Thread: Murphy's Law, catastrophic failure in a very bad place

Originally Posted by GregMilner

Oh yes Kelvin, I remember. The shockie has actually arrived in Perth now, and so has the car, so hopefully I'll have it back by the weekend...and spend two days cleaning it:-)

Happy days, on the plus side think of all the fuel you saved

Originally Posted by GregMilner

The shockie has actually arrived in Perth now

And the one for the other side?

Originally Posted by Graeme

And the one for the other side?

Graeme the dealer fitted the RHS today and I asked them to give the whole suspension system a thorough going over. They assure me everything else - bushes, shocks etc - is in good order. I'm a layman, who am I to argue?
(Interesting though - in terms of 'would I have been able to change the shock myself had I had one on hand at the time?' - they said they had to get to the top of the failed shock from INSIDE the car to change it out. What chance any ordinary owner of doing that out in the scrub? Not much, I would think.)

I hoped for your sake that both shocks would have been replaced. Only time will tell whether or not it should have been replaced at the same time.

Accessing the top of the shock from inside may not be that difficult although I question the reasonableness of carrying 2 spare rear shocks. Your RR is not the first to destroy 1 or both rear CVD shocks on corrugations so hopefully LR will do something to prevent them from failing.

Originally Posted by Graeme

I hoped for your sake that both shocks would have been replaced. Only time will tell whether or not it should have been replaced at the same time.

Accessing the top of the shock from inside may not be that difficult although I question the reasonableness of carrying 2 spare rear shocks. Your RR is not the first to destroy 1 or both rear CVD shocks on corrugations so hopefully LR will do something to prevent them from failing.

Yes, carrying two spare rear shocks in the (very) unlikely event of destroying one or both of them seems to be well and truly OTT to me. Particularly at $800 apiece, it'd be wasted money in 99.99% of cases.

The car is under warranty for a long time yet, so if the other shock goes, I'll get it replaced. Thanks Graeme.

Originally Posted by GregMilner

...
- they said they had to get to the top of the failed shock from INSIDE the car to change it out. What chance any ordinary owner of doing that out in the scrub? Not much, I would think.)

thats correct, however, it's no harder than changing a normal shock. The top mount is under the back seat.

I have a copy of the workshop manual on the tablet. If you couldn't figure it out, someone would have looked at it and helped you. My experience is others are bloody helpful when you travel in those parts.

Originally Posted by GregMilner

Yes, carrying two spare rear shocks in the (very) unlikely event of destroying one or both of them seems to be well and truly OTT to me. Particularly at $800 apiece, it'd be wasted money in 99.99% of cases.

The car is under warranty for a long time yet, so if the other shock goes, I'll get it replaced. Thanks Graeme.

Many people who have travelled in remote areas have done deals with parts suppliers to buy back unused spares after the trip. Carrying one front and one rear shock as spares would be a reasonable proposition when travelling roads that have killed many shocks in the past. Also - there are probably many shocks that are less expensive and would have done the job to get you going again.

To be honest, I find the attitude of relying on warranty and dealer roadside assistance somewhat strange. It would be interesting to see how this would have played out if the same had happened in the middle of the canning or the french line (etc).

I understand that you have paid a large amout of money for a vehicle with a warranty and want to get your moneys worth though. But LR could have said the shock is a service item and you are on your own...

Changing a shock is a 10 minute job for a mechanic, and probably still less than 30 mins for someone who has never done it before.

not to mention it's your holiday thats been cut short!! It is like saying I don't want a bullbar because the insurance will cover it if I hit a roo in the middle of nowhere. Pity you are stuck in the middle of nowhere