this was mentioned by a friend on another forum:
Believe it or not Matt hasnt portrayed just how bad this was. I've seen this build first hand and it is truly disgraceful. Whilst i'm not even close to an air ride expert its glaringly obvious that everything's been done wrong, there was no thought or planning involved and really really simple problems could have been avoided if they took 2 mins to think about it first:
- Tight bends in the pipes rather than smooth curves which have now caused leaking
- Shoddy earth's, and I mean shoddy - self tapping screw into the boot floor, with no rustproofing on either side.
- Appalling transitions into the car, pipe's bending at sharp angles through grommets in holes too big for them and "remedied" with silicone! As this has come away you're left with sharp edges rubbing on air lines.
- Air hose's cable tied to the fuel lines under the length of the car
- Braided hoses loosely tucked behind the solid brake lines at the front wheels. Massive potential for these to rub.
- Wrong wheel fitted front to back and then bodged with a spigot to get Matt out of the door - scratched wheel/coilover, ruined speed sensor and intermittent abs problem, possible bent abs ring?
- Air Tank frame was so weak it wobbled forward and backwards whilst driving
- Tank fitted upside down with no drain installed
- Compressors fixed straight to boot floor using self tapping screws and rubber washers rather than on a false floor with proper insulation and sound deadening - the sound was ridiculous!
- No sound deadening at all, unless you include the swarf/rubbish etc they didnt even bother to clean out of the boot
- Auto dim on the controller not wired in
- Height controller wire bent and crushed, not properly routed
- Power lead run through the bonnet release grommet?! why! there is a perfectly useable grommet literally next to it! resulting in completely soaked carpets and a broken scuttle panel
That's just what I can think of off the top of my head. All in all a very poor show, and I'm not even talking in terms of the money involved - Luckily Matt has common sense and looked at the install and got advice from friends and people who have experience with air ride. But Mr Average Joe who has no knowledge or experience with cars (but money to spend) might not have looked at the install - afterall he's paid a lot of money so it must be fine, right?
There was several bodges that caused problems, mostly financial, but worryingly some had the potential to be dangerous. Just think what could happen if one of the lines split whilst on the motorway?
Personally I dont think the £400 Matt got back is enough to cover the costs involved in ripping out and re-installing correctly, let alone all the time and effort involved. All in all a very very poor show from FAB.
This is all true.
