New Suspension FAILED on The Gibb River Road
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2023
- Part 4. Our crazy trip across the Gibb River Road with missing suspensions bolts, raiding wrecks along the way, bush mechanics style repairs with duct tape and ratchet straps to hold Tallulah together, nervously crossing the water crossings while racing to get to the mechanic before he closes for the weekend. Beautiful highlights of Galvin's Gorge and Manning river, and of course sunrises to die for 💚
#4x4 #4x4adventure #australia #camper #travel #landcruiser #viral #adventure #love #trending #breakdown #repair #mechanic #carrepair #carrepairs #goldenhour #sunrise #rivercrossing #ducttape #camping #camplife
Priceless feedback. Pray mine holds together, heading to the Gibb soon.
All the best for your Gibb trip 🍻
This type of feedback is priceless. Thanks so much because I was thinking of going with Fulcrum. Cheers.
I feel like the product was pretty good but the workmanship and the customer service experience wasn’t great. Good luck with your new suspension whatever direction you go
Second that. If a manager of a chain can get away with 'no comment', then they're off my list too (let's hope Fulcrum leadership hear about this and get in touch with you).
@user-nx7io1ns7p I'd much prefer a beer in all honesty...🍻
In the name of the Ineffable, I invite the leadership of Fulcrum to mend their ways. Keep clients away from breakdowns and broken promises in the sunburnt Hell of Australia and enter the Paradise of exemplary customer service where you will be bestowed with peace and abundant return business through the Word, of Mouth.
In fairness to Fulcrum the age of your vehicle and the amount of vibration driving you did 😮 could also have had something to do with the thread failure. But a mechanic worth his salt should be Inspecting existing components and on re assembly using Loctite.
The manager could have smoothed things over with little cost and effort and turned you into a happy customer.
I am surprised with a lot of travellers problems that most don't carry a selection of bolts and nuts, some wire and even if they had a small generator also carry a cheap lightweight stick welder along with a few short pieces of flat bar and pipe. I would forsake the coffee machine for a few extra tools.
I worked as a mechanic for 10 years for a large 4wd hire company , specialising on remote pipeline contraction and mining .200 4wds on a project sometimes, on worse roads , never had a suspension component come loose . OE rubber bushes are the way to go, all that polyurethane just makes everything harsher, more prone to failures . Fulcrum love to sell it though . I did the Gib River road after driving back to Brisbane after working on the Hedland to Telfer gas pipeline in an old NA 300 NPS service truck .
Good to know mate. Great tips!! It’s good to hear suspension components don’t just come loose. The Gibb would have been fun in that old truck!
Great advice
Genuine rubber is the go
I stole a set of wheel studs out of the back left of that cruiser in late ‘2021. Logan and Larissa at Ellenbrae were a huge help, can’t speak highly enough of them! And glad to see the old 105 in the boneyard is still producing the goods haha
Edit: the gates were well and truly locked after the end of the season and they still answered the UHF and let me loose in the boneyard. Great people
They were awesome at Ellenbrae.. let us go for gold on the old 105. That’s super cool that you got to pillage the same wreak. What a great story!! The 105 keeps giving lol
That wreck should be called the Magic Pudding. Everyone takes a piece and there’s still enough to go around into the future.
The only person I trust to torque nuts and bolts on my vehicles is me. If your not checking them yourself during and as prep for a trip like that your inviting this kind of thing. Nice work on the jerry-rig and glad you found some great people who could help on your adventure.
Thanks mate… I definitely will be doing that from now on. Thanks for the feedback!
Great work on your bush fix. Disappointing to hear about the reply of your suspension installer. Last year, I too had fitted a Fulcrum suspenion kit to my 80 Series. But it was fitted by an authorised fitter near me (not by Fulcrum themselves). My fitter were thorough and professional. Even asked me to drop it back for a quick bolt check after 1k kms travel to ensure everything was still snug. So far everything is still intact (touch wood). Safe travels.
