Camario

Yes suspension must work together...

that's why i'm holding off on purchasing Strano springs UNTIL i have enough to get the Konis too.(i want the best)

btw, when i called Sam, I didnt know a lick (and still only know a lil bit) he was very nice over the phone. He was patient and took his time explaining how suspension works in a way that I could understand.

Before I called him i wrote down
+ what i wanted to do with my car... (road race)
+ how much i wanted to spend... (revalved vs konis?)
+ and had some names of users with cars on here with a drop that i liked.

sam and the UMI guy (they're always on this board)

robertbartsch

Good points.

What about the vendors? Would it be more logical if vendors only sold shocks and springs in sets of four, sway bars in sets of two, for example?

At least that would cut down on the mis-matching that often happens and causes the problems mentioned above.

Part of the other problem is defining and understanding terms. For example, my factory suspention resulted in poor cornering. When I noted this here, people asked me if the car rolls in corners? I was not sure, however. After a few appropriate mods, the vehicle corners much better - so I can assume the old set up resulted in a bunch of roll but I was not aware of this.

It would be nice to have a comprehensive text or other resource that would explain how suspention parts react and how cause and effect changes handling, ride, braking, etc.

This is a great Board but you need to spend some time here before making mod decisions.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

In a perfect world it's be great to only sell what we want. But this is not a perfect world, and from a business standpoint it's not smart to force someone into 4 shocks when they are willing to buy 2 right then. I will do my best to explain things, but sometimes you just can't convince folks to do the best thing. I can't really afford to cut my nose of despite my face. I'll sell two shocks @ a time, but I'll only do rears first. I will not sell fronts to be used with old stock rears. I'll sell 2 fronts, but only if the rears have been changed. That's me, and that's how I work. Not everyone is like that.

Predator

Sam's heart is in the right place.

I was thinking that there's only so many applications that these cars are used for, so maybe a sticky recommending packages for different applications would be helpful, like a drag racing package, auto-x package, spirited daily driver package, etc.

Maybe there would be fewer mismatched, pieced-together suspensions on the road, like mine.

robertbartsch

Sam - you should consider writting a breif text explaining how (aftermarket) suspension systems work.

I would venture to say that finding a publisher would not be too diffucult.

There is a guy, Tom Wishon, who after 30 years of designing golf clubs got fed up with the general lack of knowledge of golf club sales people. He wrote a 200 page book on fitting. It became a big hit and is now in its fouth edition.

Needless to say, this also did wondors for his design sales business.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

It seems that people, well I seem to notice it more, do not want to spend money on suspension parts. For example, a friend of mine has a 94 Formula, he put some 2 inch drop springs on it and a set of gabriel shocks from auto zone. He keeps telling me how good it handles and rides. I tell him there is now way. I try to explain to him about how good shocks like koni's control the spring, yadda yadda. I think he refuses to listen because he doesn't want to or can't spend the money on them.

It's like when i went from a loose 12inch torque converter to a really good 9.5. He didn't believe the difference till he rode in it.

I was so excited when I found Sam Strano because I had never seen anyone that really knew what they were doing and could explain it. When I built my 89 T/A. I thought I did enough research. I ended up with sportlines and bilstiens. You can guess that was a big mistake.

I didn't know any better. I think the difference is some people call sam and want to learn. I think others call with their preconceived notions and want Sam to make them feel better. Or, people ask whats a good combo. So Sam or someone else will tell them. The person says well thats just to much money and puts together some dumbass combo for 400 bucks.

How many posts have you seen? Sportlines and KYB's good combo? When people reply and say no, the person gets all defensive and pissed.

Anyway, I don't think I contributed anything to this thread so I will shut up.

Sam, keep up the good work.

blackrat

I think what catches most people is the cost. I know when I started pricing out things my head started to get a little woozy. It was easier to buy parts in small packages. A set of LCAs here, a PHB there. But when it comes to the spring/ shock combo that's a very big hit, especially if you aren't doing your own install. Combine that with the fact that the typical Camaro owner has speed as a priority and the large amount of different brands out there and it's a daunting task.

Nevermind the fact that $1k in springs and shocks is a lot harder for some people to appreciate than the same amount of money spent installing a nitrous set up.

Research and saving up for the big pay off is the best mindset though, and after I receive install all $2k worth of parts I ordered from Sam and UMI next week I know it'll all be worth it.

Greggy

I like good handling and good braking over increased power in my daily driver. As we all know an LS1 is no slouch right from the factory.

The quiet exhaust saves on the tickets as well.