After 38 years and 200,000 miles on the original Armstrong shocks, one of the
front shocks on my MGA started to leak. It required a refill about every two
weeks or 1000 miles, whichever came first.
In February I had both front shocks for my MGA rebuilt by Apple Hydraulics.
Didn't drive it much until April, but was satisfied that both shocks worked
just as well as before the rebuild. By late May the car was bouncing all
over on any rough road, and I discovered that there was no oil in one front
shock and very little oil in the other, the seals leaking profusely around
the shafts. One shock would loose all the oil in less than one day. The
other would loose all the oil in about three days.
One call to Apple Hydraulics a week ago and they related their serious
appologies and immediately agreed to send along another pair of rebuilt
shocks and to pay all shipping charges including for the return of the
defective ones. My credit card was used to secure their interest until the
return of the defective ones, no charge being made to my account for 30 days
to allow time for the exchange. As of Thursday, the next pair of shocks has
now been mounted and given over 500 miles of very serious road test, and to
the best I can ascertain all is well this time around. If there is any
change in that status I will definitely let you all know.
I am hoping that the defective job from Apple Hydraulics is only an isolated
incident, given all the good recommendations I've heard for them. At the
very least I can attest by personal experience that their warrantee and
returns policy is very acceptable. If anyone has any comment to the
contrary, I'm sure the list would like to hear it.
Barney Gaylord -- 1959 MGA
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