Thanks mate… Glad to hear they were thorough on your 80 series. They did ask me to come back after 1000kms but I did explain to him from the start that we were literally going away in it the next week. All the best with the 80 beast
@@steveandbernece4x4travels Bro thats hardly the installers fault mate...Any suspesion work needs going over after at least 500 klms whilst it all beds in. You really should have done this yourself if you were leaving on a trip for the gib .Glad you guys got it sorted an good bush fix , which makes me thing you can at least spin a spanner . She can be a tuff rd depending on conditions but it sure is a beautiful place , we got off the gibb this yr a week b4 the rains came. good vid
I wonder if these days people are getting a bit carried away with big, heavy, overloaded, complicated rigs. The weight is going to cause a lot of stress on components. About every second vlog on YT of people touring around Australia involves problems with vehicle reliability or durability. For many years now I have travelled all over Australia using a Falcon RTV with a swag, esky and gas stove and never even had a puncture let alone anything more serious. It is less luxurious obviously and I cannot tackle the really difficult 4WD only tracks but other than that it works much better than people used to these big expensive trucks might expect. Cheap, lightweight, simple, reliable and easy to fix.
That’s an awesome set up!! I agree mate. We used to run light too. Happy travels… see you on the road!!
Couldn’t agree with you more, the size and weight of some caravans is pretty ridiculous and the extra weight on the rig itself. It’s all well and good to upgrade GVM but the chassis was built to take a certain weight chassis need to be upgraded as well with welded in flat plates in areas where the weight is transferred to.
So awesome!!! 👏👍👌
Well done the Kimberley is beautiful.....
Absolutely!! Loved our trip to the Kimberleys. Thanks for the comment
Loving your adventures. Thanks for sharing 👏
Thanks for your support Vicky!!
Having lived in the outback for 23 years of my 65year life and doing the RAA recovery out there, Shit is always falling off on corrugated roads. Maybe loctite things like that and have a look around more often.
Great advice.. thanks for your comment!!
Ha ha love the adventure uso.
Thanks James!!
Have done the Gibb twice, into Mitchell falls, up to Kalunburu. Both vehicles had standard suspension. No issues. Yes have seen a few 4WD with jacked up suspension fail.
I’ve heard that a few times about standard suspension. It’s good to hear you can go to these kind of places without all the bells and whistles 👍🍻
Good quality customer service is not common in this country. Many people run a mile rather than fixing an error. Hope you checked all the bolts on everything. I travelled the outback decades ago with a newish caravan that lost bolts and nuts and the step and legs and almost the water tank; just keep checking stuff, and check the rubbers too. Have fun!
That’s very true and our moto became 100kms on the Gibb equals 10 mins under the car checking nuts and bolts. Thanks very much for your comment!!
Awesome adventure
We had a nail in a tyre at Ellenbrae, fixed that plus a new tyre as well so we had an extra spare. Good guys at Ellenbrae, scones are nice too. AND they sent my partners prescription sunnies with another traveller to pick up at Mt Barnett.
Aren’t they awesome at Ellenbrae. That’s so good of them. Super helpful bunch 👍👍
We had a suspension failure from pedders which resulted in a wheel speed sensor being damaged, but to their credit they credited us the whole work which was 1.5k. So disappointing your supplier had no comment, it’s a disgrace when there is faulty workmanship involved. It’s unfortunately a common thing these days. Love your work don’t be disheartened
Good on Pedders!! Great to hear of decent customer service. We all make mistakes and you just have to own it. All I wanted was a replacement bolt. Glad you enjoyed the story
What! No No.8 fencing wire? The universal outback repair kit.
Hahaha sure is!! We had enough fence a small farm around the exhaust
OME next suspension upgrade guys. Loved the vid, subbed.
Thanks for the tip! Appreciate your comment!
@user-nx7io1ns7p You ok dude?
Sorry the hear that. had a similar issue, answer was have no time are fully booked see you in 5 to 6 weeks. Found a shop in Brendale, allways go for a pre trip check up.
filter / oil change, for peace of mind. Sofar I am very happy with their service, mind you they know how to charge. Still cheaper, then big repairs in the bush with non fitting parts/tools etc.
Enjoy the trip Its on the bucket list for next year.
