I cant even feel a differance. I was expecting a HUGE differance as proclaimed by somepeople but I felt nothing. Car still rattles and hits bumps the same as before. O well At least I can say I have them now...

 

What kind of subframe connectors? Are they weld in or bolt it?

Ben

 

That's not good to hear. I was thinking of getting a set of Spohn SFC's.

 

SFC are not a mircale cure for shakes & rattles on a 3rd gen cars.

 

Alston Bolt in ones that were welded in.

 

rattles don't come from torsional flex, which is what SFCs lessen. it will fix things like t-top squeaks and cornering but wont fix vibration induced noise

 

I was about to order those in a few days too. You didnt feel any difference? Was the suspension loaded when you had them installed?

Ben

 

Yup it was loaded. I dont know if it was me or was it my car was tight already. I do have a hard top, STB , Konis all around , Every single bushing had already been replaced with poly. BTW they did fit perfectly except i had a hard time mounting it up on the passenger side front. It cleared everything but it wouldnt be flush with the front subframe. I was able to weld the tops and front but the back part of the matting surface had like 1/2 gap. No matter how tight i put a jack under there to like jam it into place it wouldnt and ended up lifting the whole front end, but the driver side and pass rear fit perfect..

 

Hmmm...It is possible that your car was already tight, go and find big gaps or speed bumps and try that out. It shouldn't flex half as much as it did. If it feels the same as before, then congrats on how tight your car was. Sorry can't be much more help, but go and try them out on everything.

 

Mkos1980,

I didn't notice any difference either. I went with Spohn non-tubular subframe connectors. I never once noticed a differnece, and I have standard shocks, factory 150,000 mile bushings, no rear sway bar... and couldn't tell anything.

However, when I took others for a ride, they claim the car felt extremly stiff. I recently took a ride in a car without subframes (t-tops though, mines hardtop) and the car felt alot different.

So maybe there was a difference, and I just didn't notice it.

 

I noticed it right away after mine were installed. I went slowly down a high curb and the car did not make chassis groaning noises like it did w/o the SFC's. The body did not quiver anymore and it felt like the the suspension is doing more work than tranferring the shock into the body.

Also, when hitting a pothole or a big bump, no more of that "WWWWWWWHUMP" from the from of the car.

Now, you are only welding to tubes to the underside of the car. The only way to have the cr be super stiff is to weld in a full cage that ties all the stress points together.

SFC's are just a band-aid for a weak chassis with a stiff suspension.

 

I'm installing boxed Spohns soon and I hope I can tell a difference. With my newly rebuilt suspension, I am wondering just how much tho.


Matt, you going to the Nationals in June? I'd really like to see your car...one of the cleanest on this site.


Ed

 

Ed,

Thanks for the compliment, I wish I could go, but that's a good little trip, and I'm not much for road trips. Maybe if there is another one a couple years down the road, or if it's ever closer.

formul8!!,
That's probably the only difference I noticed, was places where one wheel would go up, even then it didn't seem much different. I'm sure it helped, I think the hype of them makes you believe you feel this amazing difference, while there is a difference, it's not nearly what was expected.

 

I still think though, the STB and SFC's are the FIRST things I should have done when I bought the car 9 years ago!!

 

I still haven't done the STB or even the Wonderbar. I'm thinking about the wonderbar, not sure about the STB because I'm unsure of what interference it may have later on down the road. I believe I'll see a cage before a STB.

My paint cracked near the window on the pass. side door, very very small place. But I heard this was due to flexing, and it just so happens that it happened before I had my SFCs on. I only wish I would have had them on there before I got my car painted so I could have possibly avoided that.

 

Ed, you should notice a good diffrence,

the thing about SFCs is that the ONLY time you will notice a diffrence is when you put the car into a sitution where the frame would flex, so just driving down the road, you probably won't see a diffrence at all.

BUT, once you put your car into a situation where the car would normaly flex, if you hae SFCs you should notice a diffrence. with the suspension on your car ed, i am sure you can toss it around a corner and the car is flexing, with sfcs in that same corner, you should notice a diffrence in the feel of the car. or if you pull into a steep driveway, were your car normaly flexs, with SFCs it won't flex.

 

ION,

I would do the wonder ASAP. With the big sticky tires you are running, you risk ripping the steering box from the frame, especially with amount of miles on your car. The only way to repair this is to weld it back to the frame.

I bought one from Global West for around $47 shipped. You will notice a little bit quicker steering repsonse also. I did the Hotchkis solid tie rod sleeves too. That got a some of the rubbery feeling out of the steering response.

 

Sounds important. I guess I'll order one this week.

I think I'm going to go with TDS since most have been saying good things about Lons work.

It's one of those items I've been putting off, I've been concentrating on the rearend and tranny... guess some bracing would hurt.

 

What does every1 think the best sfc are that dont interfere with exhaust. I got hotchkis but i think i might sell them cause i dont want to modify the exhaust.

 

i have spohn,

but everyone will tell you the ones they have are the best.

and since you can't exactly TRY several SFCs on your car it is hard to compare them, but any SFC is better than NO SFC.

 

I was thinkin of gettin global west from thunder racing it says they clear most exhaust i have edelbrock headers.

