Everything Elka and How They Compare

Dang, I reached out and they wouldn't entertaining allowing me to purchase through them...plus depending on what the kit includes, I got r@ped a la carte!

 

Interesting...

I ordered just 10 days ago (19-Aug-22) and received them 26-Aug-22.

They didn't hesitate at letting me purchase.

At first they wanted $30usd for shipping (on a $40usd item). I balked and said I'd think about it. They called me back 5 minutes later and said for those lower bearing kits, they ship them for $15usd, so I went ahead and ordered over the phone.

That service center in Ohio is for ATV shocks. (not sure if it makes much of a difference)

I asked Elka about that, and they mentioned that they are trying to get a truck shock service center set up in California sometime this fall/winter.

I find it interesting that they are promoting their truck shocks fairly well in the US, but have no visable service infrastructure in place.

Oh well...

Cheers

 

I ordered and received 2 lower bearing kits.

Here's a pic of one of the kits that I took out of it's bag.

One bearing
Two misalignment spacers
Two snap rings
Two O-rings

Cheers

 

Damn, I called in late July and was told to go through my service dealer, I responded with something like, oh you mean the ONE service dealer here in the States? So i called Impact Solutions, the service dealer...he had to call and order them from Elka...who shipped them directly to me, but I had to pay Impact...and the guy at Impact flat out told me that they were charging retail prices, so the set of misalignment spacer set was 39.50...with just the four misalignment spacers!

While I was talking/texting with the guys at Impact, I asked about shock value service and rebuilding...which he said they do the truck suspension. Given their shop is like a days drive from me, that works out better/cheaper than shipping to and from CA to VA!

I guess I just got the wrong Elka sales/customer service rep...I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the coilover upper and the rear shock lower misalignment spacers all in one purchase.

Bottomline...thanks for providing the invoice/parts kit number. I'd gladly take extra COM10T's (even though I'll upgrade the coilover lower bearing to the Stainless Steel variant) for $20 less!

SHIIIBBBBYYYY...I got 2 sets of misalignment spacers @ $39.50 x the 3 locations, but they only charged me $35 for what effectively worked out to be 2nd day UPS delivery.

 

Worth noting, not sure how significant it is...but here's my 3 sets of misalignment spacers...notice the front lower coilover spacers are a zink/gold hue? Apparently Elka reengineered these since the initial launch.

 

Can confirm. Just got my coil overs direct from the factory last month and they had the gold spacers on the bottom. Silver on the top.

 

I just placed my order with Elka today. Thanks for your help everyone.

 

They did give me the link to this installation guide as well. Enjoy.

https://elkasuspension.dozuki.com/Guide/Bearing+and+Spacer+Replacement/193?lang=en

 

Sounds like I'll have to make multiple calls to get a cooperative representative willing to satisfy a customers desire to pay them monies for their products...crazy

 

Not too sure about that. (the "bronze" spacers being a new feature, that is)
It may be a just a production run type of thing.

I just now finished changing out the lower bearings on my front shocks and the "old" misalignment spacers were "bronze" (same as your pictures)
I bought these shocks in 2019.

On to the maintenance...

One bearing was totally shot (a gentle breeze could move it) and the other bearing was totally seized (earthquake couldn't move it)




(I realize there's only one set of spacers pictured.
I ran out of patience trying to find what I did with the other set, so I grabbed a beer and called it a day)


Cheers

 

Has anyone on here put an Eibach spring on their fronts? Wondering if there’s issues?

 

Oh interesting. Well time will tell with mine I guess.

 

Not sure about the Eibach springs.

I did go from a 700lb 13 inch spring to a 700lb 14 inch spring though. (ordered through Elka)
Adding skids, sliders, bumper and a winch definitely took its toll on ride height.

Cheers

 

Oh, interesting! I didn’t know that they offer 14in coils! That’s exactly what I’m looking for!

 

Here's a pic of the spring specs.
C12.5x356



Cheers

 

So I reached out to Elka and got this response. I think I’ll look for something aftermarket.

 

Interesting...

Last year I called them, told them exactly what I had and what I wanted. They shipped out the springs a couple days later.

Here are the springs listed on their site:

https://www.elkasuspension.com/product/spring-c12-5x356/

You guys must be talking to the wrong CS reps!

Good luck.


Cheers

 

This is crazy...the 4 lower coilover spacers cost me 39.50, an additional 39.50 for the 2x COM10T bearings, plus I had to source the snap rings and o-rings separately...whereas you were able to get 4 spacers, 2 bearings, 4 snap rings, and 4 o-rings for US $74.26, not accounting for the cost of the snap rings and o-rings, this rebuild kit

I think the biggest take aways from our recent exchanges regarding misalignment spacers, spherical bearings, springs, etc. is Elka CS is inconsistent at best. I am pretty certain even the Canadian customers were told to go through Krave, and if I recall they had to order them directly from Elka anyways (just like the only US service dealer, Impact Solutions didn't have any in stock and had to order them direct from Elka, who shipped them directly shipped to me).

So several folks were able to buy directly from Elka for things like the coilover lower eyelet rebuild kit, or individual components

vs. being told they cannot sell to us (consumer) and that we need to go through an authorized dealer. @GasPowered clearly received a C12.5x356 spring, but @Skratch&sniff was told they don't offer that...

Guess you either have to keep calling and getting different reps, and hope one of them offers the parts for purchase through them or go through alternative vendors or find compatible aftermarket options.

 

Agreed

Cheers

 

I used the link that @GasPowered provided and asked them why that spring wouldn’t work. I expect to hear back tomorrow morning.

@Greg.Brakes.Tacos If it makes you feel any better, I paid for my kit on Monday and they still haven’t shipped it yet. I guess I’ll have to drive my squeaky ass truck around for the three day weekend instead of fixing it.