You gotta do it.. it’s a fantastic trip. You’re so right regarding the pre trip check up and service… thanks for the comment. All the best for your trip next year
Great Video, big shame about Fulcroms customer service, I certainly won't be doing business with them! I use to pay mechanics, I do it all myself these days; better and cheaper!
It sure is disappointing when you pay good money for a service and they let you down. I’m with you mate.. I do a lot myself but wasn’t confident with the suspension but I’m pretty sure I could have nipped up those bolts better than they did. Happy travels
Semi lock tight. Different colour bro. Blue red and Grey. Keeps bolts tight. Jace here Steve. Awesome trip
Thanks bro… I was hoping the suspension place would have at least torqued them up. Lesson learnt… I need to check them all myself next time
All parts attached to the suspension especially on coorogated roads work the hardest and vibrate the most, vibration killes, brakes and rattles everything, the deal with the suspensions today is that the ocupants dont feel much while underneath everything is going crazy. Checking things under there is essential on those types of roads especially if new stuff has been fitted, most of the time suspension parts need some settling unless every bolt is locktited it WILL come loose, so check, check check!?
A pitty though that the fulcrum sales was not interested, always leaves a sour taste in ones mouth. They did however ask to have it checked after a thousand km, for the above reasons. Hope you have no more trouble and have a great trip.
Thanks for your comment. You make some great points. Definitely learnt I need to check everything even if it’s just come from a workshop. Thanks again
Your partner is awesome, that said not so smart management at fulcrum, the part may or may not have been tightened, the other side may have also need tightening would be good to know. Either way for the cost of the part he might have saved potential customers like us from avoiding doing business with them.
See you on the road ✋🏻.
Thanks mate.. we were in about 10 minutes on the Gibb when we lost the bolt. I feel like it should have lasted a bit longer. Funny you should ask about the other bolt because it was loose, but at least we still had it. I noticed they had put pen marks on all the other bolts except the pan hard bolts. They completely missed them in my opinion. Appreciate your comment.. and see you on the road!!
One word
Loctite.
Back in the day, I used to drill and tie wire all those sorts of fasteners.
Now I just use Loctite for critical hard-working situations, Its cheap insurance but does make rework a pain in the arse.
It is also good as an anti seize on the thread as it seals salts n junk from penetrating the thread portion.
That’s a great tip thanks mate. I’ll be doing that from now on that’s for sure
Old mate ex miltiary mechanic and off road military instructor up north did my suspension.... locktite everything... and anything pre assembled.... well check it too.
Yeah that’s good to hear people get it right the first time. Old mate sounds like the man for the job!
Outback armour! Many trips over the gib and tanami, 5 yrs into it still performing fantastic
Great to know thanks mate.. I’ll definitely file that for next time. Those roads are unrelenting. Great review
Sorry about the inconvenience the suspension put you through, certainly not what you expect after you hand over the "Premium" price dollars. Aussie customer service across the board is bloody pathetic generally, and that makes you really appreciate the good service when it comes along. I know it was only 1 Fulcrum dealer that did you bad, but I wont ever darken their door because of that....business only gets one chance with me. I bought a brand new 4wd completely fitted out with all of a reputable companies gear. I had to tighten ALL rear bar and front bar bolts ( couldnt have been tensioned at install) about 1000km into our first trip, and have replaced a good 60% of substandard (in my expert opinion) wiring after finding the 50amp Anderson had melted its Maxi fuse holder when an invertor was wrongly plugged into it and not the invertors socket..This was fitted with a 70 amp fuse (can you see the problem here) and this resulted in fuse holder melting before the fuse could blow. This error was spotted quickly as we were there and fortunate that we hadnt moved away ....could have had a big fire. All up, there was about $18,000 of this companies gear fitted to the truck, I certainly didnt expect to spend several days refitting the correct gear ......So long story short, I can associate with your disappointment. .Head up, keep smiling, and tell the wife that those difficult chord changes on the guitar WILL happen in time...lol....Cheers...
