the bc endlinks are spoken for kthx

 

Wow Glen, your a vulture arent ya? lol.

 

Any update ?

 

ride quality is very nice on the standard setting. i still havent had a chance to play with the dampaning yet or adjust height and ****. had some other issues with my axel boot i had to attend to. i still really like these. handleing seems real good so far on standard settings real happy so far.

sorry for not a better report on these yet. hopefully the weather will get better and i can play around with it. and get back to everyone

 

How easy is to get to the adj. knob on the rear shock?

 

i love mine

 

its hell of alot easier than my other ones. but you still have to jack it up. its a small knob up at the top of the rear shock

 

How do these compare to the B&Gs...I just ordered those, they look awfully similar out back, the front are obviously different. This weather is definitely killing installs/reviews.

Sure wish I could get camber plates for the RL!! Man....

 

i am not sure about the B&G ones sorry. yeah this weather up here down right sucks. i want to lower it but havent been able too

 

Bump for update on ride quality and such...

 

sorry been busy. so far ride quality is real nice on the standard setting not to hard, but alittle harder than stock. had the car re-aligned yesterday and was riding real nice handles very well. still havent lowered yet or messed around with the settings. weather in NY as been shitty. but so far a give 2 thumbs up. i like alot.

 

Quick easy questions about the BC Coilovers (I assume they're BRs):

1. How long are the front springs (6", 7", 8")?

2. How long are the rear springs (6", 7", 8")?

3. What is the Inside Diameter of the front/rear springs (at the point where the rears fit over the adjusters) -- if they're metric, I would expect 60mm (2.25") or 65mm (2.5") -- but which?

Thanks,
Scott Herbert

 

dude i have no idea and honestly i dont have to time to jack it up and measure everything. im sure thats stuff you can contact them for.

 

Thanks, I understand.

Actually I contcted BC about three days ago and have yet to receive an answer.

The reason why I'm asking, I already have the Ground Control kit, Konis, and I'm using a variety of springs for competition (both Eibach and Hypercoil) of varying lengths -- springs from 6"-8" long with spring rates between 250 lbs and 650 lbs -- both 2.5" ID and 65mm ID. Unfortunately, springs cost as much as $90/spring - so buying more 'new' springs is expensive.

I think I'm impressed by the BCs, all of my research indicates they're a good product, but before I jump up and throw another $1000 (or more) towards the suspsension, and maybe have to bet some more new-sized springs, I'd like to find out if I can use my existing sets of springs.

Since I autocross with SCCA and most everyone racing uses 2.5" ID springs, I can trade-for, swap, or buy used springs of many sizes pretty cheaply -- if I'm using 'standard' 2.5"/65mm ID springs. If I were betting, I'd bet the BC fronts are 6" long (possibly 7"), the rears 8" long, and they're most likely 65mm springs -- in which case everything I have will fit. But I'm just not sure.

Thanks again for the response.
Scott

 

got you, its not problem, wish i could help you out. plus the weather has really sucked. i havent had a chance to adjust the height on it yet. well hopefully Bc gets back to you. maybe when i do get to adjusting i could let you know. but dont know when that will be.

 

I just called BC about 10 minutes ago. I tried 'tech support' first, I sat on hold for about 10 minute and got no answer. I called again and tried sales, I got a message that said 'leave a message and someone will contact you'.

Neither answer generates much confidence...

BTW, we have about 4" of snow still on the ground/in the streets since it last snowed hard about a week ago, it just snowed another inch last night, and we haven't gotten much about the 20s for days (single digits at night). My driveway is ~7000' above sea level -- Colorado.

My Cobalt is parked in the garage and not taken out much this time of year. I have an old Saturn SL with 4 studded snow tires that I usually drive around until spring.

Thanks again for the response,
Scott

 

scottherbert it looks like we're doing something similar lol cept you went the more expensive route to what i did

what i have thought about it contacting a company to get a set of coilover struts and using the perch from the sleeve over setup

I know B&G sells their front struts for 125 a peice idk if Bc will do that .. but it would be a way to cut costs, since your rear aren't going to change much

 

My front Konis are pretty fresh so I don't need just the struts. And I use B&G pillow ball camber plates right now -- although I had to modify them to accept the Koni upper bolts which are much larger than B&Gs.

What I'm most interested-in is the coil mounting system on the front and that fact that you can lower/raise the fronts without just lowering/dropping the springs. This way you can maintain a common strut stroke length --- with the Ground Controls, the stroke length changes with lift changes.

So if the springs are a standard height/ID (and from the pictures it looks that way), everything gets easier. According to their specs, BC will let you order springs up to 12 kg/mm (equals ~670 lb springs) -- which means they believe their struts/shocks capable of snubbing springs that stiff. I've been a bit concerned putting 650 lb springs on my Konis -- I've been thinking that those springs might be too stiff for the street-oriented Koni Yellows.

