SACHS DAMPERS REBUILDS

[scott]

Hey jonny could you tell me the cost of the re build please

Read below, this was the very first post in the thread.

Right as an owner of a Trophy for the last few months we have all seen the horror stories surrounding the front dampers & the costs from the stealers involved in replacing them.
Whilst looking into the dampers, you soon realise why they are 'so' good. Not your usual bolt on upgrade, but top quality motorsport items as used by the touring car guys.


So here is the definitive answer;

Hi Steve,
Yes we are the official UK service partner for Sachs Race
Engineering. I am able to service/ repair those parts and we carry all
service parts on the shelf. A typical service (Loose damper.) which includes
replacing all sliding seals/ bushes and oil costs around £140 per damper
plus VAT depending on condition. Damper removal and re- fitting on request.

Out of interest how did you find us in the end?

Kind regards,


Ben Fricker.
Damper Tech.

BG Motorsport Ltd
47- 48 Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone
Northants
NN12 8GZ

P +44 1327 855 200
F +44 1327 855 201
Email; dampers@bgmotorsports.co.uk


So we can all stop panicing & chill out.

 

[Johnnytheboy]

Hey jonny could you tell me the cost of the re build please

I think about £350 inc. VAT and delivery. I know it was 300 - 400.

 

[Rhod.L15]

Just had my 36k service done and was noted that my near side damper has a small leak - so mine will be going off for a rebuild in the next month or two!

 

[tallandy]

Hi there i'm new on here,

I'm hopefully picking up a 55 plate Trophy tomorrow night with around 30k miles on it. This damper thread has caught my eye and just have a couple of questions...

- For example if the Trophy was in warranty and one of the front dampers failed would renault just replace the whole unit?

- As Rhod_399 wrote at his service Renault noted that he had a small leak, what do Renault recommend you do?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Cue]

as none of the trophy's will still be in warranty - your first question isn't really relevant but the answer was sporadic. I've heard a couple of people getting new dampers and others arguing like mad to be sent on their merry way.

re your 2nd question... Reno will always say buy new dampers as 99.9% of their engineers 1. don't know they are serviceable 2. don't know anyone who could service them and 3. won't get any revenue by telling you to go to a 3rd party company to get them refurb.

 

[mike@rentech]

Mine are shot at 44000 miles, looking forward to having them done, got some lovely new rear shocks on order as well so should be loads better

 

[Johnnytheboy]

Another great experience of BG Motorsports.

Have kept my suspension problems quiet, as I intend to sell soon [-X and wanted to make sure I could resolve them to my satisfaction first.

Couple of months ago, the Clio lost its amazing-for-such-a-hard-sprung-car ride quality to a degree that it was a much less confident handler.

I feared a damper fault, but having had the front Sachs rebuild at BG last autumn/4k miles ago, I really didn't want to go for a full service unless I had to, and I wasn't certain what the problem was, other than a gut feeling it was *something* on the driver's side. Interestingly, when my dampers needed rebuilding last year, being a muppet I couldn't tell it had a problem, it was diagnosed by my Renault dealer (keen, I suspect, to sell me two new dampers).

So, my first step was to take it to my local-to-work indy garage (Colehill Garage in Wimborne) to check for any visual suspension problems. They didn't actually take anything apart, but poked and prodded it, test-drove it, and couldn't find a fault. Very nicely (I am their best customer, because of my van fleet) they did this for free.

So I took a brave pill and contacted Ben at BG. We decided that in an upcoming week off I would take the car to BG and he would see if he could diagnose a problem without actually opening the dampers up, which is when it gets expensive. Although I live in Dorset, I wanted to take the whole car, as Ben very kindly agreed to try and find any other problem if the front Sachs turned out to be ok. Equally kindly, my father (who is semi-retired/works from home) agreed to drive me both ways, finding some flimsy work excuses to justify the trips (eg delivering a document to Oxford rather than posting it, lol). Kinder still, I did all the driving when we were in one car, his brand-new BMW 123D coupe :twisted: .

So Wednesday AM it went in, Ben and I went for a test-drive and he agreed all was not right, then yesterday AM he rang up and said "all fixed". So collected PM. He'd taken the dampers off, and tested them on the dyno (which I had expained to me and tried to look like I understood ), and the O/S one was behaving a little oddly. Replacing the top adjuster was all that was required, so my bill was much less than a full service would have been. As soon as I left Silverstone, I could feel that the car was back to how it should be, by the time I got home I was convinced. Well done BG Motorsports, I feel much more confident about selling it now.

