New Coilovers Fitted (Contains Epic Gaz Failure)

[Dave..]

Been to see Mr 519 today as I needed something doing to sort my suspension before my MOT in a fortnight. So a brand new set of Vmaxx has gone on, to see me through untill developments have occured.

I knew my Gaz coilovers were f*cked, as they weren't driving right, we'd seen that they had all leaked everywhere and I could feel there was no damping anymore from the drivers front shock.

What we found when we got the car in the air though, was hilarious/dangerous.

So anyway... new coilovers on

Lows - wouldn't get off Dans ramp at that height.

3 degrees of camber



Anyone want to buy some Gaz coilovers? Maybe after I've had them refurbed...

Can't begin to explain how good these Vmaxx coilovers feel having driven on Gaz for the past 18 months. Transformed the car, and made driving much nicer. Handlings improved, comforts improved and so many rattles have gone away now!

Massive thank you to Dan for sorting me out before my MOT is up!

 

[bmh.01]

Changed a pair of fronts on a 225 at the weekend that were like that, was like driving something off deadliest catch.

 

[Will.]

That is shocking! Remind me to never get in a clio with Gaz.

 

[Gray]

I may dare get in the car with you again now

As said, those Gaz coilovers where dangerous... shocking build quality!

 

[The Boosh!]

LOL at 'upgrading' to vmaxx.

They are shite.

Nice work mate xxxx

 

[la21t]

That is shocking! Remind me to never get in a clio with Gaz.

Things break, and he's freely posted he's had 18months to deal with it.
On the other side of the coin, Ive been out in 2 Clios using Gaz and they were absolutely glued to the road. Extremely planted, harsh yes, one of them had the stuff fitted since 2005 and hadnt failed, never been off. If there were 100's of threads like this about one manufacturer whoever it may be, then I'd be alarmed.

XBox's fail all the time but people still buy them.

 

[Dave..]

Ah you've been out in two clio's on Gaz coilovers? You have far more experience of them than I do then, ignore the two videos above everyone, they're fine to use!

 

[JackJack]

XBox's fail all the time but people still buy them.

An x box won't cause you to crash your car though. Like sh1t coilovers could potentially do.

 

[la21t]

LOL....mate I clearly said 'On the other side of the coin'

Ive not said they were fine to use, nor am I agreeing with you claiming they make an inherantly s**t product.

I'm not here to argue with you, I'm sorry you've had a problem, its never nice when we work hard to pay for things that break, Ive had it with an 2xXBox, my Samsung TV and more recently my Onkyo amp but fact is s**t happens, things break, things fail. If they were that s**t they wouldnt be trading anymore.

Seriously though, why did you wait 18months before doing something about it? Gaz customer service is awesome.

Lee

 

[Austin-182]

how did you not know they were in that condition lol? I have GAZ, and although everyone hates them ( a lot of people i think just say it because theyve heard someone say it before, i gaurantee that not every single person who has ever said anything bad about GAZ have actually been in a car using them) i have never had any ptoblrms with mine, apart from siezing up as id never greased them.ive been running mine now for just over 2 years aswell

 

[la21t]

An x box won't cause you to crash your car though. Like sh1t coilovers could potentially do.

Agreed but when something fails the norm is to remove from the vehicle and get repaired/replaced/removed immediately.

 

[la21t]

how did you not know they were in that condition lol? I have GAZ, and although everyone hates them ( a lot of people i think just say it because theyve heard someone say it before, i gaurantee that not every single person who has ever said anything bad about GAZ have actually been in a car using them) i have never had any ptoblrms with mine, apart from siezing up as id never greased them.ive been running mine now for just over 2 years aswell

Austin, I whole heartedly agree.

Ive searched these forums for opinion on coilovers and the general results are......Bilstein are brilliant and Gaz are s**t. Look into the arches of everyne who types that and 99% of them have Apex springs or KTEC Raceland camel poo fitted.

 

[SkidMarx]

Things break, and he's freely posted he's had 18months to deal with it.
On the other side of the coin, Ive been out in 2 Clios using Gaz and they were absolutely glued to the road. Extremely planted, harsh yes, one of them had the stuff fitted since 2005 and hadnt failed, never been off. If there were 100's of threads like this about one manufacturer whoever it may be, then I'd be alarmed.