What a nightmare.. $18000!! That’s frustrating!! I feel for ya and glad you had the skills and know how, to sort it out. I’m very lucky with my 12 volt gear as my brother in law has a ‘black belt’ in duel battery systems and yep I see the problem with your fuse… frustrating to say the least. Bernece says thanks for noticing her beginner chord changes and she promises to keep practicing lol.. thanks for the feedback and giving us a laugh
Yep...another THIEVING mob is ARB..
Awesome suff, and yeah the big companies dont care about the little guys trying to get some channles going.
Yeah I’m feelin that.. all the best with your travels!
Doesn’t matter what nut, bolt, part or gear you have. The Gibb will challenge anything. Kind of like saying I got brand new tyres fitted by a top company and they got stuffed on the Gibb. It happens 🤷🏻
That’s fair I get it however something I didn’t point out in the video is the right pan hand bolt was loose too and all the suspension related bolts had paint pen marks on them except the 2 pan hard bolts. I don’t know about you but to me that kind of looks like they got over looked
I would never again use Falcrum or recommend them...I also had a bad experience charging me for a job that never was done...hopeless.
Yeah sorry to hear that mate. That’s frustrating. I’d be pissed
Very back luck i had a GVM upgrade. On my Pardo and part of the service i was asked to bring it back after 1,000 kms to be retighten.
Yeah they did ask me to bring it back from the 1000kms check but I explained to them from the start that we were going to be going away a few days after they finished the suspension. Thanks for the comment!
James T here btw
So Fulcrum had the opportunity to make good but turned and ran away…say goodbye to $$$$$$$ Fulcrum! Great vid guys and glad you made through safe.
Yeah we were disappointed with their response. Can’t run a business like that. Thanks very much!! It’s awesome out there
Subscribed for the first time.
From William.
Thanks William!! Really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy
@@steveandbernece4x4travels Thanks very much and yes I will and I hope to do some travel myself in my campervan once I've got my van back from the workshop soon.
My vehicle is:
1984 Nissan Urvan Diesel campervan - Antique White.
5-speed manual - Column shift.
From William.
Mount Gambier - South Australia .
@@bill13690 That’s a classic you got there. They are called Nissan Homy Caravan in Japan and I used to see them a lot in New Zealand. Sounds like a fun machine for a road trip!
@@steveandbernece4x4travels yes indeed it'll be a lot of fun.
Ya pay good money to go with a reputable brand that you hope will provide some sort of after sales care... glad you posted it, I have been looking around at replacing the stock suspension on my Troopy. They have been on my list but you and a few others are giving a not very favourable reference for them... for the sake of a bolt, just replace it and you would have been happy and given a better report
100 percent mate… I even told him I wasn’t upset just a bit disappointed. It felt a bit like an auto pilot response to say ‘no comment’ and to be honest the customer service was unfriendly from the start. Not a great experience when you’re spending good money. Thanks for your comment and all the best with the Troopy!! We would love a Troopy… one day
"No comment" that's disgusting customer service.
Keep up with the videos
That’s exactly what I thought. I even said to the manager I wasn’t angry or upset I just wanted the bolt replaced and hopefully not let it happen to someone else
All mechanics operate in that grey area where the blame for small mistakes is very difficult to place. Thats how it has always been. The only solution is to do everything yourself, then you know who is at fault. A good compromise is to physically check every fastener after work performed. Missing or loose or stripped bolts are a dead giveaway of a slack mechanic and trouble down the road.
That’s great advice.. I’m definitely going to adopt that from now on. You just can’t trust that someone will miss one. Thanks for the comment
No idea why people don't carry the usual SHTF nut and bolt sets, simple, look at what you really need and can't travel if they aren't there and stick them in a box in the spares box. Even just a random lot of various sizes and washers will do, I have a load of take outs when I replaced every bolt in the suspension, they, along with a lot of other spares sit of a shelf ready for packing when the trips happen.
Yeah mate great advice. I carried a container of nuts bolts and washers but nothing like that 24mm pan hard bolt. I know for next time. Thanks for your feedback!
Ideally bolts into blind threads like that should have loctite on them as well as being torqued correctly. I had a similar problem on my car after another manufacturer did my suspension. Since using loctite there have been no more issues. I still carry spare bolts though but never needed them.
