Robbie Wilson

Just wanted to provide some follow up with my koni/strano install. Had the springs on for about a week now and it sits at about exactly 27 inches all the way around.

Strano Springs

Pass. Front: 26 3/4
Driver Front: 26 3/4
Pass Rear: 27 1/4
Driver Rear: 27

Not sure if I am happy with those ride heights or not. Guess its the difference between 1.2 and 1.25 drop springs, strano (1.2 advertised: 26 3/4 ride height) vs. bmr (1.25 advertised 26 2/4 ride height.

But, I don't feel like taking apart the front suspension again because it was a real bitch to do in the first place, I'm just happy the strano springs seem to be settling and are dropping as advertised despite being 12" uncompressed, however I have 0 weight reduction on the front and and iron block lt1. So I really don't know if that even makes a difference or not.

I have a set of strano sway bars on backorder as-well, hopefully those will be good without issue.

Basically, from what I can tell about strano springs is that they are better than stock. How much better? I have yet to determine. I can say that the koni's on the softest setting are not stiff enough to control the spring rates in the rear. Whoever started that trend was off their rocker. I found that 1/2 turn in the rear gets it acceptable but I may tweak it a little more once I start dialing everything in fit to my driving style. I haven't tried just a 1/4 turn or a full turn. I am just going off of them having 2.5 full turns of adjustment. So 1.25 turns would be half stiff. So right now I have at about 20% stiff, give or take. We'll see where I like it best.

Lets just hope things continue to settle. I am still breaking things in but I don't think the front is ever going to be 26.5 inches which is what I was really hoping for... 26.5 front and 26 3/4 rear would be PERFECT, but oh well. Such is life, as nothing can be truly perfect. I am going to realistically be looking at 26.7 - 27 inch range.

However, I am disappointed that Sam did not behave professionally.

Overall I am feeling weary of Strano Performance in general. Its a damn good thing they have racing history to back them up because if they didn't there is no way in hell they would still be in business.

My point: Sam your springs are impressive and your R&D and racing background that helped design them is equally impressive. Your selection of vogtland to mass produce your design also seems to be a very careful selection. I appreciate all of that, I really do.

But, just because hundreds are made at a time and you box them randomly does not mean that Vogtland doesn't make mistakes. Even the best quality control lets defective products go through occasionally. What separates the good from the great is how the said individual handles that situation.

I think Sam should have owned up to the fact that the springs could have been the problem and been the bigger person and sent him a pair of new springs.

Just THINK of all the new business he would have gotten from that?! Threads would pop up about how impressive Sam's customer service was. Things like: *He sent me replacement springs when the ones I bought were defective before they got to my door step.*

The good publicity would pay 10x the loss of sending out one more set of springs. I mean C'MON are you SERIOUS?

Anyway. For now I will continue to order from strano performance because they make the best sway bars and I have yet to find another company that sells a watts link, plus sam gives good advance as to what parts one should use in order to perform well on a track. But in the back of my mind I will now always worry about getting fucked over because a part was DOA from the factory.

Overall this is very disappointing to me that sam would pass up such a great opportunity to give himself and business a great name/reputation, and not only passed up. Sam actually FUCKED himself up pretty bad on this one.

All over 2 front lowering springs.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

15 pages of beating this horse to death.... I've got a simple solution. If you don't like it, just go with a different vendor. Problem solved. And hopefully they have what you want.

Neither side is going to change their stance. Agree to disagree and move onto the next thing.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Also keep in mind, this should drop down some more. I'm not sure why the OP's didn't drop down as much.. but your springs should. That's perfect and right where the springs should be.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Yup, sounds right for the Stranos. As I mentioned, my nose sits a bit higher than I want BUT I'm certain my lighter V6 nose is the main reason for that.

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

v6 will make it sit higher no doubt

dws6

Vogtland doesn't make them, Hypercoil does. If I was the OP, cut Sam out and call them to have the springs replaced then just sell them. Sam's customer service is so great he referred me to the guys who make his sways for the problem I was having! Way to stand behind it!!!!

dws6

This is a perfect statement and I agree 100%.
Things happen in life. Jobs go bad. Parts break. People get upset. Expectations are not met for whatever reason. But what makes us is how we handle ourselves in these situations when we are tested.