XBox's fail all the time but people still buy them.

I agree. My Gaz were harsh, but they did 40k pretty low and i didnt have any problems. Handled better than Vmaxx too, and thats an unbiased view as ive had both and im no longer on either.

 

[Narf]

i cant comment on the GAZ coil overs for clios but iv had Gaz stuff before on my 106 and i thought they were pretty good! and on classic mini's gaz shocks are some of the best.. its just a simple case of bad news travels fast and good news doesnt at all.

 

[Dave..]

Seriously though, why did you wait 18months before doing something about it? Gaz customer service is awesome.

Lee

I never said they were f*cked for the entire 18 months they were on the car, they slowly deteriorated, to the point where 6 months ago I knew they were knackered.

In the last 6 months, I've been looking into a new set of coilovers, unfortunately I'm not a millionare and can't go spending £1100 on a set of KWs at the drop of a hat.

Dan at 519 has been in talks, trying to develop a new suspension kit. Unfortunately for me, my MOT has run out before it has come to fruition, so I've had to settle for Vmaxx for a couple of months, to tide me over.

how did you not know they were in that condition lol? I have GAZ, and although everyone hates them ( a lot of people i think just say it because theyve heard someone say it before, i gaurantee that not every single person who has ever said anything bad about GAZ have actually been in a car using them) i have never had any ptoblrms with mine, apart from siezing up as id never greased them.ive been running mine now for just over 2 years aswell

So you had problems with them siezing up then? An all too familiar problem with Gaz. The zinc "plating" is crap, and they corrode like f*ck. Neither of the adjusters on the rear shocks would turn on mine.

Agreed but when something fails the norm is to remove from the vehicle and get repaired/replaced/removed immediately.

Again with the money.

Austin, I whole heartedly agree.

Ive searched these forums for opinion on coilovers and the general results are......Bilstein are brilliant and Gaz are s**t. Look into the arches of everyne who types that and 99% of them have Apex springs or KTEC Raceland camel poo fitted.

From what I've heard, and seen, H&Rs suffer a lot from the pistons in the dampers knocking about. One case had 2mm of play in the piston, and I've heard that bilstein and H&R share the same bodies. Gaz are just plain s**t as well. There is no way of defending what I've shown in this thread, it's laughable build quality, regardless of how many years you're mates cousins girfriends brother has had them fitted.

i cant comment on the GAZ coil overs for clios but iv had Gaz stuff before on my 106 and i thought they were pretty good! and on classic mini's gaz shocks are some of the best.. its just a simple case of bad news travels fast and good news doesnt at all.

It's not a case of that really, Gaz do produce some good stuff for other marques, but for the clios, it's god awful. Always has been, and I imagine will continue to be.

 

[Macca_172]

I have recently moved to Gaz from Koni/Eibachs for my track car, this resulted in knocking 3 seconds off my best time at Oulton
One of my rear Koni's had failed within 8 months of purchase, it was replaced FOC but does that make them sh!te as a brand?
Gaz get the same treatment as EBC pads on here.
I ran yellowstuff for over 18months doing about 7 trackdays and they were great, when I replaced them with DS3000 they were a little better but lasted less than 2 days.
But again most people on here will tell you EBC's are sh!te

What works for one may not work for another, we all drive different cars in different ways, surely we can only comment on our personal experiences and not make sweeping statements like brand X is sh!te?

 

[Cup_Phil]

Those Vmaxx make the Gaz stuff look like cheap ebay shite... shocking!

 

[sideways danny]

Those Vmaxx make the Gaz stuff look like cheap ebay shite... shocking!

Exactly this. Vmaxx are a budget brand, but then that's all they've ever claimed to be. Best of the cheap brands. GAZ claim a hell of a lot more, but really all they are is the very cheapest iteration of lots of features, badly executed

 

[la21t]

Ok, so what stopped you giving GAZ the chance to put them right under warranty? You get good and bad in everything mate, the taxi firm I used to work for bought 20 new E-Class' in 2003, in the first 3months every one of them had gone back for 1 of 3 problems..........are we to assume, looking at life through your eyes, that Mercedes can't build cars?

Warranty is there to stop you spending the money you say you don't have.

I cant think of what state you'd be in had you bought a Toyota when they had the brake pedal issue.

