Dangers of Strut spacers
Posted: Sat, 22 May 2010 6:36 +0000
Hi guys, I've been doing a bit of research on Strut spacers. Ken at Ultimate Suspension suggested that it would be a very worthy topic to discuss as he reckoned they were dangerous but he and Brendan went off overseas yesterday so they could not send me any pics. Anyway, Jerry Zaiden at Cambug in the US came to the rescue and sent me a couple of photos showing the damage that spring spacers can cause.
You see because the spring and strut are dropped lower, on full suspension droop, the strut does not limit suspension travel as normal (because the suspension has is already partly extended) . As a result, the ball joint can bind when normal operating limits are over extended.:
This can then damage the ball joint
Now just go back and look at the first picture again and visualise what might happen when you are sailing down the highway and if the ball joint was to fail....
Now think about what could happen if this happens:
Yes, I know the spacer in this case is pretty extreme, but this one is not all that big and you can see the same bit of strut is missing:
And damage to the ball joint also ocurred:
I know Macca has had a strut fail while strut spacers were fitted (he has since removed them!) and he has posted a pic on the forum of the failed shock in the past.
So If you have got some Strut spacers fitted, I would suggest that you closely inspect your ball joints, check to see if they bind on full droop and give serious consideration to removing the spacers immediately as they could be putting your life at risk!
Maybe this is worthy of being a sticky thread.
You see because the spring and strut are dropped lower, on full suspension droop, the strut does not limit suspension travel as normal (because the suspension has is already partly extended) . As a result, the ball joint can bind when normal operating limits are over extended.:
This can then damage the ball joint
Now just go back and look at the first picture again and visualise what might happen when you are sailing down the highway and if the ball joint was to fail....
Now think about what could happen if this happens:
Yes, I know the spacer in this case is pretty extreme, but this one is not all that big and you can see the same bit of strut is missing:
And damage to the ball joint also ocurred:
I know Macca has had a strut fail while strut spacers were fitted (he has since removed them!) and he has posted a pic on the forum of the failed shock in the past.
So If you have got some Strut spacers fitted, I would suggest that you closely inspect your ball joints, check to see if they bind on full droop and give serious consideration to removing the spacers immediately as they could be putting your life at risk!
Maybe this is worthy of being a sticky thread.