Makes sense… that’s a great idea. I think I’ll be doing that on those pan hard bolts
I’ve had a disappointing experience with Fulcrum also, your lucky you even got a “ no comment “.
So sorry to hear that.. so frustrating and disappointing. All the best
U can't expect never to loose bolts ,I've useing loctite I still loose bolts , but I guarantee they didn't put loctite on them.
Good idea mate.. thanks
Did you go back for a retention of all bolts 500km's after initial install?
No mate… we were leaving for the holiday a week later
@@steveandbernece4x4travels very critical to have it done, lots of nuts and bolts removed and reinstalled, easy to miss tensioning one. Not to mention as the suspension settles in Bolt's can work there way loose, possibly why you got the cold shoulder. They still could've been a bit more sympathetic to your needs tho, doesn't look good for the brand.
@@powelly38 thanks mate. They were aware we were doing a massive trip to the Gibb and they didn’t mention the follow up until after installation. One other thing I will mention is the pan hard bolts were the only bolts that were not pen marked. All the marked bolts stayed tight
Having fitted dozens of 100 series suspensions it’s not necessary to undo or remove the rear panhard rod unless replacing it or rebushing it
Did they do do either of those things.
That’s a great question… I wondered if they had to remove it as well however when I told the manager at our Fulcrum branch, he could have easily said ‘we didn’t remove the panhard rod’. Instead he said ‘no comment’ and to me that seemed an admission of guilt. I was happy to talk it through with him but he wanted no part of it
@@steveandbernece4x4travels
Where you pointing a camera at him?
That might explain the no comment
@@robkay9227 Nope I wouldn’t do that. I was genuinely enquiring
@@steveandbernece4x4travels
Well that sucks
Zero customer service
@@robkay9227 yeah it was a bit disappointing
all suspension fasteners, wheel studs etc should be checked periodically offroad. i don't think you are right to blame fulcrum for the bolt coming out because a fastener can fall out of any vehicle new or old on the gibb river road. it didn't fall out in 5 minutes either so you had days or even weeks to notice it was loose, which is why it's good to check fasteners before a big trip and use a paint pen to put a witness mark on fasteners so you can check at a glance if the fastener is working it's way loose. fulcrum should've apologized, given you some advice about maintaining your vehicle and offered a free suspension check over at least.
Really appreciate your feedback and comments. You make some good points. All the best
Where was the mechanic?
Over the Range tyre and mechanical on the Gibb River Road
Hmmm I am not sure I would go as far as to blame Fulcrum for a bolt coming out on the Gibb River Road. Having a suspension upgrade would make the suspension alot more stiff, when not carrying weight, therefore more stress on components.
I think maybe experiment with tyre pressures for these roads. If your components, that should be checked daily with these conditions, are failing.. Less air pressure. Looking at your weight and that corrugations I would imagine about 25-30??
I heard nothing but good from Fulcrum. I have run them myself and I know alot of comp trucks that run it.
You will probably carry a spare now... You'll probably never need another, hopefully 😂😂😂
Thanks for your feedback.. the suspension was actually really good. We were heavy and it handled the weight well. It was just frustrating to loose a bolt they had their hands on. I’ve learnt to check them all myself from now on. Thanks again
Wrong video champ. And just FYI, there are other gods than allah - around 10,000 (so far) in human history. Humans like to invent gods!
I be rolling it on it side or roof to get a crack at it.
Hahaha that’s hilarious. My mate Al said to strip it all and bring it home
@user-nx7io1ns7p Awesome thanks for your message
Spanners & ring spanners are for real men.
Yeah true mate… too right
Well thats one less door to cart a shadow on....
Not so good on ya Fullcrom
Yeah mate.. you and me both. It’s pretty disappointing. Thanks for the comment
You didn't take it back for the 1000k check - so its a bit rough to blame the company for a loose bolt.
Thanks for the comment but let’s be clear… I didn’t blame them I just told the story. We lost 1 pan hard bolt and the other was loose. Are you saying they don’t tighten them up properly until the 1000km check?
@@steveandbernece4x4travels Suspension bolts and wheel nuts can work loose soon after fitment, so need rechecking. That is why suspension fitters bring you back.
