[DeTomaso] Aldan shock leak report

[Mad Dog Antenucci]

John
Glad to hear you got great support from Aldan. If my shocks are leaking when I leave the sandbox I am going to raise hell with Aldan and tell everyone on the List ;-]>


Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
www.teampanteraracing.com

--- On Thu, 8/26/10, John McKee <johnmckee at cox.net> wrote:


From: John McKee <johnmckee at cox.net>
Subject: [DeTomaso] Aldan shock leak report
To: "DeTomaso List" <detomaso at realbig.com>
Date: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 12:53 AM


Last week I was finally getting around to installing my Aldan shocks (purchased 18 months ago) and when I pulled them out of the box they all had a small drop of oil leaking out of the shaft area.  Friday I took them up to Aldan in Carson CA and met with Ferrell.  He took one look and said they should not be leaking at all.  They rebuilt them Monday and called me to pick them up free of charge.  The Aldan shock company gets a perfect 10 on customer service!

Now, why did they leak?  Ferrell's answer was that the shocks don't like to sit.  My first thought was that sitting 18 months in a cool dark garage is not an extended storage time but we are talking about rubber seals.  Really no different than all of the other rubber hoses and seals on our cars, sitting just accelerates the break down process.  Mad Dawg reports no leaks on his Aldans and unlike me he drives, races and even lights his car on fire occasionally.  So I think that point is valid that the shocks need to have movement on a regular basis to keep the seals lubed.  Ferrell suggested that if your car has been sitting you can just push it up and down a few times to keep the seals happy.

Next I asked him what causes the failures that I have been hearing about and he said most every time it is either the shocks were over tightened and could not move properly or the suspension travel is not correct and the shocks are bottoming out or over extending.  As Mike Thomas wrote earlier in the month the bushing should not spin in the shock, the bushing should spin on the inner sleeve.   There is not a torque spec, Ferrell just said it needs to be snug.  See Mike's description for tightening and checking bushing movement;
http://realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2010-August/125256.html

To check the shock travel he suggested putting a plastic zip tie on the shaft and drive around.  If it is buried all the way at the top of the shaft you are bottoming out.  If it has only moved 1/2" then you do not have enough travel.

On my visits to Aldan I didn't sense any conspiracy or cover up of bad products.  They seem to really believe in their work and obviously stand behind it.

John

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