Possible problem with PBM Coilovers
I received my Powered By Max coilovers yesterday and upon unpacking/inspecting them, a couple of things caught my eye.
The bearing in the middle of the upper pillow ball mount is off centre on one of the fronts and as such the whole mount is off centre. The suspect coilover/mount is on the left in all of the photos.
It also appears one of the upper mounts on the rears is off centre too, but the bearing in the middle is straight on this one. Is this how they are meant to be? I've seen numerous sets of coilovers and this is the first time I've seen this on a brand new set, it doesn't look right to me. It almost looks like something that happened during manufacturing/shipping but surely they checked them over fully before packaging?
Nate's suggestion was that the pillow ball shifted during shipping and that I should be able to straighten it out. I gave this a shot and the part I'm talking about looks like something mounted fairly solidly as it wouldn't budge.
I thought that it was weird that one of the fronts and one of the rears were both the same, did I just get a bad set of coilovers? Thoughts? Do they need to go back and have them ship me another set?
Thanks guys
The bearing in the middle of the upper pillow ball mount is off centre on one of the fronts and as such the whole mount is off centre. The suspect coilover/mount is on the left in all of the photos.
It also appears one of the upper mounts on the rears is off centre too, but the bearing in the middle is straight on this one. Is this how they are meant to be? I've seen numerous sets of coilovers and this is the first time I've seen this on a brand new set, it doesn't look right to me. It almost looks like something that happened during manufacturing/shipping but surely they checked them over fully before packaging?
Nate's suggestion was that the pillow ball shifted during shipping and that I should be able to straighten it out. I gave this a shot and the part I'm talking about looks like something mounted fairly solidly as it wouldn't budge.
I thought that it was weird that one of the fronts and one of the rears were both the same, did I just get a bad set of coilovers? Thoughts? Do they need to go back and have them ship me another set?
Thanks guys
Last edited by 350ZAustin; Dec 6, 2011 at 01:38 PM.
Honestly, just try to get a refund and buy from a different company, a better one. Think about it, your first set and they might be already bad, whats to say the next set wont have a defect that you cant see and causes issues down the road. You get what you pay for.
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From everything I'd read and heard they seemed like quality gear, I don't see what people's beef with PBM is.
I'm actually going to PBM this week... Is there any other questions you would like me to ask them? LMK

It's all good tho, I know I bought a solid quality product... and the 4 year warranty ain't too bad either...
Not to mention that they are local so if I have a problem, they are not too far away
It is not beef. Read my post again, right off the bat they might be defective. That is neither good for the company or you. Like the other member said, the hole might be off center, and if you install them, they might not want them back. I never seen the mounts that offset, and all the coils ive been around, they were all ways very stiff.
It is not beef. Read my post again, right off the bat they might be defective. That is neither good for the company or you. Like the other member said, the hole might be off center, and if you install them, they might not want them back. I never seen the mounts that offset, and all the coils ive been around, they were all ways very stiff.
To be quite honest, a lot of the bashing is from people that have never even seen these in person, let alone installed/used them...
Op, in that link that sdz33 provided look at the coils, they are not as tilted as yours. But, like other's suggest wait and see.
There is nothing wrong with them other than being another china (BC, Megan , etc ) coilover. The mount will move, you want it to stay semi stiff, install them, lower car, say its handles and rides better than stock.
If you are refering to when I "suggested" OP buy some "better" coils as bashing, then you are taking things out of context and personal. For the best interest of the Op, saving a little more after he gets the refund(if he decides to go in that route) and purchase coilovers from a better known/more established brand. That is advice, not bashing. Unless someone has ran every coil in the market, no one can say these are better than those and even then it is subjective to said driver. A mixture of construction, brand reputation, reviews, and overall life of the company itself, would make a product better than another. Powered by Max, is not as good as say, Hks, JIC, or Tein in that aspect. Also just because an article shows a product on a competion car does not necessarily justify it as a good product.
Op, in that link that sdz33 provided look at the coils, they are not as tilted as yours. But, like other's suggest wait and see.
Op, in that link that sdz33 provided look at the coils, they are not as tilted as yours. But, like other's suggest wait and see.
Anyway OP, if you feel like they are not for you, then I would return them for a refund and go another route...
i have noticed people bashing pbm for no apparent reason (not talking about anyone in this thread - i mean throughout my research before i bought a set)
Last edited by vex008; Dec 8, 2011 at 04:59 AM.
Thanks man, problem solved now, appreciate it though.







