Ground Control Coil Over Conversion??
04-21-2008, 12:22 PM
#1
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Ground Control Coil Over Conversion?? Anyone have any experience with this kit. It looks like it might be to good to be true. So if anyone knows anything about it or if it is good let me know. If it is good i was thinking about buying it.
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...913043a25e62df
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...913043a25e62df
04-21-2008, 01:07 PM
#2
If I may ask a few questions... Why are you wanting to convert it to coil overs? The adjustable rear spring perch design (from Ground Control) in the stock location has worked great for all kinds of track and autocross cars (and we beat on those things in competition). I've never been a fan of doing coil over conversions on the rear. I don't like the idea of putting all that force into the shock mounting locations (and hanging all of it on that pin that attaches to the axle). I'm not saying it can't work, but I'm not sure why there is such a big push to convert the rear to coil overs. I don't think the risks outweigh any possible rewards.
What are your goals for this mod? Are we trying to fix a handling problem? More information will help us to help you (and from your sig, it looks like a pretty wicked car that you're playing with).
What are your goals for this mod? Are we trying to fix a handling problem? More information will help us to help you (and from your sig, it looks like a pretty wicked car that you're playing with).
04-21-2008, 08:04 PM
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Well i would like to take the car to several auto X events as well as carve up the mountain roads around were i live (one in specific that i drive up and down everyday to work and school)
04-21-2008, 09:10 PM
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04-22-2008, 01:26 AM
#8
Ground Control setup.
Left rear.
Right front.
Ride height 26-1/8" fronts 26-7/8" rears, and it's not easy raising/lowering the car, it takes a LOT of time, you would think that a full turn would equate to 1/2 of 2 full turns with regards to ride height, but that isn't the case. Having the car sit level with you in it will take a few hours, AND once you figured your desired ride height then you should get a front wheel alignment to get the most or ideal longevity with your front tires.
That being said, even though I want stiffer springs, I have heard friends just marvel at the ride quality and ridiculously fun characteristics of my car.
Obviously having Sam Strano's swaybars and all the other suspension/chassis modifications increased the handling of my vehicle, I really like the fact that I can raise/lower my ride height...It's just a pain in the *** to do the adjustment...
But then again, I'm lazy.
My car is a stunning canyon carver.
Left rear.
Right front.
Ride height 26-1/8" fronts 26-7/8" rears, and it's not easy raising/lowering the car, it takes a LOT of time, you would think that a full turn would equate to 1/2 of 2 full turns with regards to ride height, but that isn't the case. Having the car sit level with you in it will take a few hours, AND once you figured your desired ride height then you should get a front wheel alignment to get the most or ideal longevity with your front tires.
That being said, even though I want stiffer springs, I have heard friends just marvel at the ride quality and ridiculously fun characteristics of my car.
Obviously having Sam Strano's swaybars and all the other suspension/chassis modifications increased the handling of my vehicle, I really like the fact that I can raise/lower my ride height...It's just a pain in the *** to do the adjustment...
But then again, I'm lazy.
My car is a stunning canyon carver.
04-22-2008, 03:50 PM
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I have the same GC kit as Carlos, with Koni double adjustables up front and 4th gen single adjustables in back.
The handling is quite impressive (I KILL ****-talking riceboyz in their "twisties" ALL the time!!!!!).
That said, IF I were to do it over again, I would probably just get the Strano spring setup & Konis. This did not exist when I bought the GCs, nor did ANY linear spring rate springs for our rides. At the time the GCs were the ONLY way to get a lowered. linear rate, spring on the car.
IF you are serious, and dead set on this, and want the MOST out of this setup, I would suggest getting it professionally corner weighted/adjusted as well.
The handling is quite impressive (I KILL ****-talking riceboyz in their "twisties" ALL the time!!!!!).
That said, IF I were to do it over again, I would probably just get the Strano spring setup & Konis. This did not exist when I bought the GCs, nor did ANY linear spring rate springs for our rides. At the time the GCs were the ONLY way to get a lowered. linear rate, spring on the car.
IF you are serious, and dead set on this, and want the MOST out of this setup, I would suggest getting it professionally corner weighted/adjusted as well.
04-22-2008, 06:39 PM
#10
I have the same GC kit as Carlos, with Koni double adjustables up front and 4th gen single adjustables in back.
