blackbombshell95 Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 FFP's aren't noisy. Well they are. It depends. Let me explain it a bit to you. FFP's are noisy as hell if you drive over train tracks at wreckless speeds. The spring goes out of alignment. Usually no more than 1/4 of an inch. I've had my coilovers on for 30k miles. If it starts to squeak, then it means u've been too rough on them. And then u just need to jack up the rear of the car and clean the dirt off of the coilovers and center the spring and lower the car slowly. Thats it. If you keep on going over bumps really fast then of course it is going to get noisy. After a while it will never come back. In the beginning my coilovers would have light squeaks when i would go over bumps. Mainly because the spring would rub on the top of the inner sleeve. AFter a while the inner sleeve would get worn enough to where it wouldn't make any noise lol. it went on for like 8k miles lol. As for the last 22k miles, not a damn noise no matter how hard i drove it .. As for the sleeve being worn, it doesn't affect the lowering of the car. It might affect raising the car a whole 2'' above stock rear height. Its just the design of the coilovers. I mean look. Less than $500 for a set of coilovers. Thats cheap! They are Great coilovers. But if you want the best, go custom. IMO better than a leaf spring. And I loved my leaf spring. FYI: The coilovers can do a 2'' raise or a 4'' drop. I would rate the coilsprings with the sway bar 10 times better than the factory setup. Just imagine going into a tight corner that is very bumpy. IIRC when i had my leaf spring, the rear leaf spring would bunch up and release in a way that didn't feel right. It has been a while since I drove with the leaf spring. It did feel cool. But not right. Now with the coilovers, when i take a bumpy corner at high speeds; i can feel the each individual rear corner make the dips into the bumps. This allows for better control in the turns. And I knew for the first time that this is how a car should feel when going through a bumpy turn. I hope this helps. This is my OWN personal experience. I've heard different stories from other FFP coilover owners. As for my opinion once again, FFP!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 seriously, my TDC coilovers make absolutely NO noises whatsoever. no squeaks or anything like that ever. the ONLY time i have a problem is when i make a very sharp turn while pulling into a driveway or parking lot. when it does happen, the coil spring becomes completely unloaded (loose) and doesn't go back into the upper spring mount correctly. when that happens the rear end binds up and the coilover makes very very loud noises. i have to raise the car with a jack to unload the coil, then lower the car back down making sure the spring goes into the upper spring mount correctly (like blackbombshell95 mentioned). it doesn't happen very often, and i've learned not to make sharp turns while going over a bump or incline. it probably only happens about twice a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbombshell95 Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 I've had the incline problem thing too. it just makes a little squeek for a second then its gone(then i up an incline in an angle. But in the beginning I had to lift the car and straighten it. Not anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWeb80 Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 i've never had to "re-set" my CO's..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakefxgp96 Posted September 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 So are there any ways to imporve how coil overs work? for instacts Rear STBs, larger sway bars, perhaps a steal shim under the strut tower to create more thickness.... Is there something that I should know that i do not probably know about them now? real i have always felt that CO are the way to go...but i've been skiddish about their safty and whether they can cause damage to the car or have caused serious problems for anyone. Besides...i'd like to jack the rear up into the air at the track . and i wont have to worry about whether they would be as low or lower than the front springs for any reason. I have an idea...i have a G-tech in my car...we should have a w-body gathering and get some measurements. Stock vs Birchmount vs CO vs FAF. and have people ride along in each others cars to compare things! Im so confused as to what to do now. I'm going to change my mind 80 more times and decide what to do next spring.... :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 You could probably use longer, softer springs to prevent the unloading problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 perhaps a steal shim under the strut tower to create more thickness.... Is there something that I should know that i do not probably know about them now? real i have always felt that CO are the way to go...but i've been skiddish about their safty and whether they can cause damage to the car or have caused serious problems for anyone. i firmly believe that is not an issue. i don't care what anyone else says...i've probably had coilovers longer than anyone on this forum and everything is great on my car. no damage whatsoever, not even a hint of anything wrong. and i do regularly inspect everything very closely. my coilovers have pissed me off before, but that was only because of the spring not seating in the upper mount (as i mentioned above). that really isn't a problem anymore, i just avoid sharp U-turns now. also, the FFP coilovers have a MUCH better designed upper spring mount than my TDC coilovers. i'm surprised anyone with FFP coilovers is having problems with the spring not seating in the upper mount correctly. oh well, TDC coilovers aren't available anymore anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbombshell95 Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 ask michael at ffp how many miles he has on his car with the ffp's. I think he has had them on for more than 50k miles. i have no stress marks with 30k miles on them. They are more than strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 i've had mine on since the fall of 2001. i've put roughly 70,000 miles on the car since then. most of those miles are city driving/pizza delivery (and that is harsh), but lots of interstate trips as well; with heavy loads etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakefxgp96 Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Sharp U-turns....ill be actually looking for them and seeing how fast i can get around them...I'm thinking about road-coursing the GP once its strong enough, i wont be able to avoid u-turns there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Sharp U-turns....ill be actually looking for them and seeing how fast i can get around them...I'm thinking about road-coursing the GP once its strong enough, i wont be able to avoid u-turns there! oh on a roadcourse everything would be fine. i'm talking about full lock U-turns, and even then i have to be going up an incline such as up into a steep driveway at full lock enough to make one side of the rear become completely unloaded. when it happens with my TDC coilovers, the upper spring end gets caught on the sleeve part of the upper mount, preventing it from seating properly: http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/brakes_susp/lip.jpg the FFP upper mount doesn't have this sleeve section that protrudes downward inside the coils, so i don't see how anyone could possibly have this problem with FFP coilovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Ok IMHO, i have rode in Aweb80's grand prix with the stb's, st springs, and ffp coilovers, and most importantly a set of kyb gr-2 struts!, the car feels tight as heck and it feels very neutral and linear throughout the entire turn. I loved the way his car handled so well that i bought one of his rear stb's, and i bought a front one as well as ffp coilovers, and i have intrax springs coming. IMHO, coilovers give the car an awesome feel and i would recommend them even though i still do not have mine in. Just my $.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern8tion9l Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 damn that car looks hot, you def gotta post pics when you get the lowering stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 damn that car looks hot, you def gotta post pics when you get the lowering stuff You talkin about my car man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbombshell95 Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 of course. its smokin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWeb80 Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 I've got to get some vids up of my car autocrossing.....then you guys might have a better idea of what they can do..... Thats a hint Kenny......lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 harsh harsh, Kevin is outta town adam so i cant just break into his house and steal those vids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 here's my opinion. i think that the faf would be the best option for handling if it was lower. i like the stock leaf for handling over the coilovers, but i dont think you will lose anything if you go with the coilovers and addco bar, it may be better than the stock leaf/addco. i didnt have the addco before the coilovers so i cant say for sure. also, if you go with the coilovers, you can raise them up or get springs with a different rate which would be advantageous for drag racing and will def. help with handling. the birchmount is heavier, but as it was said before, the weight distribution is towards the front, so it could possibly help for handling, but obviously wont help for drag racing. i havent had problems with my modified coilovers. as much as i hate to say this, i would go with the coilovers. i was very sceptical of them at first and still am, but i havent had any problems with them. i did, however have more noise problems with the kyb's than i have with the stock struts. i wouldnt worry about the struts not being covered, which is a proposed problem with the coilovers, and so far, i do not see any problems with the strut towers not being strong enough. imo, i wouldnt convert the rears to mchperson-type. the other options seem better to me than doing that. hope this helps. sorry for the long response. there are also a lot of other opinions to wade through. i would add a poll also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern8tion9l Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 sorry for the delay, yeah i was talkin about the black cutty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakefxgp96 Posted September 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Good thinking, i added the poll. Speaking of flex-a-form again, since its completely custom as i understand it, why can't you make different drops/spring rates. If thats possible, then a lower drop may just be the answer...although going back to coilovers, the customized height is quite appealing. Also, im having a new exhaust put in this week, with a transversely mounted flowmaster 80 F-body muffler. its going to go right underneath the stock spring...it almost makes sense to go with coil overs just because i wont need to mess with removing the exhaust to work on the springs anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwmin Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29355&highlight=flexaform maybe it's time to actually do that. i forgot all about that until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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