I've been doing my research and I am looking to purchase double adjustable chrome moly RCAs and Panhard bar as well as a set of SFCs. Now most everyone has their top of the line RCAs and PB made the same way with the exception of the wall thickness of the chrome moly. So,

PA racing seems to be the cheapest while gaurantees that their SFCs will clear everything, are strong, and are 50 bucks cheaper than everyone else's but come bare. They also have the cheapest RCAs and PBs that are basically the same design as everyone elses. However, PA racing is scorned by most, I own a k member and a arms from them and havent been disappointed.

UMI performance is next in line. They have been given great reviews and seem to have excellent products while being only slightly more expensive than PA racing. They are known for their great SFCs and they seem reasonably priced on their RCAs and PBs.

Spohn is the most expensive. I know they are better quality than PA probably but not so sure about UMI. They just dont seem to be offering anything different as far as design for their higher price. Are you buying piece of mind?

BMR has just never really impressed me. I dont know what it is about their products but they just dont appeal to me. They are about as expensive as spohn as well while once again not providing anything different in design.

What do you guys run/recommend/advise for my future purchases?

I already have the front pretty well tied down with a PA K mem, CAs, Ground Control susp all 4 corners, spohn wonder bar and bump steer kit, and a STB coming soon.

 

My humblest honest opinion is that UMI makes the best suspensions parts, period. Spohn also make very good stuff, and Steve has helped me out a lot in the past few months, but UMI has some little and not so little details and material choice differences that i find to be superior to spohn. just for the record i have bought quite a few things from Spohn and UMI
this is my opinion, thats it

oh and sometimes UMI does group purchases in the GP board, save a few bux!!!

 

i havnt bought anything suspension parts yet for my car. i will fairly soon.
im eather going to shop alittle of both. Spohn and UMI.
iv been reading alot on this website and alot of people eather have Spohn stuff or UMI and or a mixture of both. im pretty sure there quality in there parts are very good. why else would alot of people buy em?

i havnt checked out PA racing stuff yet. i guess it all comes down to what company you like more? i also havnt check out BMR products. i never head of them until now haha. ill have to check into them as wel.

since i havnt bought any products from any of thos companys yet. i dont know how there survice is. i heard alot of people saying that Spohn has very good survice. also with UMI. ill have to see for my self when i start buying some goodies from em

 

Spohn or UMI get my vote. I have alot of Spohn stuff on my car (see sig).

 

thanks for your replies and plz keep them coming. Im leaning toward UMI's package LCA and PB package and ill check for GP board purchases. I love spohn because I KNOW im getting quality but UMI is gaining a lot of respect as well and they arent quite as pricey.

thanks again

 

Hello,

Thanks for the interest in our products

If you need any help please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to assist you. We make a top notch product and try to be as reasonable priced as possible.

Thank you!
Ryan

 

I'm personally a UMI guy. I just ordered my SFCs today. Short of front Aarms, which I don't see as necessary for me, and of course the SFCs I just ordered, I have everything UMI except for a used Spohn torque arm I bought cheap...and BEFORE UMI offered the tunnel mount TA.

....and I'm THIS close to going with a new UMI torque arm for no other reason that to have it all from one company. My wallet thinks this is dumb, so we'll see....

.....I won't say anything bad about Spohn's products though. The T.A. is a nice piece. Obviously all the UMI parts to date have been great as well. Biggest reason I'm with UMI is because they're always so helpful on the phone. Same reason I buy from Hawk's. I deal with stupid customers all day long and as a manager, I still find a way to be nice. When I'm the stupid customer, I expect the same!!!

 

I've heard good things about both companies (Spohn and UMI) and I'll be buying everything UMI except for the SFC and the strut mounts. I'll be getting those from Spohn because I heard and seen (from pics) that the SFC tuck under the car better and because UMI simply doesn't offer the strut mounts. The reason I'm leaning more toward UMI is because they seem to excel a little more in the customer service department. After all, I've seen more posts from Ryan (UMI) on here than from Steve (Spohn) and UMI isn't even a moderator or anything, just another guy with info to share.

Plus, the group purchases from UMI are great.
Having one any time soon? *nudge*

 

Im a Spohn supporter usually. Couple reasons... He helped me out a few times. And he is within driving distance. So I usually just go pick my parts up and save on shipping along with wait time.

However, UMI has been stepping up to the plate lately. I wouldnt hesitate to purchase from them if they had something that I needed that seemed like it was designed more to my liking. For instance...sub frame connectors. I have spohn units on my 87, but will probably go with UMI on my 86. Or make my own sort of based on UMI's design. Only reason being, I like the idea of welding to the pinch seam and to the floor board in a few spots, vs. just welding to the sub frames. Some say thats all you need...I like overkill. Just look at some of my other projects. haha.

Bottom line, you cant go wrong with either company in my opinion. I havent called Spohn once and not talked with him directly on the phone. He knows his stuff and will help you out if you need it. UMI has been posting on the boards more often, and they answer questions about their products usually to satisfaction. So...again...I dont think you can go wrong.

J.

 

I have a spohn torque arm, RCA, and panhard bar in my 88. I will never order from them again. The torque arm wouldn't bolt up to my axle properly because the upper bolt holes were incorrectly spaced. And when I contacted spohn about this first they said they had no record of my order and that I was full of B.S. then offered to let me ship them the junk part they sent me at my expense and once they looked at it send me another one back. Since it was my daily driver at the time what should have been a saturday project turned into a weekend long cluster flop since I had to modify their junk to make it bolt into the car. Thankfully they didn't mess up the RCA or panhard bar but that would be pretty hard to do. For my 89 I'm planning on going through PA racing for a tubular front end and manual rack. I called them and actually spoke to the owner and he explained everything to me very well and was very plesant about it so he will be seeing business from me in the future.

 

Thanks everyone!

I am not a moderator but we are sponsor.. just so everyone knows I am posting legit

Ryan

 

ryan, I believe I saw pics somewhere that you are designing a strut tower brace at UMI but its not on your website. Can I get one if i call or something? What else does UMI have in the works as far as future parts?

Spohn is also great because they offer hardware kits with almost every performance part they offer. I like that a lot.