I've checked out all the threads and it seemed like most people like the Spohn SFC over that Alstons - there isn't much difference in price.

I'm getting ready to get parts for my winter mods (I do one mod a year just to keep my wife from bugging me about my toy).

Is Spohn the only place to order them? If not, where is the best price/deal? What's their service/response time like - just trying to figure out how far in advance I need to place the order.

Thanks!

George

 

im sooo never getting married lol

are you getting bolt on or weld on SFC's?

 

I thought Spohns were all welded.


One thing I have to admit though - marriage has taught me a lot of patience. I figure at this rate, I should get everything done that I want to it in about 10 years.

 

There isn't? Since when? Did Spohn lower their prices?

Spohn SFC's
un-coated: $195
Powder-coated black: $240
Powder-coated red: $240

Alston SFC's
un-coated: $169 ($26 less)
Powder-coated black: $184 ($56 less)
Powder-coated red: $196 ($44 less)

I know it's easy to miss at first glance that Spohn charges $45 for powder-coating. My stock price of $184 includes gloss black powder-coat.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

in my opinion, if your going thru the trouble to weld in the one set of subframes, you might as well weld in the second set while your at it.... not much more cost and its over and done with, especially if you rip the interior out for the welding. these verts need all the help they can get for structural rigidity. i did both the alstons from lon and the Sphons and the difference was incredible... i actually got to drive the car between the install of both sets due do some scheduling conflicts with the welder, and the alstons did a good job, but with both it felt like a completely different animal... has really pointed out the weaknesses in the suspension now....

Edit: i see your in philly, if your looking for a great welder, theres a shop in reading that i used, Precision Chassis inc, phone is 610-921-5768, they build cars all up and down the east coast... dougs one of the owners and did the welding on my car, great guy, and really knew what he was doing, i wouldnt hesitate to go back there again....

EDit 2: if you get the Spohns get them powercoated, and let the welder grind off where hes gonna weld... putting undercoat around them is a pain in the ***... made me wish i paid the extra loot for them....

 

I bought and had installed Alston's connectors and I am very satisfied and noticed the difference right away...

But I am also thinking in adding the sphoon's version this winter. It will surely re-inforce the body by eliminating all the stress I am giving to it

Just my 2 cents

 

So you two are going to be running 2 sets of SFCs ??????

 

 

Yeah....I have MAC sfc's (not expensive)...weld in and they are great. Some clearance problems.....But I've had the argument so many times which style is better. I built balsa wood models to test them both and found the alstons/ MAC to be better at resisting twist

 

yepo, i've got both on and love it.... wouldnt hesitate to do it again either, even on a hardtop or t-top car....

 

Kenny Browns for me...

 

Do u have any pics with both sets installed ???????
I have just begun getting the body ready on my vert and I REALLY want to be able to stiffen it up A LOT. Any pics would help........

 

i do have some pics of the install, there not that great, and dont really show both sets... i took them when i had the car on jackstands doing the undercoating, i can send them, but like i said they kinda suck....

 

Anything would help

e911rsq@yahoo.com

Thanks....

Anyone else got any pics of 2 sets installed ??????

 

so i have to take out the interior to install SFC's?

there's no way to do it without taking the interior out?

i thought about getting them put on my car just to help with body roll and stuff like that...

 

You don't have to remove the interior to weld in SFC's. It is a good idea to pull off the door sill trim plates, then slide a 2x4 under the carpet and insulation to pull if from the floor pan. Or you can do as I did when I had the Alstons installed on my 'vert. Just sit in the car with a spray bottle of water as they are being welded on.

Lon

 

i take it this is so you dont burn holes in the carpet?

 

i have the spohn's in my garage, i will also be getting the alstons when i get the extra dough... i heard a comparison a while back that made perfect sense to me... Putting SFC's on your car (even if more than one set) is one of the most important mods you can do... even with a stock motor, on stock usage, the body twists a little... like a paperclip, paperclips wear out even when used only for their designed purpose, as do our Uni-bodies... re-inforce that puppy as best you can, as soon as you can... this way your paperclip will last a long time!

 

and what's ur average price for a good set?

and is this something i can install myself?

 

prices above in Lonsal's 1st post and if you can weld, you can do it yourself... make the car level as if it were on the ground... put the front on ramps and jackstands on the rear axle... support the car by the suspension, not the frame. keep the carpet from burning and weld away... the bolt ins you dont need to do that... just bolt em on and go... but you should weld them on afterwards anyway to solidify the whole thing

 

what do your sfc's weigh ????

