Suzuki Club UK

Hi everybody, well what a week I have just had, as you all know I am a newbe to the Suzuki trucks, and got mine a few weeks ago, well as you also know, when I put it in for a MOT check, it failed on a a few points, sill rust so needed welding but was replaced, one light bulb on number plate not working and one headlight needed adjusting, one advisory one brakepipe showing rust and that was it, put it in for a retest and got the ticket on problems.
Then at the end of last week I heard a noise coming from drivers side front wheel when I tried to apply the brakes, I managed to get back to my workshop, removed the wheel, I could not believe my eyes, the castle knut and split-pin holding the trackrod end in place, was so rusted, when I run my fingers over it, the lot just came away in my fingers, so i looked at the other wheel, this made me feel sick in the gut, no knut at all, the threaded shaft was bent at the top and this is all that was holding it in place, then I noticed something hanging down near the wheel disk, on closer inspection, I decided to take the calipers off both sides, well talk about feeling sick ! both set of pads where so badly worn out it made go cold, as I had been driving around for a week, this could have cost somebody there life or even mine, I know I am a old bugger but this is not the point, it could have been a child, do not forget this MOT was just over a week old, both sets of pads where down to the metal, so bad it had made a grove of 1mm into one side of each set, the brake disks where badly damaged with ware.
I have replaced both trackrod ends and new disks, serviced both calipers and new brake pads to both sides. I feel a lot of anger about this MOT station, what are we paying for, he pulls it for a light bulb and a bit of corrosion on a brake pipe, then missed the most inportant thing, no steering and no braking, so I have desided to report this MOT station to VOSA, I have kept all the parts I have replaced and photos of these parts before taking them off. i will see what VOSA do about it, then talk to my legal team, regarding sueing them, we need to get rid of these quick buck merchants, putting peoples live at risk.
I will post some photos of the parts, I was always under the belief that a vehicle could fail a MOT test for just a split rubber dust boot.

Hmmm...

I was once failed because the rubber bushing on my steering damper was allowing "excessive play" - but then again, he thought that the steering damper was a steering arm. I knew my steering links were fine when I went in, so I asked him to show me where the steering arm had excessive play - and he pointed to the steering damper.

I was shocked that an MOT tester doesn't know what a steering damper is. Not really bothered as it was a 20 minute job to replace it (most of those minutes were going to the local motor factors to buy a bush from a mini) but it did drive home the fact that a lot of these guys really don't know anything beyond what the company manual has to say.

And I would much rather be failed on something that doesn't matter than passed with something that really matters. Even with all my health issues, the last few years I've passed easily every time due to good maintenance (apart from one year when I didn't check my bulbs... Doh!), with nothing but an advisory about a bit of body rust.

I would go over the vehicle and check everything, then get another MOT centre to go over the vehicle again. When I got mine back on the road, I failed my first MOT - and knew it probably would. I asked them to be brutal and find every possible thing it could maybe kinda fail on, and fail it - so I had a list of things to go over and fix.

And since then, MOT time has always been pretty easy.

That MOT station needs seriously looking at, I sweat when MOT time comes round, I always have the truck up on ramps a week or so before the test, and just look for anything obvious. The tester is a real stickler, but fair, if he finds anything amiss, he will phone and ask if I want to go ahead and have him sort the issue out, Locals complain he is tough on the test, but I wouldn't have it any other way, others and my life depend on everything working as it shoulld. Ok years back, roads were not so busy, speeds were less, but now in 2017, road congestion speed etc makes it more important than ever to hav your car/truck in tip top condition.

Dave09 wrote:road congestion speed etc makes it more important than ever to hav your car/truck in tip top condition.