Danger! Prevent Bottom Shock Bracket Failure

Hey everybody, John here with Owl, and today we're here with Mark who is going to show us why it's so important to check the underside of your van.

Sprinter Vans are shockingly good off-road, but like any off-road vehicle, you need to protect some of the critical components that can be damaged on the trail.

When we go over rocks and other obstacles, low-hanging components can be damaged and leave us stranded on the trail.

Protection of key components should always be addressed before you hit the trail. In this video, we had a customer with a blowout bottom shock bracket from contacting a rock while off-roading.

Mark just brought in his van. Check it out; it's equipped with an Owl ladder and some Mojo wheels.

Mark, came in because he took his van off-road, and hit the rear axle on some rocks, which bent the rear shock brackets. This is incredibly common when off roading and something that can total your van if not treated.

So, Van Compass has what they call a Baja bracket. They have like Baja and Baja S brackets. Let me show you why you want these on your van when you’re off-roading.

As you can see, when you’re off-roading, things get hit. Mark was wise enough to already have the differential cover on, so that got protected. But look at this! The bracket is completely folded over. If you hit a rock with that, the bracket is done for.

It's almost completely snapped off the axle. It’s going to need to be bent back into place, and then we’ll need to install the support bracket—the Baja or Baja S bracket—from Van Compass to protect it.

The support bracket fixes the problem.

Alright, so we’ve seen the bent bottom shock bracket on Mark’s van.

Now let’s look at a brand new van and show you what it’s supposed to look like when it’s not damaged. Here, you can see how straight it is.

See how straight the shock is? It goes straight up as opposed to way crooked.

Point is - check the bottom of your van! If it looks something like that... get it in right away to be looked at. The Baja Bracket will prevent this problem!

Hope that helps.

FULL VIDEO

Remember, if you have any questions, we have our van experts standing by at all times. Give us a call at (866) 695-8267 and we'll be happy to help you.

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More soon,
John Willenborg