Graphite_WS6

iTrader: (1)

I'm ready to start modifying my cars suspension with some good quality parts. I have had the G2 lowering springs on my car for about 2 years now and that's the only suspension mod I've ever done to the car. I went to my local track a few days back and couldn't get the car to hook on my nittos, good burn out and all. I pulled a 1.92 60', and the tires were still spinning. I'm thinking of going with Sub-frame connectors, Non-Adj. LCAs, LCA relocation brackets, Adj. Panhard bar to recenter the rear, Sway Bars, and an Adj. Torque Arm to help with traction.

Only problem I'm having is picking which parts to go with. I have researched this forum a lot, but don't hear much about the Spohn products compared to BMR or G2 products. They seem to be of good quality and the price is fair compared to others. Plus, Spohn offers their parts in chrome moly which would save some weight and are still cheaper than LGM's steel parts. On the other hand LGM makes great parts, great reputation, but their prices are higher.

LGM's parts are designed more towards Auto-x, were as Spohn and BMR are designed for drag racing. I never plan on doing Auto-x.

Is Spohn even close to LGM quality and performance? I know it comes down to "buy what you can afford" and "you get what you pay for" but I don't want to spend the extra money if Spohns parts can hold up just as good as the LGM parts. Both Spohn and LGM's Non-adj. LCA's, Sub-frames, and Adj. Spherical/Poly Panhard Bar look alike. Is there that much difference? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

6']['9

iTrader: (2)

i have all the spohn lca's, phr, and they handle great i like them better than the bmr products i had on a previous camaro, i dont know much about the LG pieces im pretty MITCHNTX will chime in about those, but i am very skeptical towards purchasing them, but i think theres no need to repurchase suspension pieces that are doing fine hope that helps. i may be getting the spohn sway bars as well in the future

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

I thought Spohn was a little more expensive, but I guess its the chromoly version with rod ends that I always tend to look at. They use QA1 ends, quality stuff from what Ive heard. I dont hear much about them either, I wonder why. I mean...I figured if someone did use them and had bad experience with them, they would post about it. I know more than one member on here owns a Spohn product, give it time and hopefully someone will chime in.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

2 things that turned me off the Spohn torque arm.

1. Too much fabrication required on the front mount. Measuring, drilling holes, ripping up the carpet, etc. And the mount hung down REALLY low. I had a friend get his Spohn mount ripped right off the car when he straddled some road debris.

2. Same friend broke the Spohn slip joint when he got into some wheel hop. If yur ar EVER wheel hops, the same could happen to you.

LGs suspension design has been on championship F-Bodys for over 10 years. Can't argue with success.

Graphite_WS6

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the replies.

mitchntx: I really never planned on using Spohns torque arm. I am thinking of using Random Techs Adj. T/A. I never liked the design of the Spohn T/A. It has to much going on. I was really just wondering about using Spohns Chrome Moly LCAs, SFCs, and PHB, I have always liked LGs parts, I even work 5 minutes from them. But I never see what makes their parts different from everyone elses and makes them worth more. I have been to LG's place, and seen their parts first hand and most of there parts look like everyone elses. but I know they have tested them to their limits. I guess if you buy LG parts, your paying extra for piece of mind that these parts are the best they can be. I believe Spohn also tests their parts on the 1/4 mile, and they know how much their parts can handle.

I guess I'm just going to have to choose what parts are best for my car by drawing from a hat and be done with it. I have always hated having to decide on parts for my car. Like everyone else, I only want whats best for my car, and make it faster. But I just don't see how spending an extra $100 on a part makes it that much better than another. I know one thing though, I ain't touching BMRs stuff.

SpohnPerformance

I'm only here to clarify some things that are misinformation. Mitch has been posting this for quite some time, and I feel a need to respond, just for the sake of correct information, not looking for a flame war.

1. Our torque arm does not require any fabrication, drilling, lifting of carpet, etc. The crossmember bolts in where the factory tunnel brace is mounted. Remove 4 bolts, remove factory tunnel brace, install our crossmember, replace 4 factory bolts with the bolts we supply, done.

If you do not have long tube headers we can build a straight across crossmember with minimal ground clearance loss for guys who are lowered.

2. The torque arm Mitch refers to was built 4+ years ago (Glenn's). We have not used a slip joint (slider) for years. The torque arms coming out of our shop now do not have one single part that is the same as the slider units. We've been building the arms you see on our site for a few years now, over 1500 built and we have had 0 (zero) failures. There are plenty of 9 second cars torturing our arms every weekend. Mikey pulling 1.29 60's, Marc Alexander has a thirdgen running 8.6X's with a 1.24 60. Our arm is probably the strongest torque arm on the market today. Our design has come a long way over the years, mainly due to user feedback.

Our rod ended LCAs and Panhard Bars come with QA1 XMR/L12 rod ends. These are the good $30 rod ends. Yes, we used to use the cheaper rod ends. The reason was because people would call me every day saying "Brand X" is such and such price, if you can match that price I'll buy from you. Well at the beginning of this year we made the decision that we want our parts to be the highest quality units available, and whatever the price has to be to offer that, then that's the price. We don't care what BMR or any other brand sells for, we want our stuff to be the best, and whatever the price has to be, then that's the price of quality.