The handling is quite impressive (I KILL ****-talking riceboyz in their "twisties" ALL the time!!!!!).
That said, IF I were to do it over again, I would probably just get the Strano spring setup & Konis. This did not exist when I bought the GCs, nor did ANY linear spring rate springs for our rides. At the time the GCs were the ONLY way to get a lowered. linear rate, spring on the car.
IF you are serious, and dead set on this, and want the MOST out of this setup, I would suggest getting it professionally corner weighted/adjusted as well.
The handling is quite impressive (I KILL ****-talking riceboyz in their "twisties" ALL the time!!!!!).
That said, IF I were to do it over again, I would probably just get the Strano spring setup & Konis. This did not exist when I bought the GCs, nor did ANY linear spring rate springs for our rides. At the time the GCs were the ONLY way to get a lowered. linear rate, spring on the car.
IF you are serious, and dead set on this, and want the MOST out of this setup, I would suggest getting it professionally corner weighted/adjusted as well.
But then again, I do have the option to change the ride height, so that's cool. AND, I could get different springs from Eibach(The springs used on the GC Coilover kit is Eibach Racing Springs = ERS) which is exactly what I'm going to do. Currently I have 500# fronts & 150# rears, I'm going to get 600# fronts & 175# rears.
04-22-2008, 07:56 PM
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With the ground control you get to pick the rates. What are you going to pick? You can set the ride hight. Where will you set it? Most people use this koni shocks. They are not cheep. If you up the rates to get better handling you had better have a shock with more rate. If you want to pick what you get there is not better system out there. The install is not simple. If you dont know what you want get get sams srings and bilstene(SP) shocks.
04-22-2008, 11:55 PM
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due to the fact that the OP has mentioned AX, dependent upon rules allowing, I would suggest adjustible spring perches, however, I feel that there are alternatives.
Even though ground control offer's a decent system, I have had better experience with the Global West front end coil-over sleeves. Even though it's usually an debate of preference with concerns of Jamb-nut (global West) locking or a grub-screw on perch lock (whatever the Ground-Control system is referred to), my preference leans towards to Jamb-nut style.
My largest disagreement with the Ground-Control is that fact that the front upper spring perch may require Koni 8241 or 8242 series (yellow SA and DA respectively) to have some modification performed which may cause warranty issues concerning the Koni's. From my experience, the Global West fronts did not. It is this fact which forms my opinion that if I must trouble myself with this, I'd rather save the money to purchase some sort of "generic coil-over sleeve and then perform the modification (if I'm not too concerned with Koni warrantly issues) or I'd opt for the Global west kit. It's certainly true that many around the AX and RR world have had great performance with the Ground-Control kit, however I notice they experienced the same issues I have had as well, which is why I typed this out.
If I may state anything as well concerning Ground-Control customer service, basically I have had none. Anytime I had trouble with this system, I was left to communities outside of Ground-Control to resolve them. This is not even concerning the issue of indefinite imformation with concerns to shipping, which many have stated, but as long as the sponsor has the item in stock, then it should not be of concern.
The only other option I could think of would to implement some sort of motorsport shocks, however I'll save my findings on this for later.
Even though ground control offer's a decent system, I have had better experience with the Global West front end coil-over sleeves. Even though it's usually an debate of preference with concerns of Jamb-nut (global West) locking or a grub-screw on perch lock (whatever the Ground-Control system is referred to), my preference leans towards to Jamb-nut style.
My largest disagreement with the Ground-Control is that fact that the front upper spring perch may require Koni 8241 or 8242 series (yellow SA and DA respectively) to have some modification performed which may cause warranty issues concerning the Koni's. From my experience, the Global West fronts did not. It is this fact which forms my opinion that if I must trouble myself with this, I'd rather save the money to purchase some sort of "generic coil-over sleeve and then perform the modification (if I'm not too concerned with Koni warrantly issues) or I'd opt for the Global west kit. It's certainly true that many around the AX and RR world have had great performance with the Ground-Control kit, however I notice they experienced the same issues I have had as well, which is why I typed this out.
If I may state anything as well concerning Ground-Control customer service, basically I have had none. Anytime I had trouble with this system, I was left to communities outside of Ground-Control to resolve them. This is not even concerning the issue of indefinite imformation with concerns to shipping, which many have stated, but as long as the sponsor has the item in stock, then it should not be of concern.
