Pictures of UMI's 2000 Trans Am- Full UMI Suspension & Viking Shocks
07-02-2013, 09:47 AM
#1
Pictures of UMI's 2000 Trans Am- Full UMI Suspension & Viking Shocks Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to share a few photos from an autox ride along we did last weekend at the Carlisle All-GM Nationals in Carlisle Pa.
This was a non-competitive event and was meant for customers to feel the difference in a built suspension car that is still 100% streetable. The short course was actually pretty brutal, especially after over 100 laps.
Our house WS6 runs full UMI suspension along with Viking double adjustable front and rear shocks and Viking 550lb springs up front. The UMI items are a standard UMI k-member, Boxed lower a-arms with Roto-Joints, rod ended upper a-arms, 35mm front sway bar, torque arm and relocation, 22mm rear sway bar, Roto-joint control arms and panhard bar.
I just wanted to share a few photos from an autox ride along we did last weekend at the Carlisle All-GM Nationals in Carlisle Pa.
This was a non-competitive event and was meant for customers to feel the difference in a built suspension car that is still 100% streetable. The short course was actually pretty brutal, especially after over 100 laps.
Our house WS6 runs full UMI suspension along with Viking double adjustable front and rear shocks and Viking 550lb springs up front. The UMI items are a standard UMI k-member, Boxed lower a-arms with Roto-Joints, rod ended upper a-arms, 35mm front sway bar, torque arm and relocation, 22mm rear sway bar, Roto-joint control arms and panhard bar.
07-02-2013, 03:38 PM
#7
Viking manufactures 2-1/2" dia coilovers in 100-650 lb in most every length imaginable.
Their oval track/drag/general line covers a ton of racing vehicles. It only makes sense to use the rate that works, as it's easily and freely available in their standard product line.
ramey
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07-02-2013, 09:32 PM
#9
07-03-2013, 08:20 AM
#12
Cones down are direction markers. However when I drove... I was able to plastered a few 
As for the springs, we don't think they will work. Viking front kit uses 2.5" ID springs while QA1's are slightly different due to mounting location.
For torque arm, we actually used the tunnel mounted arm on this car, #2201.
As for the springs, we don't think they will work. Viking front kit uses 2.5" ID springs while QA1's are slightly different due to mounting location.
For torque arm, we actually used the tunnel mounted arm on this car, #2201.
07-03-2013, 09:41 AM
#14
Just noticed you guys are running a 10% off Independence Day Sale... Would this apply to the Viking Coilover Kit? I was really hoping to wait until the rear coilovers went up for sale, but if this sale applies, it might be too good of a deal to pass up.
07-03-2013, 12:19 PM
#16
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Those look very interesting as I've wanted to do a coilover setup for quite a while now, but wasn't willing to shell out the cash on the KW3 kit from Sam. What is the range of ride height adjustment that these coilovers allow? Also, can you give any kind of qualitative comparison for this coilover setup to a typical lowering spring/Koni shock combo?
07-03-2013, 12:41 PM
#17
Theoretically, these give 0-3" lowering. The 550 lb spring only allows the car to go so low, due to the high rate of the spring. A 350 will go lower, almost to the bump stops.
You can actually see how low the front will go in some of the shots above.
We've never been able to get a Koni damping curve to compare to the Viking curve but customers report a nice ride and a wide adjustment range.
"Nice" is a vague term and means different things to different people. Koni's are the gold standard on this site but not having the graph makes it hard to compare. We do know that you can certainly hit the Koni damping range using the Viking but the shape of the curve may be different.
I do know that we ran many consecutive laps and found no fade, leaking or other negatives. We also have a new engineer with a Koni equipped 4th Gen and we can reproduce the feel with the Vikings. A pro driver may be able to tell the difference...
You can actually see how low the front will go in some of the shots above.
We've never been able to get a Koni damping curve to compare to the Viking curve but customers report a nice ride and a wide adjustment range.
"Nice" is a vague term and means different things to different people. Koni's are the gold standard on this site but not having the graph makes it hard to compare. We do know that you can certainly hit the Koni damping range using the Viking but the shape of the curve may be different.
