want your money back. Use the words trading standards if he's a cunt. Get it fitted elsewhere and if it's damaged sent him the bill.

6th October 2011, 19:31

Name and shame the douche

6th October 2011, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary2707

Getting me really worried now guys lol

but thanks for your help

your right to be worried if hes made your car dangerous (which i thin he has)

when the cars jacked up grab that spring pan and try and pull in what would be sideways in and out the arch see if it wobbles
if it does hes left out the damper retainer which it looks like he has and this is a big issue i wouldnt drive the car apart from to his garage to beat his ass

6th October 2011, 20:40

Yh I'll go see him ASAP. Guaranty he will play up about it lol
Oh and only know that his first name is Andy.

Thank for your help and support all

Might be starting progress thread soon when I can get round to it, here is a quick teaser...

7th October 2011, 16:30

Slating the guy is a bit harsh tbh, youve asked a standard issue mecahnic to fit some equipment usually reserved for racing cars. Granted he has shown a lack of common sense but you really should have taken it to a specialist in the first place

7th October 2011, 16:53

Slating without questioning the work and advising him beforehand would perhaps be a little harsh, however...

As he's already been to the mechanic with correct information in order to rectify the problem which has then been ignored that's neither good service nor good practice.

As the person completing the work he should be responsible enough to admit of he's unsure or not capable of completing it. Work shouldn't be taken on under the thought of 'I'll give it a go and see what happens' suspension being a critical component it's not acceptable on his part to both let the customer drive away with the vehicle being in a potentially dangerous condition and then there's the after thought of the cost.

Garages should be more responsible for their work and practice

7th October 2011, 17:22

I think he's right to slate him. If you get asked to do a job and you can't/ don't think you can do it you don't take the job and just see what happens. There not that hard. If I took it to a mechanic I'd assume they would have the skills to do it.

7th October 2011, 17:24

Would quite like to know if Gary had any luck getting it sorted today if he's been over with a pic of the setup correctly fitted

7th October 2011, 20:13

Sorry I didn't get back to u mate, but the lower spring pan was the 1st thing I thought when u said it was sitting really high. Not the 1st time I've seen this done tho. Problem with the gaz kit is it uses your existing struts, where must coilivers people are familar with are entire replacement. Alot of ppl struggle to get there head round the way the gaz kit fits.
But as Willsy has said the guy should be willing to take responsiblity for his work. I'm sure if you rang or mailed gaz they would send you a pic/diagram of how there suppose to be fitted. Take that to him & he could hardly argue the manufactures wrong!

7th October 2011, 22:50

I think GAZ should supply pics/diagrams with the kit of how there suppose to be assembled, there's been quite a few threads on here and 106oc on how they go together iirc.

When I took mine to get fitted I had to explain how they went together and sit and watch the guy assemble them to make sure it was done properly.

p.s Anyone have a problem with the top of the damper catching the bonnet on the passenger side?

8th October 2011, 15:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by willsy

Would quite like to know if Gary had any luck getting it sorted today if he's been over with a pic of the setup correctly fitted

Yh went and saw the garage yesterday with that pic of the correctly fitted one.
"Andy" wasn't there but two of his other guys were there, one who used to have a sax and one used to have 106. They where a lot more understanding the sax guy said to bring the car round and he would try and sort it but then the pug guy piped up saying he helped "Andy" fit the kit to my car and he thinks the kit is wrong as he said the threaded tube/sleeve the spring sits on will not go and lower on the strut due to a internal step in the sleeve and with out milling that step out that's the best the kit can be fitted. So at end of the day think I'm going give up on them they clearly don't understand this kit and will prob take up that offer off willsy and just drive carefully over if that's still ok with you. Thanks for the help guys oh and in answer to the guy who said I shouldn't have taken it to this garage I did visit them multiple times with the kit to make sure they would be ok to fit it and that they had fitted them before, so I did try to make sure he would be ok it's not my fault he then didn't know what he was doing. Im an a/c and refrigeration engineer and when I don't know what I'm looking at some times I always ring some one who will to help me out then the job gets done and I know for next time that's what he should have done. Rant over, sorry. Thanks again guys

18th October 2011, 16:33

As seen above I have removed both struts from my car as that garage are useless and my work has calmed down now so I got chance to get my hands dirty

lol.

