flex-a-form

[pwmin]

shawn, do you think it would help if more people contacted faf and complained? i would like a fiberglass monoleaf to match my st springs. i was much happier with the leaf than the coil overs, but dont want to have it back to stock ride height. maybe since they wont listen to you or answer your emails if they were bombarded by other people they would maybe listen. if addco is remaking theses bars for a whole crapload of people then they should be able to remake one leaf. does anyone know of anyone else with a faf leaf?

[GnatGoSplat]

I'm sure I can find George Smolen's email address somewhere, maybe even a phone #. I never tried calling him because I'm phone-phobic.

Gearhead43 has a FAF leaf, but not sure if he ever installed it or not.

[pwmin]

i fucking hate phones too. see what you can find. maybe we can get a bunch of people to complain.

[1990lumina]

Did I miss something here??? Something didn't work correctly??

[Guest TurboSedan]

the problem is that the FAF leaf hardly lowers the rear of a W-body at all.

[GnatGoSplat]

Found it!

George's email is george1940@nuvox.net

He ignored my last few emails and I haven't been persistent enough to try to call George personally, I'm guessing that's the only way to get real results.

 

Yeah, the problem with it is it hardly lowers at all. Granted, it did drop my car 1.25" in the rear, but my car had crazy tall ride height in the rear. Now it's the same height as the 94 Cutlass which is stock height. If I wanted 94 stock height, I could have gotten a 94 stock junkyard spring for like $10.

[terryk2003]

does that rear of your vert sit lower then a cutlass coupe@?...cause i know my car sits higher in the rear then your vert does...and your '89 deffinatly looks lower then the back of my car :? ...this is really bothering me because i wanna put the intrax springs on the front and probably go with the lowering leaf in the rear...BUT, after i saw the intrax springs on that TGP, it looks lower then i wanna go...i'm puzzled here...i just love the way your car sits...thats how i want my '97 to look...

[GnatGoSplat]

I think my cars sit lower than yours since you put KYB's in it, but they were probably the same before you put in the KYB's.

 

I think KYB's have a strong gas charge so they'll raise the car a bit (at least 3/4" in my case). I do kind of wonder if the whole reason I didn't get the desired lowering with the FAF spring is because the gas charge in the KYB's is too strong.

 

I could be wrong, but I didn't think the OEM struts were gas charged at all. They seemed to just be liquid-only struts.

[Gearhead43]

I'm sure I can find George Smolen's email address somewhere, maybe even a phone #. I never tried calling him because I'm phone-phobic.

Gearhead43 has a FAF leaf, but not sure if he ever installed it or not.

 

I still got it laying around in a box somewhere waiting to be put in the TGP clone when ever I get that screwed up POS going again. I quit refering people ti FAF cuz George did not do a good job in the PR dept.. And a few people told me he (or some of his staff) was an Asshole to them when they inquired about the leaf spring.

[luminal67]

He ignored my last few emails and I haven't been persistent enough to try to call George personally, I'm guessing that's the only way to get real results.

 

thats what i had to do and I was sent four different springs before i got the right one. I sold the one that made my car sit the lowest... which i shouldn't have because those napa spring pucks make my car sit high in the back compared to the front

[tdaye]

i've got a flex-a-form spring in right now, I started with a 3 leaf steel spring but i didn't like the ride. I have got a total of 4 springs from George also. The trick is with George is to call him on the phone. I had the same problem with him not anwsering my emails. Call him on the phone and he was great with me and sent me another spring within 2 weeks each time.

depending on the height you want on the rear use these numbers.

his spring "300" (300lbs per square inch) gave my car 28" to center of the rear wheel well

his spring "250" gave my can a 27 1/2" (1 and 1/2" total drop)

now he is sent me a "200" and a "185" the "200 should give my car a 2" + drop and I think the "185" might be too low, but i'll let you know because I haven't installed it yet. Use these #'s if you plan to order from him and don't wanna change your spring 4 times...also call him on the phone don't email him!

[futuretgper]

the way hes dealing with your problem seems all wrong.....by going to a weeker material to get more "sag" to lower it more is just dumb....especially if your looking for performance handling.....it should be able to have any desired drop with the same stiffness matterial...just a redesigned shape...i would think at least!

[luminal67]

.it should be able to have any desired drop with the same stiffness matterial...just a redesigned shape...i would think at least!

 

it would cost more to do that because he would have to machine a new mold for the spring.

