MOT Shaker

[Giles]

Has anyone had there car on one of these new one man MOT shakers? I have just found out that the place who always do the Stag MOT is about to install one - just wondered how strong they shake it - I understand that they are advised to not use them for cars with wire wheels, so I am wondering if I need to find a new garage to do the dreaded test

[sjm]

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Fit wire wheels...... Lol

Steve

[Giles]

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then I would have to change the hubs before and after each MOT !

[Bob Heritage]

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I took the wifes Mondey for an M.O.T. and they have just had one installed. It is operated by a remote handset that the tester carries with him. This thing shakes the life out of it. No way will I put the Stag on there.

[Guest]

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I hadn't heard about this?!?

So is it going to be part of all tests in time to come?...whats the point of it?

[Giles]

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I have a horrible feeling that they will all have to have them in the end - but I am not sure, want to put it off as long as I can

It is to test for play in the suspension and steering etc

[sjm]

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Bob Heritage wrote:

I took the wifes Mondey for an M.O.T. and they have just had one installed. It is operated by a remote handset that the tester carries with him. This thing shakes the life out of it. No way will I put the Stag on there.

Hi Bob,

Shorley the idea of these shakers is to keep the wife in the car to make sure she is kitted out with the right size bra

Steve

[Guest]

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Ahh I see...well it makes sense to a degree to test the suspension in-motion.

I hope that it is better than the majority of legislation passed in recent years, which might seem sensible on the face of it (although I would say that in itself is pretty rare) but has all sorts of other implications and flaws when viewed in detail and inevitably there is a conflicting piece of legislation already in exostence.

Pretty sure I also heard that there were plans afoot to make the test bi-annual as in other EU countries.

[marshman]

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Bob Heritage wrote:

I took the wifes Mondey for an M.O.T. and they have just had one installed. It is operated by a remote handset that the tester carries with him. This thing shakes the life out of it. No way will I put the Stag on there.

I understand you reticence regarding subjecting your Stag to one of these new (well they have been around for a while) shakers but I would much rather my car fall apart or its weaknesses shown up whist stationary on an MOT testers ramp than whist belting down the outside lane of the motorway or whilst "giving it some beans" downa twisty B road that probably has a hidden pothole or two.

TheStag is not a fragileAustin 7 or Model T it is a 120MPH V8 powered relatively heavy sports car and it needs to be safe. In my opinion we get too worried about the MOT, yes you need a sympathetic tester who understands the car but sometimes they can be too sympathetic and let a potentially lethal car pass the test. There is no way the shaker should be powerful enough to do any damage to the car - if it does then I'm sorry but the car shouldn't be on the road. It is so easy to object to every change as a bad move - but in reality I see this as one which should literally shake out the bad cars - ones which will and do cause accidents which give the classic car movement a bad name.

There was a similar outcry years ago when they introduced the diesel emmisions test - people said that engines would be distroyed etc. etc. However when the smoke settled (pun intended) all it did was got the bad smokers sorted out - scrapped or fixed. None of my diesels have ever failed the test and its a good indicator of the general state of the engine.

As always just my 2p worth

Roger

[Andy Rundell]

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Driving my car regularly on the cr@ppy roads round here generates a similar effect - i wouldn't have any problem putting mine on a shaker.

.........Andy

[STAG1973]

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I think the idea is good as you can visuallysee the excessive play in worn parts rather than poking it with a pry bar and guessing.

Adrian

[Bazstag]

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The garage I use have been using this for the last year or two and the stag's survived so far. At least it will tell me next year if I've assembled the whole front properly

[jleyton]

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marshman wrote:

I would much rather my car fall apart or its weaknesses shown up whist stationary on an MOT testers ramp than whist belting down the outside lane of the motorway or whilst "giving it some beans" downa twisty B road that probably has a hidden pothole or two.


Roger

Hear, hear

Although the MOT is a nerve racking time, it can be good to have an independent and hopefully unbiased pair of eyes checking out our cars, both for our safety and that of others. (And I must be one of the most un-helfansafety blokes around )

Cheers

Julian

[Moraystag]

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Agree Roger and with all your positive comments here guys. I'ld rather it fail at MOT than something catastrophic go wrong when I'm out for a drive with my wife.

Just imagine how you would feel if you plowed into a young couple and their kidsand ruined someone's life in a second.

Anything that fails at MOT is basically a bonus, and a wake up call for you to have it sorted. Although I was peed off when mine failed the emissions test:P

When I bought mine 2 x years ago it had just been MOT'ed. God know's how it had passed as the all the back end bushes and shockers were f*cked. The rear brakes barely worked and when I dismantled everything in the winter I was shocked along with my mechanic mate that the car had ever passed an MOT.

[Bob Heritage]

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These shakers are O.K. if used by a trained operator. If they use it to test regional suspension parts, then thats fine. But if they want to play space invaders with the control pad:shock::shock:, after all its not a 4X4 and its 40 year old sheet metal spot welds. They are intended for a one man M.O.T. tester to save on labour. He did say that there were problems with doors closing afterwards on some cars. (there was a Corsa after mine on the ramps when I was talking to him, he showed me how the shaker can work and the exhaust fell off--oops).