Technical Shocks - Help

[goodgirl156]

Hi All,

We had to bite the bullet and order from abarth to get our shocks, we have waited weeks and driven 100 miles to collect.

Any how, part numbers on both boxes match but the dates are 2014 vs 2011

The shocks look nothing alike:

Even the return rates seem different, were being told that there the same and fine to fit, me, im not so sure - im pretty sure your supposed to have a matching set of shocks.

Has there been a design change or have I been sent blatantly the wrong part?

 

[varesecrazy]

maybe trawl through ePER , and draw your own conclusions..,

p.s. would you be intersted in the meet @ Telford ?
charlie

 

[goodgirl156]

Hi charlie,

The part numbers on the boxes match and I can only see EPER giving me a part number and not dimensions of the shock.
To me, they look like cheep shocks put in a fiat box, the compression rates are not the same. The stamped fiat one is much much firmer.

Id love a meet, but both the abarth and the panda are off the road at the moment, panda going to paint and abarth missing rear shocks!

 

[varesecrazy]

I meant trawl through the list of ePER parts to see howm many number changes there are,
if they are obviously mis-matched..then I wouldn't use them,


cross reference the part No's with the FIAT 500's,
if they show 1 number , but NOT the other you KNOW they are not correct.

like you - I thought safety critical stuff should be in pairs.!!

from a FIAT / Abarth dealer..?? ask Fiat slough for Guidance..!!

charlie

 

[goodgirl156]

Fiat Abarth dealer, Fiat abarth Stafford platts garage, in Stafford.....

They say the part numbers match so its fine, there is no way in hell i'm fitting miss matched shocks to it.
Im in communication with them at the moment but i'm getting the "part number on box said its ok, so its ok" approach

Also, EPER do not list the 500 or the abarth

 

[varesecrazy]

Fiat Abarth dealer, Fiat abarth Stafford platts garage, in Stafford.....

They say the part numbers match so its fine, there is no way in hell i'm fitting miss matched shocks to it.
Im in communication with them at the moment but i'm getting the "part number on box said its ok, so its ok" approach

Also, EPER do not list the 500 or the abarth

ring Slough - UK HQ , somebody there should sort it for you,
# one way or another

 

[jrkitching]

Manufacturers will often source OEM parts from different suppliers for all sorts of good commercial reasons.

Your pictures clearly show that the shocks are different. Whilst it's perfectly feasible that both are genuine FIAT parts, in the case of shocks, I'd want a matched pair.

Having the same part number does not necessarily mean that they are identical.

 

[frupi]

Having seen the pictures and read through the thread, if I were you and I had ordered replacement parts and the dealer had handed over those, I would have rejected them immediately and asked them to supply a matched pair or asked for my money back.

If there is clearly an issue with differing compression rates, reject them full stop. If you fit those, I suspect you will have issues.

I just recently replaced the front shocks on my non Fiat car with Bilstein B4's. Bilsteins too come date stamped. The pair that were sent to me are obviously different part numbers because they are front shocks and 'sided' left and right, but their manufacturing dates are just a couple of months apart, made in June and August last year. With your own situation, I'd be looking for a matching pair that were made in at least the same year.

How much did you pay for those shocks?

 

[goodgirl156]

Hi all,
I have spoken to 3 abarth dealers and fiat, after speaking to fiat abarth in London today they have confirmed visually that any shock Orders under the part number now comes as a none marked shock of exactly the same design as the later 2014 one shown in the picture.
Despite them being much softer in my opinion I have had no choice other than to send the 2012 version back and get a matched 2014 version.

I'm not at all happy about this but see all my options as none existant. As to cost , 80 each plus vat, completely OTT but again little choice.

I'm pretty disappointed about this and the fact no one can tell my the difference or why they have been changed.

I think its likely they are now substituting this part out to a none fiat part now.

Thanks for every ones help, I'll let you know if the car changes how it Handel's, I'm expecting a bouncy ride....

 

[lil.smartie]

Bilstein list their B6 Sports shock for both the std & Abarth maybe Fiat have switched to fitting the same parts too... I know quite a few Smart Brabus cars left the factory with stock suspension...

Kate

 

[ahmett]

Hi all,
I have spoken to 3 abarth dealers and fiat, after speaking to fiat abarth in London today they have confirmed visually that any shock Orders under the part number now comes as a none marked shock of exactly the same design as the later 2014 one shown in the picture.
Despite them being much softer in my opinion I have had no choice other than to send the 2012 version back and get a matched 2014 version.

I'm not at all happy about this but see all my options as none existant. As to cost , 80 each plus vat, completely OTT but again little choice.

I'm pretty disappointed about this and the fact no one can tell my the difference or why they have been changed.

I think its likely they are now substituting this part out to a none fiat part now.

Thanks for every ones help, I'll let you know if the car changes how it Handel's, I'm expecting a bouncy ride....

So you spent 192 GBP on shocks? That's crazy should have spent like twice that and gotten Billie B14's!!

 

[portland_bill]

As said earlier, Fiat can and will change supplier for commercial reasons. Your two are obviously from different suppliers. A pair of either will be fine, but not two different ones. This is a problem at Fiat parts warehouse, where they are sold singly. Stock rotation should not be an issue, so hopefully you got the last of the old ones, so any further replacements will be like the later shock.

Insist on a replacement. Get them to order one. And match it with one of the ones you have.

 

[306maxi]

Bilstein list their B6 Sports shock for both the std & Abarth maybe Fiat have switched to fitting the same parts too... I know quite a few Smart Brabus cars left the factory with stock suspension...

Kate

Nah, Bilstein only do one set of each model of damper for most cars.