 

awesome...i think i've found myself something to buy lol

 

i think between the 2 subframes and the spohn wonderbar i added a tick under 50 lbs... not 100% on that....

 

Really
I would have thought that the sfc's would have weighed more than that....??? I guess there really isn't a lot there tho...

Still no pics ??

 

From all the discussions - it looks like I'll most likely put in both sets. I know it'll be more "economical" (from a weld cost perspective) to do both at once, but if I only did one first, which should go in first? Or does it not make a difference since the installation will not interfere with each other? From my amatuer eye, it looks like the spohn should go in first.

Any thoughts?

 

sorry about that... there on the way...


you need to put the alstons on first.. if you like i can send you the pics i sent 911rsq about 11 meg....

just a few tips for those putting on both sets:

1.make sure you support the car by the suspension.. jack stands under the rear axel and under the front a arms is a good place for them... make sure you can open your doors with out any problems... if its harder than what it normally is, it means the the suspension isint loaded correctly... insist that the loading be fixed.. this i critical... if its loaded wrong and you weld on the subframes like that you'll live with the doors like that forever...
2. test fit the alstons before you take them to the welder... i had to bend the cups a little to make them fit nice and tight around the frame... nothing major, just need to take care of it...
3. you have to remove all the brackets holding the fuel system on to weld in the alstons, its not a really big deal, bolts out, weld, bolts in.... its only the brackets that are directly under the car, just have to pull them away when welding... you will have a problem where the front cup of the alstons weld to the frame, it covers a bolt that hold the fuel lines in place, easy fix. i just drilled a hole in the cup and into the frame undersized from the screw size, and just bolted it right in, threaded on its own....
4. there is a slight interferance problem with the alstons and the cat. specifically the flanged ends that holds the car to the exaust... it will rub and generally **** you off... i just bent the exaust down a little bit to give it some clearance, and used header wrap around the subframe to prevent any metal to metal contact.
5. if you look at the spohn site and look at the last install picture you can see the sub bar welded to the front sbframe, and them the other end sitting on top of the main subframe, welded to the main subframe, and to the bottom of the floor... me and my installer thought that was a stupid idea, and butted it up right against the main subframe, just like the other side... no clearance problems with the cat, and all is well...
6. where the spohn stub pieces go is right where the alstons are going to go... so put the alsotons on first and then the spohns and you'll be golden...
7. BRUSH ON UNDERCOATING... i cant repeat that enought... BRUSH ON UNDERCOATING... i used spray on undercoating, and by the time i was done had my arms coverd in undercoat too... that was not fun getting it off...
8. pay the loot for the powdercoating for the spohns, and let the welder grind off where hes going to weld.... it'll cost you more to have the powercoat put on, and some labor to take it off (silly, i know) but getting behind the bar and on top of the sub bars is a pain in the ***... if i have to do this again thats what i would do... well worth the extra money....

i think thats all the snags i came up with in my install... i know it may seam kind of a bitch after reading all of the little things i ran into, but i assure you it was well worth it. if you have any other questions post them up and ill do my best to answer them.

 

Thanks for the great pics man!!!!!!
Also, thanks for the great info and insight into what to look for on them. I will def be ordering the spohns and the alstons soon !!!!!

 

can you send pics to gchu@att.net?

I just ordered the spohns and was about to order the Alstons as well when I saw a couple of posts about losing ground clearance. I have a ton of speed bumps at work and in our community - I bounce over about 10 to 14 a day - depending on where people are parked, sometimes I can drive around them. Not too bad in my Titan and Explorer but really a pain in my Iroc Convertible.

What has been your experience with ground clearance with the Alstons?

Thanks,

George

 

How much did they charge you to weld in the SFC? Was your's the first third gen they did or did they do it before? Did you have to take out your interior or did you have them do the whole job?

Thanks,

George

 

I don't have them on my car yet, but from the pics he sent me, it appears that you will lose 1.5" - 2" of ground clearance....

 

If you still have the pics can you send them to me?

gchu@att.net

Thanks,

George

 

can anyone post a pic with both sets of sfc on. just curious to see what they look like on

 

He didn't really send me any full-on views of both, more of several pics of each individually installed on the same car. Here is a pic of the ground clearance. It appears the car is jacked up, but you can see how much they hang down.

 

Take a look from the passenger side and you'll see the Alston's hand down no lower than the exhaust intermediate pipe. Yes they'll hit on large speed bumps, especially if you've lowerd the car. All it does is scrape some paint off of them. You can touch them up with a rattle can when you do an oil change.