The only other option I could think of would to implement some sort of motorsport shocks, however I'll save my findings on this for later.
04-23-2008, 04:38 AM
#14
I kinda think that if you want handling go with strano's setup. the man is an autocross racer with more than a few trophies. I think progressive rate springs havent ever really proved themselves very well, but reguardless almost everyone that has had strano's setup has said it handles extremely well.
if you just want to lower the car, cut the springs but do them right. notice I said cut, not torch. the whole "cutting your springs" thing has a bad rap from people doing a fifth-grade level hack job on it. youll get better handling from having less body roll due to the drop in your center of gravity. throw a coat of paint on em if you feel guilty about not buying new springs for the job. springs never really wear out too quickly anyhow. ah heck. buy the stranos.
if you just want to lower the car, cut the springs but do them right. notice I said cut, not torch. the whole "cutting your springs" thing has a bad rap from people doing a fifth-grade level hack job on it. youll get better handling from having less body roll due to the drop in your center of gravity. throw a coat of paint on em if you feel guilty about not buying new springs for the job. springs never really wear out too quickly anyhow. ah heck. buy the stranos.
Last edited by nine-eight; 04-23-2008 at 11:45 AM.
04-23-2008, 01:04 PM
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Foxxtron; the GC front kit when installed over Konis absolutely voids their (Koni's) warranty, no 'maybe' involved 
(at least this is what I've always been told).
I forgot to mention this as another possible reason to run Sam's springs (they ARE linear rate BTW) in my original post on here.
YES, IF you plan on jumping all around the place with spring rates the GC/Global West/AFCO fabricated kits are the only way to go.
But unless you plan to run MANY different tracks, or do the national autocross tours, like Sam does (it also depends on the class rules of your organization/run group, etc.) this should NOT be necessary.
Again, remember that EVERY time you change spring rates, ride height, etc. you will need a re-alignment and a new corner weighting adjustment to be optimal (as others have suggested).
(at least this is what I've always been told).I forgot to mention this as another possible reason to run Sam's springs (they ARE linear rate BTW) in my original post on here.
YES, IF you plan on jumping all around the place with spring rates the GC/Global West/AFCO fabricated kits are the only way to go.
But unless you plan to run MANY different tracks, or do the national autocross tours, like Sam does (it also depends on the class rules of your organization/run group, etc.) this should NOT be necessary.
Again, remember that EVERY time you change spring rates, ride height, etc. you will need a re-alignment and a new corner weighting adjustment to be optimal (as others have suggested).
04-23-2008, 06:33 PM
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Foxxtron; the GC front kit when installed over Konis absolutely voids their (Koni's) warranty, no 'maybe' involved (at least this is what I've always been told).
I forgot to mention this as another possible reason to run Sam's springs (they ARE linear rate BTW) in my original post on here.
YES, IF you plan on jumping all around the place with spring rates the GC/Global West/AFCO fabricated kits are the only way to go.
But unless you plan to run MANY different tracks, or do the national autocross tours, like Sam does (it also depends on the class rules of your organization/run group, etc.) this should NOT be necessary.
Again, remember that EVERY time you change spring rates, ride height, etc. you will need a re-alignment and a new corner weighting adjustment to be optimal (as others have suggested).
(at least this is what I've always been told).I forgot to mention this as another possible reason to run Sam's springs (they ARE linear rate BTW) in my original post on here.
YES, IF you plan on jumping all around the place with spring rates the GC/Global West/AFCO fabricated kits are the only way to go.
But unless you plan to run MANY different tracks, or do the national autocross tours, like Sam does (it also depends on the class rules of your organization/run group, etc.) this should NOT be necessary.
Again, remember that EVERY time you change spring rates, ride height, etc. you will need a re-alignment and a new corner weighting adjustment to be optimal (as others have suggested).
AFA Koni's warranty policy, yes, it's definite that modifications to use the GC in it's stock for will void the warranty. Now when there was a fault unrelated to my modification of the shock, they did made the exception for me, but again exceptions were informal and shouldn't considered as any type of repeated occurance. For anybody reading, please do not reference Koni about my case, because it was done under an informal "we'll do it this time, but for future reference, this is our policy" circumstance.
04-24-2008, 12:58 PM
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