http://bds-suspension.com/policies#warrantyShock and Stabilizer Cylinders Limited Lifetime Warranty
BDS Suspension Co. warrants to the original retail purchaser that its shock and stabilizer cylinders are free from defects in material and workmanship for so long as they own the vehicle. Excluded from this warranty are the finish of the product and mounting bushings. Defects in material and workmanship do not include such things as dented cylinders or bent rods caused by obvious side impact, rust, worn or deformed bushings. A shock absorber is a wear item and over time will experience diminished damping resistance due to normal component wear. This is not a defect in material or workmanship and is therefore not warrantable.
BDS Suspension's obligation under all warranties is limited to the repair or replacement, at BDS's option, of the defective material. Any cost of removal, installation or reinstallation, freight charges, incidental or consequential damages are expressly excluded from these warranties.
So a shock leaking out its oil after 1 year is not a defect, and should be expected? (ETA: and is not covered by the lifetime shock warranty on your website, and is instead covered by the 1 year warranty that I can't find anywhere (unless it's in the fine print somewhere)
Mike[/quote]
In short, basically no, a leaking shock after 1 year is not considered a manufacturer's defect. After one years time the component has had sufficient time to be affected by its use/environment for it to not be considered a defect. To say since we don't warranty for leakage after 1 year means we expect it to leak is a false conclusion and is by no means the case. Using that argument logic none of us would be driving cars more than 4 years old because they would be out of warranty and destine to fail. The tough thing here for us is we needed to put some sort of a limit to certain things we will/won't warranty and when, being that this is a wear part. We are somewhat at the mercy of our shock supplier. We have limited control of the product we receive beyond our receiving inspection process. What the limited lifetime warranty does cover is any broad manufacturing issues that may arise. For example, if the manufacturer had a bad welder and shock eyes were breaking off, we would see a large volume of these at which point we would refer to production codes on the shocks to find if they were part of the bad run(s). In this case we would replace/repair beyond that 1 year mark (think more of a recall type situation). In general, acrossed our broad application range, we have a very small percentage of issues with our shocks. Use, application and environment are the three main factors in a shocks longevity. Those factors can greatly very from one situation to the next. 1 year and 20,000 miles in Michigan tends to be a lot harder on components then, say Florida for example.
Obviously, each situation is a little different and we do our best to work with those. But for consistancy purposes and the sanity of our tech department as well as our dealers, we needed to put a max time on our replacement policy. As far as the warranty verbiage goes, I agree and have brought this up in the past that we should reword for clarity. Honestly, I think we inherited that warranty wording from our supplier.
Hopefully this helps with the understanding Mike. Let me know if you have any additional questions I can address. If you have specific questions/concerns with your situation then feel free to PM me if you like.