Now I just need to know what I need to do to correctly fit the gaz kit or if any one is able to help out I can bring the struts to you and will help do all/ any work needed. Thanks

As you can see in the pic that garage did an even worse job than I thought lol
Thanks all and will keep updating until the kit is fitted a'ok and the car is "lower than your nan tits" lol

18th October 2011, 18:47

lol oh my god did they keep the bottom spring pan for one strut and remove it for the other??
thats terrible, i'd call trading standards to be honest

is the damper retainer missing

18th October 2011, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSOfreak

lol oh my god did they keep the bottom spring pan for one strut and remove it for the other??
thats terrible, i'd call trading standards to be honest

is the damper retainer missing

Yh tell me about it they said they couldn't remove that spring pan. Tho it isn't off yet it only took one knock of a lump hammer to loosen it its now ready to come off lol.

19th October 2011, 10:05

this is a compleat joke i personally think the chap who fitted this kit has a total lack of common sence... it is a obvious one if one strutt lookes difrent to the other then somthing has got to be wrong i would personally take this further as lso said trading standards would be a first point of call if it was me....

19th October 2011, 12:10

if the threaded damper retainer isnt there, isnt that very dangerous?

19th October 2011, 12:20

Have you sorted this out fully yet Gary?

19th October 2011, 12:22

Yes it is as the damper wont really be held in LSO

It looks like theyve made a right mess mate

19th October 2011, 12:43

Its surprising how many garages simply have no idea how even the standard 106 suspension is supposed to go. Sadly I've had a return of a suspension kit because the garage and a so called french car specialist told the customer he needed the hub carriers as part of the kit.
Its really not rocket science on how these come apart.

19th October 2011, 14:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by willsy

Have you sorted this out fully yet Gary?

Not yet pal only took struts off Monday night and worked late last night in hysen green, Nottingham.

Just need a bit of direction or help to now fit the kit correctly.
I don't want to just dive in and try and bodge it my self as I don't want to make it any worse than it is or I'll be just as much of a idiot as the garge was lol

I'm happy to help or do the work just need to know exactly what I'm doing

19th October 2011, 15:58

they should look roughly like these

link for some pics
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/sho...ight=coilovers

other pics i found

basically, looks like you need to undo the top nut, strip the strut of everything including the bottom pan on one of them. tap on the gold threaded collar to the bottom, wind on the adjusters the right way round, put the damper in, screw on the damper retainer, could put on the black plastic thing if you want, or bumpstops if you want (i didnt), put the spring on, then the gaz top spring pan, then the top mount bearing and rubber

22nd October 2011, 19:25

Stripped the struts down today took over 4hrs and help from gf's dad because the bad state every thing was left in by the garage I.e threads wrecked and flatened, boss dinted and bent and more am have to repair each and every part before I re-build.

Thanks to all that have helped and posted up pics for my to work from

Will update when built back up

24th October 2011, 14:51

Right guys I'm slowly but surly re-building my kit correctly now and from working on these myself can NOT figure out how he went wrong there so easy once you stop and think about it (and of course get help from your friendly local sax-p forum lol)

Iv been and seen him amour my money back or something to make up for the mess he has made. I'll let you guess the answer

I said I'll have to go TS then he said go ahead iv got no proof of him doing anything wrong, but he don't know about all the pics iv taken and this thread talking all about it.
So where I need help is how do you go about using trading standards iv never done it before? Thanks guys

15th November 2011, 18:18

hi guys sorry not posted in a while iv been busy trying to correct the faults and damage caused by the garage iv now managed *to rebuild and referb one of the struts and refitted it to the car just waiting one the other one now as I used all the good bits on the first one now just waiting on parts and re-threading. Any way here's some pics I took during work

Some pics of some bit with damage caused by the garage

To add to that I'm missing two grub screws and one rounded out

And threads at top flattened off

And just a quick before and after your looking at the left hand one.

After... Forgive the black paint it's to hide the scratches lol

Now just to do the other one lol

and the get my £110 back off the garage, a mate told me I could take it up with rac legal team any one know if that's right?