 

[BenG]

Excellent !

So your dampers were serviced 4K ago and they had developed a fault in the mean time ?

 

[Johnnytheboy]

Well yes, I supppse they had, but it was (as far as I can understand) a fault with one of the top adjusters which had no visible symptoms. It was only because I could tell 'something wasn't right' and Ben put it on his dyno that a fault was detected.

As for how he knew it was the adjuster, I'm not clear, as it looked the same as the one that went on...

 

[BenG]

I had both my adjusters replaced and one apparently was bent slightly. They must be pretty weak.

 

[mike@rentech]

Fitted new rear shocks last saturday and you can really tell how badly worn the fronts are, rear feels taught front feels like jelly now ):

Just waiting until the end of this month for getting my fronts reconditioned.

 

[vamos]

Fitted new rear shocks last saturday and you can really tell how badly worn the fronts are, rear feels taught front feels like jelly now ):

Just waiting until the end of this month for getting my fronts reconditioned.

Hi Mike,

what rear shocks did you go for? Cheers.

v

 

[mike@rentech]

I have fitted Genuine Trophy rear shocks £109 a side

 

[tractor]

I thought id post up a piccy of my front shocks as they were after BG motorsports refurb and a 'Tractor' TLC session of paint and general attention! The main point is after removing the cracked old clear plastic spring protectors I wanted to replace them with something- assuming they stop noises from the springs??



I used some black plastic hydraulic hose sheilding material from my the farm's hose and coupling supplier. Its like a coiled up spring which you simply wind on and then I used insulating tape and a cable tie to anchor on the ends to stop it moving. This should be a neat way for other owners to freshen up their springs when their shocks need rebuilding. I havent got any exact info but any hydraulic hose and couplings company will supply it.

And the paint used for the springs??..... John deere yellow of course!!! (tup)

 

[daftnamewithtrophyin]

Yes its my understanding that the tubing is to stop them from clunking and it is available by the meter. Ill be trying to fit it soon, lots of lube involved probably.

 

[BenG]

Nice job mate. =D>

I resprayed mine when I got them back from BGMotorsports, they are showing signs of rust again already, even with several layers of clear lacquer. :roll:

 

[tractor]

Same here mate :roll:

Mine already have some rust on them - and i used silver hammerite as well...

Just one other thing that i forgot to add to my post above, Water seems to collect at the base of the spring platform where the tin work forms a natural 'well'. I drilled a small hole at the very bottom of this area so as to let any moisture build up just drain away - hopefully prolonging the onset of rust on those lovely sachs (tup)

 

[roystinho]

How can you tell if they need doing. Just got my trophy and it feels tight to me, but don't know how it should be. Mine is 27k miles, how often should these be refurbed? Should a specialist be able to notice? I take my car to rs Murray in Leeds, rs tunings old man, will he be able to tell?

Cheers

 

[Gib#244]

I have just recieved my dampers back from BG motorsport.....and apart from being cleaner they look like they haven't changed anything??! The top adjuster hasn't been changed..which BenG first said they'll do as it will be blue instead of red... looking at the pics of BenG strut the bottom of the remote is compleatly different to mine??!!
Where you can see is valve and a blue bottom - all I have is a black plastic 'cover' and a allen key screw in the middle?

Maybe things didn't need alot of fixing on them but slightly concerned as to why everybody seem to have blue adjusters?

any ideas???

 

[BenG]

Im actually surprised they never changed the dials. I never actually asked them to change mine as they were already un pinned so it wasn't an issue. Ben at BG Motorsports did explain the reason he replaced them was because un pinning them had left a hole through the dial which caused water/crap to get in.

Im not sure on why the bottom's of the reservoir were replaced on mine but what I do know is that the internal part of the adjusters were replaced due to them being damaged, maybe that is part of the internal adjuster bit, I dont know. I do know that they were Red to begin with though so I have no idea why yours are Black and have no valve ?????? Maybe its just a cover ?

I have a spare Sachs damper lying around somewhere, I might have a look inside the reservoir at some point to see whats what.