Replacing your caravan's shock absorbers
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
- Covid lockdown gave us the opportunity to do some well overdue caravan maintenance. One item on the list was replacing all four shock absorbers.
The frustrating and bazaar story behind trying to buy OEM resulted in us ditching OEM and sourcing a better and more credible alternative. We discovered a straight swap out alternative for our Jayco Outback Jtech series one OEM shocks to be 2005 R51 Nissan Pathfinder rear shocks. Armed with that info we were presented with an endless raft of available options.
As a mechanic, I find your BANG ON with your working, you didn't say why you checked your shocks though, most wouldn't, I have already told my story to the Silverline club and asked if anyone had found a substitute when I got your link.. My Silverline was traveling fine except for a hovering through the car on smooth roads, after checking wheel balance I went on to suspension to find 3 out of 4 shocks totally stuffed, BUT with no oil loss to show failure.Being the old style mechanic that needs to know why, a cut open and look will definitely happen..Thanks to you, I will be chasing up these shockers thanks...
Hey Dave, thank you for the kind words. Oil leakage was my trigger. Jayco selling me 2 different types of shocks and then Pedders complete lack of support, help or advice was the driver behind bypassing both and searching for a suitable and credible replacement. I'd given my JTech suspension a pretty good workout across some of our iconic and challenging tracks, so I had a pretty good idea the shocks would need checking
@@Vagare Hey back , I went one step further and cut open the Pedders and found them lacking as far as seals go, (turns out the oil in them is water based so must have washed off) I went to the wreckers and bought a Nissan pathfinder r51 type (turned out orig are branded Monroe) and cut it open to find a much better all round shocker with a much cleverer valve system and an outstanding seal, it had 180.000k's on the clock with shocks working like new, so got 4 more s/h for the van, I think they will outlast the van..ha ha.. PS. thinking on why they would use a seat belt around the Shock, I can only think they made the travel too long, as the shock is always used as a restriction on the length a suspension can travel.. cheers Mate and thanks again for your hard work finding the size required.. .
@@davejoannebetts4066 You've gone well beyond what i did, well done. Agreed the web strapping is the extension arrestor and i guess the Pedders product werent upto the task themselves and required external restrictor
Great video. I'm chasing alternative replacements for the jtech2.0 for my 22ft jayco journey. Very hard to come by as completely different design and shock orientation. May have to pull one out and take it to a caravan suspension specialist down the road from me.
Hey Brent, my advice would be to give the caravan industry a wide berth and get your advice from a suspension component specialist or manufacturer. (Except Pedders, they wont help due to the muzzle clause on their Jayco deal) The caravan industry is unfortunately over represented with the uneducated and unqualified.
@@Vagare oh you're not wrong. I haven't had a chance to get there this week, but will see what they've got to say. I've been given a vague list that has bilstein and koni shocks on it, but didn't come with part numbers. So I'm chasing them up now. Not holding my breath though
Have you managed to get out and clock up some km's for some feedback?
Hey John, Ive done around 7k km since the transplant. The van/Troopy combo is noticeably more stable now, and less affected by passing trucks. Troopys arent the most stable tow platform to start with tho. 😁
Hi Mate. Great video. I am having a similar issue finding shocks for my 2017 Outback swan. Just wondering if the shocks that you managed to track down may be the same size as what I need. Would you be able to tell me what the open and closed centre to centre mount bolt dimensions of the shocks you purchased are? I'm having all sorts of issues trying to find some and I don't want to put the pedders back on. Thanks Mick
I'll guess 99% that your Jtech 1 suspension and shocks are the same across the entire Jayco range (Silverline aside). A quick call to a Jayco dealer to compare the shock part numbers of your camper against any other model even dual axle van. The 2005 Pathfinder shocks across the various brands were all similar in operating length, and all a credible swap out for the Pedders. I chose Dobinson because I like the brand and they were good with their time. I don't have the Dobinson measurements, I just ensured they were able to match or be better than the 380mm/275mm Pedders I ditched. Extension wasnt ever an issue because of the webbing arresting strap, and compression is simple to measure by measuring the space available against the bump stop clearance when compare the replacements. From memory all the 2005 Pathfinder rear shocks I found were interchangeable. Hope this helps
Great explanation on an alternative product, It's a shame Pedders did not what to assist you. How old were the shocks on your van? By the way, is that a Chev pickup in the back ground?
Thank Robert. I was a Pedders fanboy, but i wouldnt go near them now. The shocks were 6 year old when i replaced them, but cooked well before that. Well spotted on the one owner 1974 Chev Custom C30 dual.
@@Vagare Is the pickup a dually?
@@robertdahl8779 yes
@@Vagare Is the vehicle for sale by any chance?
@@robertdahl8779 no, not yet