@@philg2468 that’s good to know thanks mate. I wish they had let us know before we had the suspension fitted so we could have made a plan to include that in our timeline. He didn’t let me know until after it was fitted and we were leaving a week later. Thanks again
@@philg2468 I sure hope wheel nuts don’t work loose soon after fitment 🤣🤣🤣
@@steveandbernece4x4travels Haha - I really hope the rest of your trip gies well - but yes, wheel nuts need to be retorqued! Just type "retorque wheel nuts" into google.
TJM
Next time 👍👍
Sad thing I’ve learnt over the years, Trust no one. Have had nuts not tightened when had suspension ‘upgrade’ on my Triton. Found them luckily when had front wheel off to replace dick pads. Checked all nuts/bolts and a couple more on the back. Get to know your vehicle and check everything when work done. Especially after servicing. But that’s another story.
Mate you’re exactly right.. I’ve now learnt this lesson too. I was so paranoid after this incident I was checking constantly and every odd sound sent me into panic mode lol.. thanks for your comment!
Mate ya driving on the Gibb River and you have a bolt come lose
Get over it
By the way it looks like ya driving at about 80ks
Good luck with that
That’s fair mate.. thanks for the comment
In my experience sometimes 80k can be better than 20. Gotta find the sweet spot. Each to their own but that comment was probably a bit uncalled-for
@@jimmyjones2426 yeah that’s true.. we found our sweet spot between 60 and 70. It just depends on the road. Thanks mate!
How many of the Gibb River road warriors actually carry a comprehensive spares kit??. Something a little more than a jack and tyre brace. How much additional space would be taken up carrying a selection of common metric bolts. A bottle of loctite, Wire, a cheap tension wrench. Even a little portable stick welder and a few short scrap pieces of flat steel bar. You would be bound to find a traveller who has a portable generator. Items like belts and hoses should be mandatory. Its easy to blame " that mechanic" back in the big smoke but the one at most fault is probably you because you havent prepared.
Hey thanks for your feedback. Your right everyone should be prepared. We took hoses, clamps, brake pads, wheel bearings, belts, uni joints, wire, fuel filters, oil, fuel pump, electrical repair kit, glues and sikaflex, 2 boxes of multi sized nuts, bolts and washers but you got me on the welder. Unfortunately you can’t predict everything but we were certainly not unprepared. You pay professionals for a service to try and minimise the risk and we were let down. Happy travels.. you sound well prepared 👍
@steveandbernece4x4travels wow! You were well set up. Just unlucky but at least it all worked out OK. Thanks for the reply. Cheers.
@@frankguernier2280 thanks mate.. sometimes you’re just unlucky aye
Bolts come loose on corrugations, I carry out visual checks before I leave and every morning of our trips looking for damp, dusty and shiny hardware. Slagging out the mechanics who installed the suspension is poor form, you can't prove the bolts were not tensioned to the correct torque and I don't know any mechanic that would admit liability to an empty claim like that.
Slagging out the mechanics? Empty claim? What was the empty claim exactly?
@@steveandbernece4x4travels You bagged out the people who installed your suspension saying they left a bolt loose (empty claim with no evidence the bolt was left loose), when they declined admitting any liability you complained about the customer service. Its a shame because I really enjoyed your video until that point.
@@kayakingbear821 thanks mate. If you look again you will notice I never slagged anyone nor did I claim anything. That’s your conclusion. I just told the story of what happened and then asked for your feedback. Interesting that that was your conclusion
Fulcrum or should i say Fulcrim in a nutshell (no comment). The only thing quality about them is the paid advertising.
Haha I’m beginning to see that too. Thanks for the comment
GVM upgrade + bullshit!!! Nothing more than a suspension upgrade (that the majority of 4wd owners do anyway) and $2000 for an engineer to say that the car can now magically carry a lot more weight without touching brakes or diff. Biggest con job going. Glad you got it sorted...don't think you,ll be rushing back to Fulcrum...
Yep I was surprised how easy it was to get the upgrade. You’re right.. we won’t be rushing back
Fulcrum. Noted.!
🤣🤣🤣