'poor Dave88 he was found embedded in a tree cos he doesn't believe any product should go wrong and finds it an outrage he may have to use his warranty now and then, he was saving for a Honda bless him'

blatant leg pulling there but that's how I'm reading it.

 

[Dave..]

Don't be daft. I was not found embedded in a tree, the tree fell over luckily.

 

[la21t]

phew glad ur ok

 

[Gaz_]

From what I've heard, and seen, H&Rs suffer a lot from the pistons in the dampers knocking about. One case had 2mm of play in the piston, and I've heard that bilstein and H&R share the same bodies. Gaz are just plain s**t as well. There is no way of defending what I've shown in this thread, it's laughable build quality, regardless of how many years you're mates cousins girfriends brother has had them fitted.

Not on the clio/ The front bodies are different, as too are the rears. I've never had any issues with the 3 sets i've had on various Clios, some covering good miles. Dont believe everything Danny ells you

Billstein B14's

H&R's

However, GAZ are utter toss. I had them years ago (2004 lol) and the same day they were fitted the rears pissed all their fluid out. The settings ranged from pogo to teeth shattering, no middle ground. Couldn't believe the difference when i swapped them to H&R.

 

[Jonny1*2]

fook me mate that's really bad.

 

[HartZ]

Have you got a side on view of the vmaxx? Also where did you source the vmaxx from in the end?

 

[Dave..]

Nope, and Dan ordered them in for me. You're welcome to have them off me in a fortnight, my new suspension should be sorted.


Kev... you make a good point about the bilsteins and H&Rs, I don't have any experience of them so I'll shut up.

 

[YorkshireDaz]

I plan on removing my Gaz suspension soon, My g/f have offer me a £1000 to change them. She says they make her feel sick!

How does your car feel since removing them Dave?

 

[Dave..]

I plan on removing my Gaz suspension soon, My g/f have offer me a £1000 to change them. She says they make her feel sick!

How does your car feel since removing them Dave?

Bite her hand off. If only some one paid me to remove them :dapprove:

Car feels so much smoother now over roads. I don't have to slow down for bumps that I know about, or avoid certain dips in the road surface.

Spring rates are a little softer, so it rolls a tad more, but that isn't a bad thing. It's just different.

 

[scotty2hotty81]

I knew my Gaz coilovers were f*cked, as they weren't driving right, we'd seen that they had all leaked everywhere and I could feel there was no damping anymore from the drivers front shock.

Drive on any coilovers without fluid in them and see how you get on, just a thought I too find gaz to be ok yes harsh but hey I'm not driving a luxury car here! Mine to leaked but that was down to whoever fitted them first time round they had damaged the rods, both fronts re-con with new rods and seals delivered back to me cost £109 pretty good I thought.

 

[Dave..]

Any suspension is going to be awful without fluid in it, but you look at how many times you've heard of KWs or FKs leaking, or Vmaxx for that matter. You very rarely hear of it.

Gaz on the other hand, my god every other thread is about them leaking, and how they've done it 6 months after being purchased.

 

[daveski]

Are you allowed to share the details of your new 'in development' suspension?

Also - will your Vmaxx fit my 172 as yours has cup packs? If so...let me know when you do sell?

 

[Dave..]

Are you allowed to share the details of your new 'in development' suspension?

Also - will your Vmaxx fit my 172 as yours has cup packs? If so...let me know when you do sell?

I'm sure details will be out shortly. My car should be off in a fortnight for the work!

Don't think my Vmaxx will fit 172s :/

 

[Yellow Dave]

how easy were the Vmaxx to set up? I've fitted a couple of spring kits and dampers on my 182 but never coilovers or camber bolts.

And how high can they be set? I drive to building sites so can't have it any lower than say Sportline springs

 

[Dave..]

how easy were the Vmaxx to set up? I've fitted a couple of spring kits and dampers on my 182 but never coilovers or camber bolts.

And how high can they be set? I drive to building sites so can't have it any lower than say Sportline springs

You'd have to ask Dan in all honesty, but from what I saw, the camber adjustment was really easy to get right.

They can also be set as high or low as you like within reason. I have no doubt they'd go higher than standard suspension, and as low as the front bumper dragging on the floor.

 

[ripp]

dave, where did you get the v-maxx in 60 mm bolt spacing?