General Panda suspension dampers

[Tony M]

OK, so i have just bought the damper units that were on ebay, now i just want to triple check that they will suit a PAnda Selecta with it's gearbox. Does anyone know if the Selecta's have a different damper to the other pandas...

And while i am on the subject the guy who looked at the car mentioned that one of the back ones was 'wet'. So has anyone got any rear suspension dampers?

 

[christopher watson]

i take it your repe7887 . i was watching those, and thought they were for the earlier pandas.

 

[Tony M]

i take it your repe7887 . i was watching those, and thought they were for the earlier pandas.

yep, although that isn't my personal account... just got the blue box back from the mechanic and one of the perished items was a near side damper... so might as well risk it... I am not going to find any other new ones in such a short time.

 

[christopher watson]

i have just checked with www.buypartsby.co.uk and they said all front shockers are the same for the panda, and the cheapest they could do for the two was £68 inc p&p.

EDIT - try buypartsby for rear shockers, they quoted £68 for two gas shockers for my panda selecta, and that included p&p.

 

[Tony M]

i have just checked with www.buypartsby.co.uk and they said all front shockers are the same for the panda, and the cheapest they could do for the two was £68 inc p&p.

result!... I already had ordered new bushes all round... as they looked like grannies lips.

 

[christopher watson]

forgot to say Excel-G shockers are the gas ones, the premium are oil.

 

[Tony M]

forgot to say Excel-G shockers are the gas ones, the premium are oil.

uh...? i got the blue ones. Is there a huge difference with a car as light as the panda?

 

[christopher watson]

sorry, meant to say that excel-g and premium are the different types of rear shocks at buypartsby.

 

[christopher watson]

uh...? i got the blue ones. Is there a huge difference with a car as light as the panda?

i prefer gas, as i have been told they give a smoother ride, and cope better with heavy loads.

 

[Tony M]

Ok, i will bear that in mind. thanks for the advice Christopher... Next all i have to do is decide which spring kit... I don't want to lower it that much but a little might be nice.

Incidently, the mechanic was a little stumped with the Panda Selecta... he'd never seen an automatic panda.

 

[christopher watson]

Firstly - remember that if you lower the car, it puts stress on the wheel bearings, and pandas are known to get through bearings (my car needs all four soon). also the bearings are about £45 EACH, so if you have loads of money go for the lowered suspension, but personally i wouldnt (pandas were not meant to be lowered).

Secondly - alot of mechanics i meet seem to think i am crazy when i say i have an automatic panda, they just dont believe these cars were made.

 

[panda4x4sisley]

thought i'd ressurect an old thread instead of wasting space with a new one as i have a small question.
how do you tell if a shock absorber has gone bad? on the rear driver side, mine now 'pings' when going over any small bumps. or maybe it more like a dull thud when your inside the car, as if its catching on something, or, its just worn out. i looked here https://sslrelay.com/buypartsby.co.uk/kyb-shock-absorbers-rear-details.php?recordID=640
to find rears are fairly cheap...is it worth replacing it straight? or is it possible its caught on something or repairable?

 

[Tony M]

thought i'd ressurect an old thread instead of wasting space with a new one as i have a small question.
how do you tell if a shock absorber has gone bad? on the rear driver side, mine now 'pings' when going over any small bumps. or maybe it more like a dull thud when your inside the car, as if its catching on something, or, its just worn out. i looked here https://sslrelay.com/buypartsby.co.uk/kyb-shock-absorbers-rear-details.php?recordID=640
to find rears are fairly cheap...is it worth replacing it straight? or is it possible its caught on something or repairable?

you can tell when a shock is reaching the end of it's working life if there is oil on the stanction part of the shock... I mean if you run your finger down it and it comes back slick then the seals will probably be knackered. Also look for general dampness marks on dust around the bottom of the unit.

It may be that you have had the wrong shock absorbers fitted as i did to my car... and fitted 2wd units to the back... once the car was lowered to the ground there was only 2 inches of travel before it hit metal on metal. which it turned out isn't enough

OK the first question... do you have a 4x4?

If not then the dampers are really cheap anyway... you can get a pair for £20 ...

 

[panda4x4sisley]

i'll have a look when i can and see if the seals have gone...
its a 4x4 im afraid!
are they fairly easy to fit? best place to buy?

 

[Tony M]

i'll have a look when i can and see if the seals have gone...
its a 4x4 im afraid!
are they fairly easy to fit? best place to buy?

hey are easy to fit but the dampers you had been looking at were a little on the cheap side... well from that particular shop.

try motorfactors... but they're an 'order it for you' kind of part.

I bought a couple of gas ones from partsdirect i think... but you can get cheaper... mine came to just over 100 for the pair. I can't recall where the old ones went.

 

[allen fletcher]

I'v looked in my parts dept and yep I'v got some new rear shocks pm if you don't get sorted out. If the mechanic has never seen a Auto Panda he's not lived Linda will not part with her Black Auto M reg :worship: providing its 100% ok. A if she car does somthing like not starting when required to do so then its my car till I'v sorted her out

hey are easy to fit but the dampers you had been looking at were a little on the cheap side... well from that particular shop.

try motorfactors... but they're an 'order it for you' kind of part.

I bought a couple of gas ones from partsdirect i think... but you can get cheaper... mine came to just over 100 for the pair. I can't recall where the old ones went.