Gary

15th November 2011, 18:20

Sorry wrong after pic here it is

Thanks

15th November 2011, 21:18

looks alot better, although i noticed you still have quite a large bumpstop on. Im guessing that will probably be sat right on the bumpstops when you lower the car down off the jack which will result in no suspension travel.
If it were me Id only use 'one bump' of the bumpstop tbh
well actually, i havent even used any lol

16th November 2011, 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSOfreak

looks alot better, although i noticed you still have quite a large bumpstop on. Im guessing that will probably be sat right on the bumpstops when you lower the car down off the jack which will result in no suspension travel.
If it were me Id only use 'one bump' of the bumpstop tbh
well actually, i havent even used any lol

Iv heard people talk about bump stop before but never really understood it would you be able to explain. Thanks Gary

16th November 2011, 09:24

Can't believe the garage fucked them up so much, I'm not that mechanically minded and after looking at the kit for 2mins worked out what to do when I fitted my coilovers.
Have you managed to contact trading standards yet?

16th November 2011, 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by rorz_vts

Can't believe the garage fucked them up so much, I'm not that mechanically minded and after looking at the kit for 2mins worked out what to do when I fitted my coilovers.
Have you managed to contact trading standards yet?

No not yet mate really should get on with it shouldn't I lol

16th November 2011, 15:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary2707

Iv heard people talk about bump stop before but never really understood it would you be able to explain. Thanks Gary

basically the rubber bumpstop acts as a limit as to how far the suspension can travel when the springs are compressed. Its too avoid the wishbones/struts etc travelling too far and hitting the chassis which damages things.

so if you imagine when the suspension is fully compressed or if you have a fully loaded car (eg with passengers) there is less travel until the it 'bottoms out' thus causing damage. Sometimes when the cars been lowered enough, it'll be sitting on the bumpstops.

To stop this 'bottoming out' which can cause damage/be uncomfortable, the bumpstops need to be shortened down. The front bumpstops have 4 'notches'. Due to the gaz setup being so stiff i havent even used bumpstops and its been fine. If you wanted some though, i can't see 1 'notch' being a problem. More than one or 2 'notches' (ie. a bigger bumpstop) it might be sitting on the bumpstop resulting in no suspension travel.

3rd December 2011, 18:36

Back on my wheels finally lol, just got to sort out ride hight now

5th December 2011, 21:00

Hi guys, have been asked where/ how I got my custom springs.

So to help every/ any one else,
I just emailed gaz shocks asked them how much for the kit delivered and if they could help me out with some shorter spring as well as the standard spring they gave me some 1" shorter springs. I got the whole kit Inc shorter spring at a massive saving to anywhere on net selling this kit can't exactly remember the figure but was in the late £400's - £500

Top gear top tip always try and email manufacture lol

for big savings

lol

Hope this helps

3rd July 2012, 11:16

Think I'm gonna get some adjustable top mounts for these now, any recommedations?
P.s don't worry I will fit these straight off no garages for me from now on lol

3rd July 2012, 19:49

Lol looks like you had some trouble a few months ago! Kam racing sell ast top mounts but arent cheap, not sure what other adjustable ones are available

25th February 2013, 00:38

How did you get the GAZ threaded piece right down over your strut?? My strut has a lip on it which stops the threaded piece going all the way down. I just seen this thread now and it's very helpful as I'm having a few issues fitting mine.

Below is a pic of what I'm stuck on

Thanks

25th February 2013, 00:50

^^ Take the grub screws out. Get a hammer. hit it down(threaded tube) until it sits reasonably flush against bottom arm, tighten grub screws. sorted.

Give it a good hit down too, hit via the collars or the top bit

( looking at first picture without damper in etc)

25th February 2013, 00:58

Cheers Aaron, will this not damage them though, as there's actually a lip on the strut stopping the piece from going any further....... Does everybody have to do this or is there a possibility my strut is different?? Il be working on it again tomorrow.

Thanks

25th February 2013, 01:57

yea its like a little "lump" should be a few of them- 2/3

nope wont damage them. just make sure you take your time.

You have two choices;

Grind the "bumps down" and still have to push them down to the bottom of the strut
or just hammer them straight down. Id hammer them straight down everytime. fits very snug to the strut then.

you need it to look like this
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2..._01/B-0069.jpg

grind them down with a disc like this
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...1/B-0043-2.jpg

25th February 2013, 10:35

Grind the 3 lumps down so it slides over is a better option than bashing it down tbh

25th February 2013, 12:59

try giving them a little tap first. As said, its better if they fit really snug, because if theyre too loose then you'd need a little spot of weld to hold them in place