 

"They say" their SFC's will clear the exhaust. Well " they " are wrong. Even Spohn instructions say you have to remove the CAT Heat Shield. I needed to do that on my SFC installation. I have SLP Headers, CATCO Cat and SLP 3"Catback exhaust. So if you have a 2 1/4 exhaust, stock Cat and no headers the SFC's may fit.
"They Say".

 

that sux

 

My Kenny Brown SFC's cleared my dual cat exhaust no problem. The only place it rubbed was the AIR tube, but that is because I had Midas weld in some converters many years ago and they did kind of a halfazz job.

Plus, they only weighed 15lbs for the pair!

 

I had Spohn boxed SFCs installed about a year ago, I didn't notice any difference at all when I had them put in, the rest of the suspension had been upgraded and I was expecting a big difference, but nothing. Actually I with I could remove them, welded in, there forever. I've got an SLP y-pipe and eventhough I bought the SFCs that supposedly cleared it, it never really worked out right, and it definetely doesnt clear the Random 3" cat. I've had to pad the top of the cat where the cross member goes over it with a rubber exhaust hanger covered in fiberglass wrap. And I thought I was dont with my interference problems with the setup but wait theres more! Yesterday I had poly motor mounts installed which raised the motor up about 1/4-1/2" and now the y-pipe hits the damn SFC on the passenger side. So out came another exhaust hanger wraped in fiberglass. Too much PIMA to be honest with you.

 

hmm kenny brown is that a stock exhaust setup

 

I test fitted my Spohns and they hit the Y-pipe in the turn to the cat, so I will be dropping the whole front exhaust when I install mine. SO I thought I'd just put a set of SLPs in there while it's all torn apart....He he he ....

More power!!! UGh...ugh....(Tim Allen)



Ed, waiting on the rain to stop....

 

That was the stock dual converter setup with smaller than stock replacement converters. I just wrapped a piece of hi-temp rubber and zip tied it. I knew I would be replacing the whole exhaust soon and wanted the SFC's in first and have the exhaust built around them, not the other way around.

 

My dual cats with TES headers cleared my spohn boxed sfcs. I noticed a difference in traction but I did brackets, adj. lcas, and sfcs all that the same time.

 

Pic of my Kenny Brown SFC's

 

What is a wonder bar? -89IRO

 

It's a bar installed between the front sway bar mounts and the sub frame. It helps create more stablity between the sub frame. It can improve handling and will reduce the stress put on the steering system. GM put them on some camaros and lately aftermarket companies have been producing them. Spohn makes one of the nicer ones I've seen. I have a BMR it's alright but I had to mod the mounts a little due to no slot for the upper tabs to fit into and I had to mod one of the holes cause it wasn't drilled out right from the factory. You can usually get an aftermarket wonderbar for 45-60 bucks. Beware of some of the ebay auctions where people are selling the GM stamped bar that has been powdercoated since people will pay 100+ bucks for one. Most aftermarket companies powdercoat their bars too (which is included in the price).

 

O.K., thanks, I have an '89 IROC-Z 350 TPI. I think I've got this bar. It is located near the front sway bar. Iv'e heared that if you've got the stock piece, you shouldn't waste your money on an aftermarket one. -89IRO

 

Yeah, I would have to agree. Aftermarket bars are of course thicker metal, but still if you have a stamped GM one why spend another 60 bucks to just replace a part you already have. That 60 bucks could be spent in other places.

 

2 questions..

1) Where can you get the alston SFC's? I tried www.alstonracing.com and that site didn't work.

2)Does Spohn still make the boxed SFC's? I would rather have the boxed than the tubular.

 

Just out of interest, why?

 

IMO boxed is stronger and I would rather have boxed than tubular

 

I think there all tubular now from spohn. He switched the design awhile back. There suppose to be stronger than box type, either way there a big improvement than stock and spohn makes awesome products.

Might try searching there a big discussion on this somewhere.

 

From what I understand tubular is stronger tortionally. This means that they wont twist as easy, but the boxed would be stronger as straight up and down flex. I would almost rather he still made the boxed style because it would make great jacking points. I dont know which would be better for keeping our cars from flexing, but I think either would be a lot better than nothing.

Ben

 

if you want to get a hold of Alston Racing, their order line is

(877)64-RACING, the bolt in connectors are $189

they've been having trouble with their website lately

 

I just realized something today...the boxed Spohn SFCs I have will not work with my SLP headers I just got, SO if anyone is looking for a set of the boxed Spohn pieces, brand new and POR-15 coated, drop me a line. I'll also list them in the classifieds tomorrow.

Ed

 

I just installed the spohn tubulars this past weekend. I welded them to the flange along the rocker but not yet to the floorpan. I can feel a difference. The car squeeks less, doesn't shudder over bumps, the doors don't rattle as much and the suspension actually feels softer. You can feel the suspension working more and the car is more composed over bumps. For the record my car is an 84 with mostly NYC miles on it, i have eibach prokit springs and tokico shocks. since going to the prokit it started showing signs of stress cracking at the upper rear window opening. My car also has T-Tops. I am looking forward to further reinforcing of the chassis.