LG builds good parts, I would never say anything bad about LG. I only ask that Mitch and others check out what the specifications are of our parts today, not what they were years ago. I think that's only fair.

I'm not here spamming. This will be my only post, at least until we would make the decision to come on here as a sponsor. I just thought it was time to to make a post and make some clarifications, I hope you understand.

Many of the sponsors on the right side of this page carry our products. Rapid, Raging, LM, FLP, MTI, and Fast Toys. I hope you support them if you decide to use our products. Thanks.

Steve Spohn

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Graph, I hear your angst.

Let me tell you what turned me to LGs parts.

Lou himself. When I first really began to sort out my handling woes, I was able to get one on one time with Lou. He and I talked for 2 hours, probably. He interviewed me as to my experience level, my goals, my car, where I was running, etc.

He then told me what to change. He went into great detail about why the change was necessary and what I should expect to feel.

He also didn't try and sell me a whole suspension setup. He didn't try and sell me any LG parts, either. He just explained why what I had didn't work for my application and what it would take to make it right.

Also, I've always preferred face to face purchases, as opposed to a secure internet connection. Maybe that is just me.

Finally, I got tired of being a manufacturer's R&D department. I was buying stuff, breaking it or finding out it didn't work, making comments about it (along with many others) and the manufacturer would make design changes based on it. It just kind of pissed me off.

I buy stuff just like anyone else. However, Lou gives me an occasional "deal". I think it's more because I'm a repeat customer, than anything else. But that is true with any shop. Customer repeats is a major part of business. And I think a lot of that has to do with face time, rather than phone or keyboard time.

As far as "they all appear to be the same", I too thought that. It's a bar, with ends on it, right?

For the most part, yes. But once you get down and start looking at the attention to details, that sets the good stuff apart from the also rans.

A good example is the way the rod ends thread into the bars. If one is left hand and one is right hand, it certainly does make it easy to adjust. However, if (when) the jam nuts loosen, the bar can unthread. not good. And just how aften does one re-adjust a set of LCAs or PHB? It's not like a front-end alignment ...

Just some thoughts you might consider before your next purchase. Sorry for the novel. But I wanted to let folks know why it is I really support LGM and the reasoning behind me coming to the conclusions I do.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

[quoteLG builds good parts, I would never say anything bad about LG. I only ask that Mitch and others check out what the specifications are of our parts today, not what they were years ago. I think that's only fair.

I'm not here spamming. This will be my only post, at least until we would make the decision to come on here as a sponsor. I just thought it was time to to make a post and make some clarifications, I hope you understand.

Many of the sponsors on the right side of this page carry our products. Rapid, Raging, LM, FLP, MTI, and Fast Toys. I hope you support them if you decide to use our products. Thanks.

Steve Spohn

[/quote]

Thanks for that clarification.

It's good to know that manufacturers read our comments and concerns and make adjustments in their products.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Seems like a fair post from Steve Spohn.

koolrayz

iTrader: (26)

Steve was a great guy to talk to. He took alot of time to answer all my questions before and after the sale. I have worked in production metal fabrication shops before and Spohn products are of the highest quality IMHO I think i know what im looking at after years of experience in metal fabrication and will be buying from them again. just my .02

Graphite_WS6

iTrader: (1)

I have just always wondered why there isn't more talk about Spohns products. Some people probably don't even know they exist. I've done searches on the LS1 forums and all I ever get is comments on their torque arm, but almost nothing about there other suspension parts. Maybe if they became a sponsor. I think that's why most people shy away from them. You go to a website and you see BMR and LG parts all over the place. The only site I've ever notice offer Spohn parts is Fast Toys, and they sell LG's parts too. It took my post to even make Steve Spohn register on this site, which makes me think not many people ask about his parts.

One thing I would like to know from people who have bought Spohn parts is how are the bushing they use holding up. For people that still use Poly bushings in their suspension parts, that's a big deal. The bushing is the only part that I think can give out very easily. I know LG uses Energy Suspension bushings.But what does Spohn use and do those hold up to most abuse. Honestly, I've never heard of a bushing or any other item on an LG part breaking for that matter. Also, LG has some gorgeous Aluminum parts that are super lightweight. I'm trying to get the lightest suspension possible. If it's not available in aluminum, I'll get it made of chrome moly.

6']['9

iTrader: (2)

my spohn bushings have held up great for 60k and theyre polypoly bushings

worldofool

I have Spohn tubular SFC on my thirdgen and they are great. When I first came on ls1tech I was surprised that more people hadn't heard of them. There parts are very popular in the thirdgen crowd and are highly recomended. But I only have first hand experience with thier SFC

silverTA

i have spohn T/A and lca,phr no proplem for 55K

ScreaminSS01

Please read my other post about the Spohn suspension. Like I said his parts are top notch. IMO his parts are worth every penny and they are not even on my car yet.
Steve talked to be for over an hour today about racing,cars and pretty much everything lol.A super nice guy and his products look great.
The torque arm looks bullet proof literally.Its a serious piece and I think the car would rip in two before that thing will break.JMO
Thanks again Steve and I'll call you when Mikey and I test this baby out!

Dragaholic

iTrader: (180)

If any of you decide to go with Spohn, theres a thread in the Sponsor Sales & Group purchases section for possibly a GP! Post up if youre interested, maybe a sponsor will post something up!