BTW, just to make is easier to standardize, the conversion of Kg/mm to lbs/in is: number of of Kgs X 2.2 X 25.4 -- to 12kg/mm (12 X 2.2 X 25.4) actually comes out to 670.56 lb/inch. The better spring manufacturers, like Hypercoil, advertise a 3% varience between rated and actual spring rates.
Scott

 

I finally made contact with BC. I now know that the ID of the front and rear springs are 62 mm (2.5" springs are 63.5 mm) so my existing 2.5" springs will all work just fine.

I also know that the fronts are 200 mm long (7.9") and the rears are 160 mm long (6.3"). Which means, given the range of the spring mounts, any 2.5" ID front springs from 8" down to about 6" should work and any 2.5" ID rear springs from 6" up to about 8" should work. I presently own 6", 7", and 8" springs -- a lot of adjustment range.

I also know that Torrington bearings designed for 2.5" ID springs will work.

BTW, I found a couple of eBay vendors who sell BCs for the Cobalt with 8K fronts (about 448 lb in springs) and 6K rears (about 337 lb ni springs) for a beginning bid price of $1000 -- with free shipping. So I bid $750, they've counter-offered with $975. I've countered back with $875. I'm waiting on their return offer. Regardless, $975 is the least cost I've found anywhere for BC coilovers, the lowest I've found was $990 -- and they wanted to charge for shipping...

Scott

If you're interested in getting a pair of Torrington Spring Bearing (plan on two and only on the front uppers), here's the site with the lowest costs I've found -- http://traxxionstore.com/detail-69.aspx

If you want to know more about Torrington Spring Bearings and both autocross in general and suspension specifically, go here -- http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets.html -- and here -- http://www.se-r.net/car_info/suspension_tuning.html -- and here -- http://www.gofastadventure.com/?m=200904

And if you want to do some 'real' suspension calculations, use these sites -- http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets11.html -- and -- http://www.eibach.com/eibach/img/ers...nworksheet.pdf

I built an Excel spreadsheet, from the calculations you see in the suspension calculations info above, that let's me play with wheel rates, suspension frequency rates, front/rear and corner wheel weights, and the angle of the coilovers. Using this, I can model spring rates, then go out and test the results on the car, and select the best springs for the course. I also bought a set of 'low-brow' corner weight scales (for $200 on eBay) so I can measure the actual front/rear and left/right wheel weighting -- and potentially even make some adjustments to get (at least) the left/right weights close and the front/rear ratios the same.

Enjoy,
Scott

 

Scott, if youre planning on this route i would look into Megan coilovers........just take a close look, Ill leave it at that.

You can find Megans routinely for well under $900 shipped. And Ive seen $825/BO with free shipping.

megans don trequire you use special stab links

 

Maven,

Do you know what the spring IDs are for Megans? Do you know if they'll support spring rates up to say -- 650 lb in? Don't or didn't you have a set of Megans?

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll definitely look more closely at the Megans.

Scott

 

scott you can save a few bux and go to your local bearing supplier for torringtons...they get dirty in a dd/autox 'er and will seize up; you know you want no friction, so a difficult choice with coil overs and dirt...hyperperch way more expensive but a better all weather solution.....

 

Hyerptech perches=$$$$$$

 

no doubt but if the torrington seizes up from rust and dirt scott is screwed...

 

Thanks, guys. Not unlike Maven, $$$ are important and I've checked out the Hyerptech perches -- very expensive -- and they also require maintenance (at least according to what I've read). I assumed the Torringtons would require maintenance -- I plan to check often.

My Cobalt spends its winter in the Garage, it doesn't get out in the Ice and snow, or even the rain, unless I'm going to an event and have no other option. I also pull the springs fairly regularly (mostly because I'm still figuring out the best setup -- in fact I pulled everything last night and installed different springs for today's autocross -- and raised the car a bit to kill the bump-steer) -- but regardless, the struts come out regularly and I disassemble and check everything. I'm fortunate, my commuter car is an old, cheap, 42 MPG on regular, Saturn SL. I don't have to drive the Cobalt -- so I don't.

BTW, the autocross today sucked! 245/45 x 17 street tires (STX class), Hankooks, with a lot of push (handling experiment #4 -- 550s up front, 360s + a 3/4" sway in the rear) and way too much HP (GMS1) for the tires -- and it was cold, about 35. Even when it was pointed straight (this was the first run on the Hankooks and the first autoX with the GMS1), when the turbo hit, the tires spun. Yeah, I can do the throttle-control thing, and I will, but I wanted to see what it would do. I think the next time I'll go out in DSP trim -- 285/30 x 18 Hoosiers -- and see how the Stage kit works. I think I'll be able to stick the power on the ground with the Hoosiers.

My next big trip will be down to Mineral Wells, TX for the National Tour event in March.

Thanks for the advice; I can always use advice!

Scott