Spoiler.. Bronco's spring perch broke. Hard. Vacation over.🤦

[AMTRV]

So yeah... It happened. No cell service, no rentals available for days at the one rental place 80kms away... 7hrs from home... Spring perch blew. Along with a bunch of other alarms just before that. Shock oil everywhere so the shock blew too... Have a truck coming to tow it back to my home dealership 700+ kms away that installed the SVC perch collars. And had to have another buddy take a day off work to come rescue the boy, wife and I. I guess it coulda been worse. Coulda gone when we were at speed and flying down a dirt road or on the highway. But nope... Creeping down not even a steep trail not even half mile from the parking area. Thought I'd hit a huge bump I for some reason didn't see... But nope. That was the perch blowing. Hell it survived a crazy hail/thunderstorm an hr before... But didn't survive this one. Fml

So here's another pic. Blew the resevoir off the shock too. I guess I know where the oil came from.

So......What failed? It appears the clip is where it's suppose to be. Was it the collar are something else on the shock? I'd really like to know.
Got a pic of the collar?
Thanks

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[SVCOFFROAD]

Thanks Jarrett. I'll email or DM you when I get time. I myself do not think this was the fault of the spacers. You guys have been great and I appreciate it.

Sounds good Dave, let me know what the finding are when you can. I hate seeing this happen to you. Glad everyone was ok. Let me know what ya find

 

[da_jokker]

I watched an installation video...man thats alot of work.

To bad someone didnt make a split one. Compress the spring, clamp on the spacer and release the spring. The factory perch has that area the spacer sits inside so it wouldn't be able to split back apart.

 

[AMTRV]

Hey SnowBronco, any news on what part failed?
I have a set of SVC perch collars for Bilsteins waiting to be installed.
We need to know.

 

[SnowBronco]

Ford is calling it a warranty issue. Either the split rings that hold everything on or the perch collar. I have to go talk to them today and see if I can purge more info out of them. Going forward I am going to insist on new split rings. You should not have any need to remove them to do this install. Mine looked like they were removed, and no longer have any paint on them. They just do not look like they were "untouched" as they should have been and the perch spacer doesn't seem to have been sitting properly around them and locked in place. SVC has been awesome and sent me out some new collars that I am going to insist get used with a new split ring on the front strut they are not replacing. Again, I don't feel this was an SVC problem. More of a lackluster Instal problem.

 

[Razorbak86]

Ford is calling it a warranty issue. Either the split rings that hold everything on or the perch collar. I have to go talk to them today and see if I can purge more info out of them. Going forward I am going to insist on new split rings. You should not have any need to remove them to do this install. Mine looked like they were removed, and no longer have any paint on them. They just do not look like they were "untouched" as they should have been and the perch spacer doesn't seem to have been sitting properly around them and locked in place. SVC has been awesome and sent me out some new collars that I am going to insist get used with a new split ring on the front strut they are not replacing. Again, I don't feel this was an SVC problem. More of a lackluster Instal problem.

Is FoMoCo saying the repairs will be covered under Ford's factory warranty for the vehicle, or are they claiming it should be a warranty issue for SVC or the installer?

 

[AMTRV]

Ford is calling it a warranty issue. Either the split rings that hold everything on or the perch collar. I have to go talk to them today and see if I can purge more info out of them. Going forward I am going to insist on new split rings. You should not have any need to remove them to do this install. Mine looked like they were removed, and no longer have any paint on them. They just do not look like they were "untouched" as they should have been and the perch spacer doesn't seem to have been sitting properly around them and locked in place. SVC has been awesome and sent me out some new collars that I am going to insist get used with a new split ring on the front strut they are not replacing. Again, I don't feel this was an SVC problem. More of a lackluster Instal problem.

I know SVC had a problem with the earlier Bilstein perches as they contacted me saying they needed to send me another set. They were extremely quick in replacing the defective set that I had purchased at no charge of course. I hadn't installed the first set so I didn't have to do 2 installs!
SVC seems like a very responsible company so I expect they'll take care of you if need be.

 

[SnowBronco]

Is FoMoCo saying the repairs will be covered under Ford's factory warranty for the vehicle, or are they claiming it should be a warranty issue for SVC or the installer?