 

I cant remember what number spring i have in my car, i think it's a 300#

[tdaye]

I'd say the 300 and 250 were really stiff so the 200 should be alot better. I'll have the 200 and 185 within the next 2 or 3 days and i'll let anyone interested know the results.

[GnatGoSplat]

Yeah, I do believe the 300 (which I think I have) is pretty stiff, but it's hard to tell since the front end is so stiff with the ST springs.

My stock spring was stiffer though.

 

[tdaye]

My stock spring made my car sit 29", but I think the 300 from FAF was alot stiffer

[lakefxgp96]

So since my car sits at 28" for stock height (measuring to the steel part of the wheel well, not the b4u panel so i can compare with yours a little better, would i still get a 1" drop on a 300 lbs spring? Or is the 94+ already a tad lower?

 

Im going in circles. Not sure how i want to lower the car. Im afraid of radically changing my suspension and potentially losing a lot of reliability, but i still want to get 2 or more inches of drop all they way around. I think ST springs and maybe a 200 lbs FAF spring would get me there, or do i need a 250 possibly?

[tdaye]

250 gave me 27 1/2", your car is already lower so you would only get a 1/2" drop from a 250. I should have the 200 or the 185 installed by the weekend, if you wanna wait it out till then i can let you know the exact mesurements of the rear height.

I also have new spring bushings in when doing all these mesurements, George (FAF) has bushings attached to the ends of the springs when you get them...I removed them because I found they made alot of noise and were very think, I used ones simular to what you get at Napa, except the ones I get are solid not kinda hollow like some.

[lakefxgp96]

One thing im concerned about it losing stiffness, Im the rare bird here wanting stiff as hell springs. My car is not a daily, street legal, but used primarily for racing and eventually shows too when i finish all my unfinished projects lol.

 

So i need a 185 to get a decent enough drop, i wonder how loose it will feel. Im really glad you've taken the baton on this one, I'm really interested to see what you find out!

 

[tdaye]

I spoke to George at FAF yesterday (24th) he hadn't sent the springs yet but thought they would be with UPS by today, so I doubt i'll have them for the weekend. This will be my 4th spring change so needless to say I have it down to a fine art and it only takes me 1/2 hour alone to change it now, so even if I get them on Monday i'll have the new one in that night and let you know the results.

 

*update* it's 12:00pm and I just recieved the 2 springs from FAF in Anderson South Carolina, i'm telling you this because i'm near Toronto Ontario Canada and George at FAF just sent me these yesterday late afternoon via USP ground! wow that was fast...i'll have one installed Sat morning...he sent me a 200 and a 180

 

[luminal67]

anyone have problemswith any of the mounts coming off of the spring easily? especially the pads on the end. Every spring i recievedhad the pads fall off within like 1,500 miles. I had 4 sets of springs plus two extra sets of pads, and now all i have is 1 extra set of pads. Now I have those Napa pads and they make my car sit higher in the rear.

 

One thin I LOVE abou these springs is the fact that you can remove/ install them and only have to take one wheel off and undo 4 bolts!! no spring compressing!

[tdaye]

The middle mounts came unstuck on the first spring I got from them just by removing the spring from the box, the end blocks I removed because they were thinker then the NAPA ones I have, and figured they would make the car ride higher. I've got a total of 4 new, and one original spring in my garage now hahaha what the hell am I gunna do with all them.I put the 180 spring on tonight and the rear height is now 26 3/4", I expect the rear to settle another 1/4" as it did with the other springs I tried out and that will make a total of 2 1/2" drop which is what i was going for. i've got to say that the back rides real nice now, I think it's just right...it's softer then the 250 spring for sure.

[GnatGoSplat]

What's the measurement from the wheel well to the center of the wheel?

I know my tires are probably different diameter than yours and that measurement will eliminate differences from tire diameter and tire pressure.

 

[tdaye]

wheel well to the center of the wheel is 14 1/4", have you measured your's GnatGoSplat ? or anyone else for that matter? I'd be curious to know. So if anyone plans on ordering a FAF spring and want a 2"+ drop make sure to tell George you want a 180 spring and nothing higher. In the city the back still feels like it rides pretty stiff, but on the highway is feels nice and smooth.

[LukeZ34]

I'm going to have to look in to one of these.

The front of the GTP is lowered, but the rear is stock height.. and the car looks stupid as hell with the front down and the back up.

What kind of struts are you guys running with the FAF?