Heystee Parabolics
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seriesIIa
Heystee Parabolics
Has anyone tried the Heystee parabolics from the Netherlands? Was thinking about ordering a set as the Rocky Mountain ones are no longer in production. The shipping is rather pricey though.
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N Hamelin
I have been running the Heystee Parabolics for over a year now. The increase in ride comfort and articulation was incredible. After having researched Parabolics for a few years, I found that the Heystee (formerly TIConsole) had the best reputation by far. That being said, after our trip to Alaska last fall, we did come home with one of the rear springs bent. They were the 4 leaf spring as recommended by the Manufacturer for my truck. After a lengthy exchange of e-mails and pictures with the Manufacturer, they determined that the spring was faulty, and would replace it under warranty. The only problem with this is that irregardless of the fault, the customer is to pay for shipping as per their warranty. Watch out for this, as paying for shipping for replacements from the Netherlands, where they are located, is ridiculous! Luckily, Bill at Great Basin Rovers, where I purchased them, has agreed to cover the replacement costs. Great guy to do business with by the way, and he has a new shipment of the Heystee's coming. After having talked with the owner of Heystee, I have found that he does seem committed to building a very high quality product, and the springs are currently being manufactured in a German Factory of the Thyssen-Krupp group in ISO and TÜV certification. As it seems with most Land Rover aftermarket suppliers, his operation appears rather small and suffering financial hardship, as was bemoaned to me numerous times, so my only concern would be the availability of warranty replacements in the future.
My experience has been frustrating, as I had originally gone this more expensive route in attempts to avoid all the leaning and collapsing issues found with a lot of the other Parabolics, only to end up having the same issues. That being said, I appear to be one of the few out there that have ever had a problem with these springs.
My experience has been frustrating, as I had originally gone this more expensive route in attempts to avoid all the leaning and collapsing issues found with a lot of the other Parabolics, only to end up having the same issues. That being said, I appear to be one of the few out there that have ever had a problem with these springs.
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Landlover
- Learner Driver
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:46 pm
- Location: Kamloops
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red90
- Defender of the World
- Posts: 1509
- Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:19 pm
- Location: Calgary
Are they really not making RM parabolics any more?
This post, http://roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforum/vi ... php?t=3572 from last month seems to make me think the opposite.
This site in the UK, http://www.rockymountainspares.co.uk/?page_id=41 says "**SOLD OUT***NEW STOCK DUE TO ARRIVE MAY****". Being May, they must be available in Canada by now??
This post, http://roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforum/vi ... php?t=3572 from last month seems to make me think the opposite.
This site in the UK, http://www.rockymountainspares.co.uk/?page_id=41 says "**SOLD OUT***NEW STOCK DUE TO ARRIVE MAY****". Being May, they must be available in Canada by now??
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rick.m
hystee springs
I have them on the 65 109. and am very pleased with them. I got mine from BILL AT GREAT BASINS to. Talked to PAUL HYSTEE many times. what a great man. very helpfull. i ordered the 4 leaf for the rear as i thought i was heavy enough, and liked the curl on the end better than the 3 leaf. i found it was too much. and took out 1 leaf to set the truck down. i have those extra leafs in SOUTH SURREY, if any one is desperate.
All the best.
RICK MELLENGER.
1965 series IIA 109.
All the best.
RICK MELLENGER.
1965 series IIA 109.
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DaveB
- Defender of the World
- Posts: 1749
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 7:45 pm
- Location: Vernon, BC
It does seem to indicate from the post that they're still doing suspension. I have the Rocky Mountains, made here in Canada, and I've been happy with them after about 9 years of abuse. I do find that if you work them hard they need to be re-arced every 5 years or so. I think this would be the case with any spring I abused as much as these. But the cost of re-arcing was under $150 for all 4 so not really a big deal.red90 wrote:Are they really not making RM parabolics any more?
This post, http://roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforum/vi ... php?t=3572 from last month seems to make me think the opposite.
This site in the UK, http://www.rockymountainspares.co.uk/?page_id=41 says "**SOLD OUT***NEW STOCK DUE TO ARRIVE MAY****". Being May, they must be available in Canada by now??
Personally I have no problem with the design of the Heystee/TIC springs or with their service/reputation, but really, if you have a supplier right here in BC that supplies a similar tried and true product, why not take advantage of it? Then if something isn't just right, at least you have a local company to deal with.
just my opinion...
Dave
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rick.m
hystee springs
While i apreciate Dave,s comment about buying local.
There is some joy in telling the story to the uninitiated .That,you just did a few upgrades on your suspension, AND IT WENT LIKE THIS.. I got my springs from HOLLAND, My military shackles, form ENGLAND. My WOLFE WHEELS FROM ENGLAND. My shocks from AUSTRALIA. My wheel spacers from CHILIWACK {where??] My tires from CANADA. and.A DETROIT LOCKER from BILL at GREAT BASINS ROVERS, in UTAH USA. and had them installed In Langley. Oh yes and a FAIREY OVERDRIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS. LMAO.. who knew.. !!!!
all the best, tongue in cheek.
RICK .MX
1965 109 series IIA.
There is some joy in telling the story to the uninitiated .That,you just did a few upgrades on your suspension, AND IT WENT LIKE THIS.. I got my springs from HOLLAND, My military shackles, form ENGLAND. My WOLFE WHEELS FROM ENGLAND. My shocks from AUSTRALIA. My wheel spacers from CHILIWACK {where??] My tires from CANADA. and.A DETROIT LOCKER from BILL at GREAT BASINS ROVERS, in UTAH USA. and had them installed In Langley. Oh yes and a FAIREY OVERDRIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS. LMAO.. who knew.. !!!!
all the best, tongue in cheek.
