Penske Dampers

[THR]

We own 3 penske dampers that are run on the formula renault single seater.

during stripping down of the car, one is found to leak and probs needs a new seal.
the other two need a good check over.

SPA are the agents in the UK for penske, but they want £100 each to do the shocks!! this seems a little steep to us as we are only a small privatly run team.

so the question is, we can we send them to get rebuilt and re pressurised with Nitrogen?

another team who runs them? anybody know any who might do it for us?

they are worth a small fortune so gotta be someone good, but bit cheaper!!

[enzo]

100 Pounds?????

These guys are NUTS!

It takes an experienced damper man about 15 minutes to disassemble, replace the seals, and reassemble. Penske themselves only charge $25!

You really need to learn how to do them yourself - it's fairly easy, and doesn't take a genius ot figure out..Just buy the technical manual from Penske and follow the instructions. The only special tool that you will need is the filler gauge, and that you can make up of off-the-shelf parts from a good industrial hydraulic/pneumatic dealer.

I'd also call Penske in Pennsylvania and complain that their rep is ripping their customers off. Talk with Anita Millican.

[THR]

Yea we thought they were nuts too!

the shocks have done probs 15 races/tests, and are probably fine apart from the leak and gas.

$25 sounds a lot better!!
could even send them to USA cheaper that let SPA do it if thats the case.

Ive emailed anita and the tech dept in the states, so we shall wait and see!

Ive got the tech manual as its on the net. and your right it does look easy.
we dont have access to the Gas tho, which is the main problem.
is the filler gauge used to check the gas pressure? or the amount of oil?

[enzo]

It's used to set the nitrogen pressure. It's nothing more than a special valve that screws onto the shcrader valve on the canister. It has a screw-in plunger that depresses the schrader valve needle, and a pressure gauge and quick-disconnect fitting to hook up to the nitrogen bottle. You just hook it all together, screw in the plunger, and fill the canister to or above the desired pressure. You then shut off the connection to the nitrogen tank, and bleed any excess pressure off via a second schrader valve in the body of the apparatus. Once you have the desired pressure, you then just screw back out the plunger, and unscrew the apparatus off of the caniser schrader valve. Presto - you're done!

Shame on you for not having nitrogen available - you need it for the tires at least!

[THR]

Penske said

"The amount SPA charges for a service we have no control over. A lot of this
depends on how the business is run and what monies need to be applied in
order to be a profitable company. We can offer a lower service charge due to
the amount of inventory we have on hand and the lack of duties that need to
be applied when parts are shipped to the UK. I would recommend contacting
SPA again and speaking to them again about some considerations that can be
applied to your situation. If nothing can be agreed upon we can certainly
service your shocks but you'll have steep shipping costs and duties. Have
you investigated doing them yourselves. Our manual can be downloaded from
our website. Let me know if there is anything else we can do for you.
"



we use air... tis cheaper. lol.

[informer]

I think the key words were good check over, to strip clean and check over a shock is going to take a lot longer than 15 minutes. Are SPA including parts and oil in their service price? If it includes these it's not a bad price.

[THR]

£100 a go!
rip off to me.
i doubt it includes the oil and seals really.

15mins would be a fair estimate id say.
if your used to anything its quick and easy.

[informer]

THR,
Having absolutely no experience of rebuilding shocks how can you possibly come to the conclusion that 15 minutes is enough time, you said you wanted your shocks to have a good check over, I have rebuilt many shocks and on a full service would spend at least 15 minutes on cleaning all the components and at least another 15 minutes measuring for wear and checking components. £100 may be on the expensive side but I would make a full investigation on what I would get for my money.

[enzo]

A pro can pretty much tell at a glance just how far he will have to delve into the shock for inspection purposes. For a simple seal replacement, 15 minutes is WAY more than enough time.

For a complete revalve, including the canister, an experienced pro will allot 1 3/4 hours per shock, complete with a full dyno run before and after. At $55/hr over here in the typical US shock service shop,that's $96.25 - a hell of a lot less than £100 !

[THR]

i can come to the conclusion by the fact that enzo says so!
and when you get to know one product very well it becomes very obvious quickly wots up with it. its only experience.

my factory made ballscrews, i can take one of them apart and put it back together again in abuot 5 mins. only practice! of course you would make it last longer and get a cup of coffee, but thats life! hehe