Lon

 

Lon,
what does shipping usually run on your SFCs? I would need them shipped to zip code 62693.

Also, do you carry any other vert parts besides those "flip rods?"

 

Log onto my web site. You can calculate the S&H yourself online before you finalize your order. The Flip Rods are the only "vert only" I sell to-date. But as you know many of the parts on the convertible are also the some used on a coupe.

Lon

 

Good information being posted

 

sorry for the delay, was out of town on business... the alstons hang down about the same as the I-pipe for the exaust... i have yet to hit them on anything, normally its the front air dam that gets hit on anything...
as far as the welding, they have done them before, and looking around there shop i knew that they could do the work in there sleep... they charged me $250 to put both in, with me helping out... i also had to leave after the alstons were put on and come back to the shop the next day(points race at the grove, and a funny car team needed last minute repairs to the chasis they built..) i dont think it would be more then $300 for them to do it... i took the interior out myself, i could have pulled the door sills off and shoved a 2 x 4 under the carpet, but im **** and paranoid about stupid things.... they could do it, but i dont know if you wanna pay there shop rate to do that... ( on a side note its amazing how much faster the car was with out any of the interior in, just the dash and a drivers seat) i'll send you the pics tomorrow, gotta find the disc there on... if you have any other questions or wanna meet up, let me know...

 

Sweeeeet......checking now!!!!

 

I got my spohn SFC yesterday - I ordered it on Friday and they shipped it on Monday and I got it on Tues.

Now I just have to get them installed.

I don't think I'm going to do both as I really don't want anything else scrapping below the car. Hopefully the Spohns will take enough of the squeeks and rattles away.

Thanks for everyone's input!

George

 

I was reading the thread, and I got the part about the Spohns, but I don't really understand what you guys mean my 'both sets'. I know there are two brands, but are there also two different places/types?

I need to stiffen up my car - a lot - just for driving on the weekends (stock engine). It's just has too much wiggling over bumps, etc. I mean, I can watch it shake, it would be funny if it were a rental....but it's not!

Can someone tell me exactly what to order? Thanks!

 

Alston SFC's are available from the TDS (Top-Down Solutions) web site. Spohn's SFC's are available from his web site. Both companies sponsor links are at the top of the page.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

Is there a difference between the two brands?

I went to TDS, but it's hard to navigate to what I'm looking for...

I need a bunch of specific parts for my car, including some convertible stuff, but having a hard time finding it.

Thanks!

 

I dropped my car off on Sat to get it inspected and have the Spohn SFC welded in. Can't wait to get it back - the shop said they would be working on it today so hopefully I'll be able to pick it up by Weds.

I'll let everyone know what I think once I get the car back.

Thanks for everone's comments and help!

 

Can someone tell me the difference between the two sets? I know they are two different brands, but how can you install both unless they go in different places?

 

They go in two different places. The Spohn SFC's (and 99% of the SFC's on the market) are perimiter-mounted. This means they mount along the pinch-rail, tucking in just behind the GFX (if you have GFX). In most cases this design won't work for convertibles because of the sheet metal reinforcement that ASC installed when they converted the car from a coupe to convertible. The Alston SFC's install in a completely different location. The front of the SFC's mount to the front sub-frame near where the transmission cross-member mounts. The rear of the Alston SFC's mount adjacent to the rear LCA location. Spohn makes two designs of SFC's. If your car is a convertible, be sure to order the style that is designed to fit the convertible.

Lon

 

Lonsal,

Thanks for the insight. Does your company sell the correct versions of both? I need all the stiffness I can buy.

If so, would you be kind enough to give me some links to them?

Thanks for your help!

 

Spohn's SFC's are available from his web site. The Alston SFC's are available from the Top-Down Solutions (TDS) web site under the "Chassis and Suspension" category. Both companies sponsor this web site and have links at the top of this page.

I only sell one type, so you can't go wrong ordering them. Order online or by phone and pick them up to save on S&H. I'll even give you the phone number and address of the local guy in Orange County (near the Anaheim Pond) all the local Club Members use to weld them in. I'm in Hacienda Heights, just East of you a bit off the 60 fwy. Call me for directions.

Lon Salgren
626-369-0040

 

Very cool, will do that. Thanks!

 

I have the alston sfc's from lon and they work great, I am going to put another set in as well. The sphon or maybe kenny brown.