A second set of body mounts on our Isuzu Dmax

There are days that I like our Isuzu Dmax more than others. Today was great, until I poked my head under the Dmax (which I do often) and noticed one of the body mounts had two massive cracks in it. I continued my way around, noting that 4 of them were cracked, with two quite badly damaged closest to the firewall.

You know the kicker though? The two front ones were brand new, less than 6000km ago, and we haven’t actually done any extensive 4WDing in that period!

Dmax history

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that at 60,000km I noted that two of our body mounts were creased, and cracking, and I got our local dealer to replace them, and put it through under warranty, as this is an unacceptable lifespan. It was covered, to the tune of about $900 including warranty, and life continued on. You can read about that here – Dmax body mount replacement.

About 5 months ago, our Dmax inner guard cracking happened in a big way, and we had it repaired through Eagle Farm Isuzu in Brisbane, again under warranty. As part of this, they replaced the front two body mounts, and I inspected the others to make sure they were all OK. I was surprised that only two were replaced as part of the warranty, but never questioned it.

From then until now, I’ve made a point of checking the body mounts to keep an eye on them, and there’s been no obvious issues, until today.

You can clearly see two have major cracks in them, and the other two new ones look to have minor cracking, at just 6000km. Yes, six thousand kilometres, which is woeful.

The repair process

I rang Isuzu Ute Australia, who advised to see a dealer, and lodge a technical case. I’ve been on this merry-go-round, and know what its like. We are on a lap of Australia, and can’t sit in one place unless we have to. By the time the car was to get looked at, the case lodged, it approved and then the car booked in again for repairs it’d be weeks, and we’d be a long way away from the dealer.

Instead, I got in touch with Gippsland Isuzu and said I’d pay for the replacement body mounts (and get them ordered in ASAP), and then we’d push the warranty claim through Isuzu head office later, as its a pretty average result.

What was replaced?

Despite my pre-payment for the body mounts, and a phone call assuring me they’d all come in a few days prior, when I arrived on the day it was booked in, not all of the body mounts had come in.

In the end, they replaced all of the body mounts except the two front most ones, and I had a long discussion with the staff there about the condition of the body mounts. They argued that the body mounts can sag and look cracked, without actually being a problem, and certainly not being warrantable. 

They weren’t going to lodge a warranty claim at all, which would mean I’d have to foot the entire bill. I pushed for a claim to be put through, and showed them my photos which clearly showed cracking, and with a bit of extra information (service history etc) in the coming weeks, Isuzu Ute Australia approved the parts, but not the labour.

I’m not sure what to make of that, and never got a formal response from IUA themselves, but I guess I’ll take it as a partial win. 

On another note, I will say that Gippsland Isuzu were pretty good to deal with overall, especially the lady coordinating it all, and that the lack of parts arrival was not directly their fault (they just never turned up), but it was annoying.

We’ve used all sorts of dealerships, and you can read our Isuzu Dealer Servicing review if that’s of interest.

Saggy mounts

The strange thing though, is that the new body mounts at the front firewall look sagged already, just weeks after I’ve had them replaced, and they almost look like cracks (but probably aren’t).

I’d like to know at what point this is unacceptable? Perhaps I’m just paranoid after the inner guard cracking, but its not something I really want to mess with again. The dealer was telling me that Isuzu Ute will only replace them when they’re cracked, and not sagged, but surely neither is good?

How many sets of body mounts have you been through? What’s your thoughts?

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