RICK .MX
1965 109 series IIA.
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tallergypsy
International Trade
Rocky Mountain remains in the spring business and also builds springs to ISO and TUV standards
It is nice to see that Roverlanders members are believers in international trade. I also have strong feelings on the matter and have just driven from Cape Town to Mombasa in my 110 which was built in Australia, uses American shock absorbers, carries a German refrigerator and sports a Taiwanese tire compressor. All these products are well established international brands and I had no hesitation buying them.
Failure of the European parabolics is understandable when you consider the tough terrain here in BC where our springs were developed compared with Holland which is somewhat like a parking lot. It may also partly explain the woes of Mr Hjsjee. A quick search of my computer tells me that in the last five years Rocky Mountain from Canada sold over 150 truck sets of springs into Holland where we are considered the premium brand.
Ray Wood
It is nice to see that Roverlanders members are believers in international trade. I also have strong feelings on the matter and have just driven from Cape Town to Mombasa in my 110 which was built in Australia, uses American shock absorbers, carries a German refrigerator and sports a Taiwanese tire compressor. All these products are well established international brands and I had no hesitation buying them.
Failure of the European parabolics is understandable when you consider the tough terrain here in BC where our springs were developed compared with Holland which is somewhat like a parking lot. It may also partly explain the woes of Mr Hjsjee. A quick search of my computer tells me that in the last five years Rocky Mountain from Canada sold over 150 truck sets of springs into Holland where we are considered the premium brand.
Ray Wood
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dfritter
From what I've read (which is quite a bit) about paras after suffering through my leaning crisis with the Rocky Mountain parabolics, all I've been convinced of is that each manufacturer has their issues. My Rocky Mountains are going to the metal recyclers just 9 months after I unwrapped them, and I've heard similar horror stories from owners of trucks with parabolics from all sorts of manufacturers.
That said, and I say this knowing Ray's a great guy (I've spoken with him about this and he was nothing if not helpful), but I'm not really pleased with Rocky Mountain's service. I drove out from Tsawwassen to West Van under Ray's advisement where the truck's lean was assessed as "acceptable" while parked on a lumpy, sloping alleyway, and neither of two emails augmented by photos illustrating the lean on a level surface have garnered responses since. Maybe I caught the fellow out there (who wasn't Ray, for the record) on a bad day or something, but in either case, the end result is my bank account being a few hundred bucks emptier for a set of springs that lasted all of three weeks before settling into a chiropractor-pleasing lean.
*Note: Beyond the initial phone contact, I actually didn't get the pleasure of dealing with Ray himself. Sadly, and perhaps more frustrating still is the knowledge that, given our phone conversations, I think the outcome would have been much more amicable had I dealt with Mr. Wood. I don't want anyone to construe this post as an attack on Rocky Mountain, for it's nothing more than a recounting of my own experience.
That said, and I say this knowing Ray's a great guy (I've spoken with him about this and he was nothing if not helpful), but I'm not really pleased with Rocky Mountain's service. I drove out from Tsawwassen to West Van under Ray's advisement where the truck's lean was assessed as "acceptable" while parked on a lumpy, sloping alleyway, and neither of two emails augmented by photos illustrating the lean on a level surface have garnered responses since. Maybe I caught the fellow out there (who wasn't Ray, for the record) on a bad day or something, but in either case, the end result is my bank account being a few hundred bucks emptier for a set of springs that lasted all of three weeks before settling into a chiropractor-pleasing lean.
*Note: Beyond the initial phone contact, I actually didn't get the pleasure of dealing with Ray himself. Sadly, and perhaps more frustrating still is the knowledge that, given our phone conversations, I think the outcome would have been much more amicable had I dealt with Mr. Wood. I don't want anyone to construe this post as an attack on Rocky Mountain, for it's nothing more than a recounting of my own experience.
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N Hamelin
I would have to agree with Dave about buying local when available. It would make it easier to get your hands around some of these guys necks to relieve frustration! I am still waiting for my warranty problems to resolve and it's been over 6 months! Great Basin Rovers isn't carrying the Heystees anymore and apparently aren't planning on it for the future. So now I am in a debate with both the supplier and the Manufacturer over who is paying for the shipping costs from the Netherlands, and although both are being very nice about it, nothing is happening.
As for the quality of the Heystees, barring this issue, I am consistently amazed at the ride of my old Series truck now. I do believe that Paul Heystee is truly dedicated to making the best quality item available. When resolving my bent spring issue, I was shocked to find out that each individual spring pack has it's own serial number for tracking and quality control purposes.
As for which springs are best? I would have to go with the original handed Genuine LR springs that are apparently NLA. They may not have the desired articulation for the more serious wheelers, but they sure seem to hold up under years of abuse.
Neil
As for the quality of the Heystees, barring this issue, I am consistently amazed at the ride of my old Series truck now. I do believe that Paul Heystee is truly dedicated to making the best quality item available. When resolving my bent spring issue, I was shocked to find out that each individual spring pack has it's own serial number for tracking and quality control purposes.
As for which springs are best? I would have to go with the original handed Genuine LR springs that are apparently NLA. They may not have the desired articulation for the more serious wheelers, but they sure seem to hold up under years of abuse.
Neil