I do know that we ran many consecutive laps and found no fade, leaking or other negatives. We also have a new engineer with a Koni equipped 4th Gen and we can reproduce the feel with the Vikings. A pro driver may be able to tell the difference...
07-03-2013, 02:22 PM
#18
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Thanks for the quick reply. I'm mainly looking for a set of coilovers since my ground clearance currently is very low (custom true duals on Strano springs and Koni's) and I would really appreciate another 1/2" or so of clearance until I can ultimately get a set of Kooks headers and their TD system.
I love how the car handles currently with the Konis and Stranos, and don't really want to go back to the stock 4x4 look, so this looks like it may make an affordable alternative if I can sell the Stranos and Koni's afterwards.
How difficult are these coilovers to adjust for ride height, and the compression/rebound settings? I saw on your website it says no tools necessary for compression/rebound adjustment and only the spanner wrench necessary for adjusting ride height in "a few minutes per side", but can you elaborate any further than what is posted in the product description?
Finally, I noticed the kit doesn't come with rear springs, and there are no rear springs listed on your website. Do the springs have to be purchased separately, or can the stock ones be used? Does this also mean that the rear ride height is not adjustable?
Sorry for all the questions, but I am very tempted to order these while they're on sale and want to be sure I completely understand what I'm getting myself into as I wasn't the one who bought/installed the strano springs and Koni shocks on my current car.
I love how the car handles currently with the Konis and Stranos, and don't really want to go back to the stock 4x4 look, so this looks like it may make an affordable alternative if I can sell the Stranos and Koni's afterwards.
How difficult are these coilovers to adjust for ride height, and the compression/rebound settings? I saw on your website it says no tools necessary for compression/rebound adjustment and only the spanner wrench necessary for adjusting ride height in "a few minutes per side", but can you elaborate any further than what is posted in the product description?
Finally, I noticed the kit doesn't come with rear springs, and there are no rear springs listed on your website. Do the springs have to be purchased separately, or can the stock ones be used? Does this also mean that the rear ride height is not adjustable?
Sorry for all the questions, but I am very tempted to order these while they're on sale and want to be sure I completely understand what I'm getting myself into as I wasn't the one who bought/installed the strano springs and Koni shocks on my current car.
07-03-2013, 02:39 PM
#19
That Viking setup (if it included rear springs) would actually be cheaper than Konis and Stranos (even on sale) and are just a bit more expensive than the BMR setup (since their springs are essentially free).
What does UMI recommend for the rear springs to go with the rest of the Viking setup? Having an adjustable rear spring on a collar would be good (like BMWs use), but I haven't seen that in the F-Body world.
What does UMI recommend for the rear springs to go with the rest of the Viking setup? Having an adjustable rear spring on a collar would be good (like BMWs use), but I haven't seen that in the F-Body world.
07-03-2013, 07:27 PM
#20
That Viking setup (if it included rear springs) would actually be cheaper than Konis and Stranos (even on sale) and are just a bit more expensive than the BMR setup (since their springs are essentially free).
What does UMI recommend for the rear springs to go with the rest of the Viking setup? Having an adjustable rear spring on a collar would be good (like BMWs use), but I haven't seen that in the F-Body world.
What does UMI recommend for the rear springs to go with the rest of the Viking setup? Having an adjustable rear spring on a collar would be good (like BMWs use), but I haven't seen that in the F-Body world.
The Pro-Kit is variable rate 109-177 lb/in progressive instead of the "accepted" handling rate of 150 lb/in linear. It is our hope that the spring spends a majority of its time near 150 lb/in.
There is currently no awesome and perfect adjustable rear ride height adjustable setup. It's something we plan to work on.
Damping adjusts easily simply by reaching behind the tire and turning the clickers.
The ride height adjusts easily (although it takes a bit of elbow grease) by turning the adjuster nut with the spanner wrench. A thrust bearing helps the nut slide on the spring - since you are compressing a 550 lb/in spring after all.
All in all, we're pretty happy with the setup and plan to continue testing with it and most importantly, doing some Central Pennsylvania mountain carving!