Well, yesterday they told me they had ordered parts under warranty. Today I went there, and that had all changed. They said it wasn't a warranty issue. And that there was no way that they themselves, who installed the perches... Could have messed up the install. I showed them pics pre and post install, that showed rusty corroded spring clips. And spring clips that had been hit and distrubed. Missing paint and had been obviously moved. I then asked them why they charged 12 hrs for what he is now saying was a simple clean install. I said check my invoice. Either you're crooks and we're gouging the shit out of me. Or you had issues you don't want to admit and the install did take way longer, and if there was a question about the install, why didn't they consult with me. Instead of telling me it was straight forward and went well. Then charging me 12 hrs. So I was done with their service advisor and told him I was going over his head.
A couple hrs later the general manager, after talking to my buddy the fleet manager, called me to tell me the original asshole would call me back and that things should work out as a wash. He did ask me to try and be nice to him. I said that all depends on if he's going to try to talk down to me again and continue to be a condescending asshole... Dude I know more than you. Have you even worked on cars. Ever. ( I have for years and years, but figured I'd use my ford points to cover... That didn't age well.)
So we shall see what happens when he calls back. I told them I was totally okay with paying for the upgraded Fox struts or the new blistein's but I wasn't paying three times for them to install them again after they bent me over the first time. So we'll see what happens. Worst case is I'm out money. Just thankfull it didn't go when I was clipping along at full tilt.

 

[AMTRV]

If the spring clip was messed up the problem was at install….unless the perch was machined wrong and it scraped the clip when it slid past.
Any pics of the inside of the spring perch?
Anyway, it sounds like the dealer will take care of it…..maybe
Hope it turns out good for you. I’m not installing my perches just yet.

 

[SnowBronco]

***Update***

So the update is, the service manager (condescending asshole) called back and profusely apologized for the way he had talked to me and for the way he handled the situation. He asked how we could make this better. I reiterated that I was ok with getting upgraded parts. But I'm not paying for anymore installs. So, I sourced out the new blistein's. The 6100's, they should hopefully be here end of week. And since I don't trust them with c clips, I'm setting them and putting the perches back on before I give ford the shocks. Lol They will install them, fix up any other sensors that are still buggared and they are paying my tow bill. So we'll see how everything actually does turn out later this week or the next.

 

[VelocityBronco]

This is terrible and sorry that this happened.
I am the reason everyone got called and received new collars from SVC. After installing mine, I noticed that the collars didn't sit how I expected and were only contacting the edge of the snap rings, so not fully seated. We thought that after a few miles the rings would "snap" in place into the collars...but they only seemed to start bending. I talked with SVC more and they overnighted me a new set of collars that fit perfectly. I had to redo all the work, but worth it.
SVC was great to work with and quick to help me. I am 100% satisfied!!
Make sure that the collars sit down over the snap ring fully!!! I am not sure if this is what caused your failure @SnowBronco , but I can see that if the collar is bending the snap ring enough, it would fail.
I have hammered on these things in the dunes, full extension and full compression without issue!

Picture of improperly installed collar, if yours looks like this, do not drive it!!

 

[AMTRV]

Thanks VB! Glad you caught the problem before it got a bunch of us!
Yes, SVC has been on the ball to take care of the problem....cudos to them!

 

[JRock17]

This is terrible and sorry that this happened.
I am the reason everyone got called and received new collars from SVC. After installing mine, I noticed that the collars didn't sit how I expected and were only contacting the edge of the snap rings, so not fully seated. We thought that after a few miles the rings would "snap" in place into the collars...but they only seemed to start bending. I talked with SVC more and they overnighted me a new set of collars that fit perfectly. I had to redo all the work, but worth it.
SVC was great to work with and quick to help me. I am 100% satisfied!!
Make sure that the collars sit down over the snap ring fully!!! I am not sure if this is what caused your failure @SnowBronco , but I can see that if the collar is bending the snap ring enough, it would fail.
I have hammered on these things in the dunes, full extension and full compression without issue!

Picture of improperly installed collar, if yours looks like this, do not drive it!!

Do you have a picture of what it is supposed to look like?

 

[VelocityBronco]

Do you have a picture of what it is supposed to look like?

I'll get one for you tomorrow!

 

[JRock17]

I'll get one for you tomorrow!

Awesome thank you!!

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