Sooner or later this all will catch up to Sam and he wont be selling parts anymore. Which is unfortunate because it is nice to have someone with this type of background supporting the community. But for me personally, I cant do business with a company who doesn't stand behind the products and back they're customers 100%. For what its worth, Hellwig (Sam's bar manufacture) has EXCELLENT customer service. I know this because he sent me there for my issue.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

We've let this thread roll along so everyone could get in his $.02. But enough bitching and preaching to Sam already - this is ridiculous. Post up if you've got something valuable to share from your own experience with lowering springs. Otherwise this one is headed to the graveyard.

a97transam

You can buy the fays watts link direct from Jim Fay. Not sure if he's a sponsor so won't post a link to his site, but if you search for fays watts link you will find his site and his pricing is the same or it was when I bought mine!

My6speedZ

iTrader: (18)

Mid West Chassis also sells a Watts for our cars.

Blackpanther99

iTrader: (8)

Yup^ MWC does also. Too notch quality as well.

BillS24

Sam's never steered me wrong. His springs did exactly what he advertised. Lowered 1.25 inches. Handles like a dream. Maybe the real problem is with someone with an ax to grind. Whatever it is, I couldn't be happier with Sam's parts and advice.

BTC

I realize this is a pretty old thread, but after reading through it in its entirety, and considering I bought springs from Sam over Christmas, I was hoping to get some clarification regarding the above statement. I'm pretty much certain that Vogtland was at one point the manufacturer of Sam's springs, to his specifications. Has something changed, or is the above statement regarding Hypercoil incorrect? If the statement is not accurate, that would be pretty shocking considering this is the internet.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

I'm wary of this one coming back, but in point of fact, Sam changed manufacturers from Vogtland several years ago.

BTC

Thanks for the info.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

My springs are Hypercoil built now, and have been now for a number of years. The lead time on the Vogtlands (which were great quality) was just becoming too long and I preferred to have springs made in the states if I could, but I wasn't willing to compromise with cheapo springs to do it. In fact only Hypercoil would be acceptable to me, and when we got to a point where things worked out to make that move, I did. They cost me MORE than the Vogtland springs, but I was willing to swallow that pill.

This is nothing new, just not something I spouted about in the web because of all the inherent pissing and moaning from the cheap seats.

BTC

Thanks for the info.

I guess it would be safe to assume that the Hypercoil springs are of comparable, or perhaps better, quality than the Vogtland and that the spring characteristics are identical between the two manufacturers?

Did anything change when you made the switch, such as materials etc.? Prior to purchase, I read a lot of posts on several forums and the only references to manufacturer and material that I found were of Vogtland and a VVS alloy, but that was from a very old post around 2008 or 2009.

The only reason I'm asking is to satisfy my own curiosity.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Hypercoils are what you typically see on Indycars and other high end race cars because the springs are made to a very tight tolerance. In fact every Indy 500 winner since 1965 they say have been on them. Think about the list of teams there alone!

I could have kept it a big giant secret but saw no reason to. I made a judgement call to make a change to bring the product stateside. But again, I want to stress I didn't just use any old spring company (there are lots, and many, many that are much cheaper) when I did this. For me it was Hypercoil or nothing, and I was willing to accept the higher costs involved for that to happen.

Yes, the material is different but still a lighter weight version of spring steel than typical. The springs weigh the same amount on my scale as they always have. No I don't know the formula on the spring steel....

BTC

I appreciate all of that information.

I'm looking forward to getting the shocks and springs installed and throwing it into a turn. I hope it happens before I'm 60, which only gives me about ten years to get myself together and complete the install. Christmas 2016 will be four years since I bought the shocks and they are still looking very nice in the box. I hope this stuff doesn't wear out from lack of use and time.

NoHope

After seeing this thread I'm just glad that I bought the BMR springs.