Spohn or UMI???? Using stock springs.........Spohn is more expensive...$4XX vs $389......just looking for any tips/advice.....I have 3-4 Spohn products on my car that I am happy with......but dont mind giving cheaper $$$ a look

 

You might consider a search (as I don't recall the details), but I decided against the Spohn version last summer because of reports that they dropped the car some. Whether that flaw was ever revisited, I don't know.

JamesC

 

I have the spohns and they did not lower the car but I have a rubbing issue with the spohns now that I did not have with the stock a arms. I would suggest going with the umi ones then.

 

I should have a set of UMI one soon, they were supposed to be shipping this week, so i can let you know of any issues.

 

I have all UMI stuff on my car. I even bought Spohn A Arms B4 I knew UMI was going to be making them, I sold them B4 I ever installed them so I could keep my car all UMI.

During my research, the Spohn A arms used to drop the car, but that issue has been fixed. I now have heard that the Spohn A arms make the wheels stick out a little father than stock A arms, I dunno for sure though. But I never found that issue last summer when I was researching A arms

I am waiting for my UMI A arms to arrive next week, and hopefully install them the Sunday after they come in.

 

UMI ftw.

 

Spohn a-arms won't lower the car and they do drop about 5lbs over stock but if your running a 275/40/17 have fun with the cut off wheel.

I'm curious to know how the UMI arms will fit, Krisb410 runs 275/40/17s on the front of his car and is currently waiting for a set.

 

I run smaller 225 tire up front so that wont affect my decision.....if Spohn drop 5 lbs shouldnt UMI as well?......I mean basically same design?

 

pretty much

 

Oh? What part of the arms is interfering, tubular front a-arms is something I am considering in the future, no immediate plans though.

 

No you , the tires are hitting the wheel well. The cutoff wheel is for the fender lip.

 

Actually ours is 5-1/2 lbs

If you have any questions regarding our product please ask and I will be glad to help.

A few pictures can be seen here-
http://www.umiperformance.com/images/3031a.jpg
http://www.umiperformance.com/images/3031c.jpg

Thank you!
Ryan

 

I just bought Racecraft a-arms, Racecraft are made of 4130 Chrome Moly, Delrin bushings and are cheaper in price than the Spohn mild steel arms. I am not sure what the UMI arms are made of

 

From the pictures, I like the UMI ones better.

 

Hmmmmm another company in the mix now
Spohn
UMI
Racecraft

 

Just got home, and there was a box waiting for me. Feels like Christmas! The craftmanship is next to to none, looks awesome in every way.

 

depends also on the k member. some aftermarket k members require that brand arm, unless its setup to run a stock arm.
if you are doing them soley on weight ,the spohn or the umi wouldnt be my choice, although they are both awesome products. i run spohn everywhere on my car, but i have a pa racing k member and a arms. they save a few more pounds, than similar brands, but i wouldnt auto cross with them.
spohns and umi are heavy, should be able to hit head on with a wall.

 

UMI doesn't have a K member (yet) for 3rd gens

 

just passing info. sucks to buy parts that dont work together. i didnt know they didnt have a k member, but if you have an aftermarket k member, and it doesnt accept factory a arms, then the umi's wont bolt up. that sound better?

 

We have one in the works, but it will still be a little while until released.

But we always make our items work together and to work with the stock items. For example our 4th gen K-member works with the factory A-Arms, our A-Arms and any manufactures A-Arms designed to work with the factory K-member.

You do have a good point. Some manufactures build there items to work with there items only.

 

Ryan, do you have an E/T for the k-member? Will it be before summer? I know you were talking about strut mounts too a little while ago... are those going to make production too?

BTW I received everything! Packaging was excellent and the items are top notch! It was worth the wait. Im going to fit my air ride mounts on the a-arms tomorrow and post pics of it.

 

So you tried and weighed both spohns and pa racing? Oh and the imaginary UMI k-member that is not made for our cars yet?

Whats the weight of the pa racing and spohns k-member?

If you are talking about a-arms with stock style coil spring setup i hardly doubt there is a negligible difference between every companies in mild steel. + or - 1 or 2lbs...

That 1-2 pounds is not going to change anything in autocross.

 

yes i weighed an imaginary umi k member? chill dude.
the spohn that a friend weighed was 24-25. the pa that i have is only 19.
i dont remember the exact weight of the a arms, but there is nothing to a pa arm compared to a spohn or a umi. granted i wouldnt road race a pa unit.
mine is setup for drag, so that pound makes a difference to me.

 

I was modifying my air ride brackets when I noticed that both arms are a little bit different from each other. Its kinda hard to explain but the curves in the tubing near the ball joint arent the same. Not trying to make a big deal out of this, Im just wondering if its normal?

 

Yes that is correct, the A-arms are built using (4) different pieces of tubing. This means the drivers side and passenger side do not use the same outside tubing.

 

Thanks for the heads up Ryan. Do you have any infos on the first part of post #21?

 

UMI makes excellent parts, fit/finish is always perfect. I just picked up a set of UMI SFC's for my thirdgen, thankfully they still make them out of 2x2 box steel so you have lots of options to jack the car up with. I have these also on my fourthgen car along with some other odds and ends, nice parts!

 

Just to throw this out there I have the BMR K member and A arms and have no issues what so ever. I also run skinnies up front but quality and ease of install was great. Theres plenty of companys out there and there all pretty much the same. I went with BMR becuase at the time SPOHN did not have the K member yet for these cars and I atleast wanted the K member and a arms to be the same. I am running the SPOHN coil over kit, plus all the rear suspension.

 

Can anyone tell me if the UMI a-arms are mild steel or Chrome Moly?

 

mild

 

what are the advantages of getting a arms over keeping the stock ones?

 

strength and weight reduction, they save a little weight. they look cool too

 

i went with the AJE K member and A arms simply because jegs is right up the street. with the problems some have had over the years with fitment, order time, welds, and a few other complaints, i wanted to be sure i had an easy out!
while i am not completely blown away by whe powdercoat (looks more like the prep work), i was impressed with the design and the welding.
i had jegs ship the other two (K members) from their warehouse for comparison, and ended up taking the one that was made last year (07/24/07) over the two newer ones i looked at. the main reason was that they used tubing for a key crossbrace in the older one, where they have now switched to flat gussets.
i called jim at AJE and was told they did this for cost reduction.
the A arms are flat gusseted but i don't know what the build date was. the finish on the A arms is excellent however.
the older K member had obviously been a return- rebox item and the bolt set that was included with it was a bit of a hodgepodge. 1x10.9 metric and 3x8.8 metric bolts to mount the K member and 4x grade 5 A arm bolts, all short ones.
i called AJE again (twice actually) and they sent the matching hardware out for free. 1x8.8 K member bolt and 2x long A arm bolts grade 5. i called back AJE and asked where the other two bolts for the K member were, and they said i was to re use the two short bolts i already had.
not being completely satisfied, i called spohn and asked what hardware they included with their kits, they said 10.9 metric. had already ordered their A arm bolt kit and asked if they could sell me a set of K member bolts. "no problem but there isn't a part # for them". $10.95 later they were on their way (six of them). 2 days later they were here. at that point i also got a set of their strut mount bolts. super co-operative and super fast shipping too.
now for the good news, the K member bolted up like it was meant to be there and went in in about 10 minutes! the engine bay was already stripped for painting. there had even been some previous collision repair (AAAAHHHH!!!!) so i was stressing on the fit pretty badly.
in retrospect, i feel both companies were very helpful, but i got a bit of an uneasy feeling when AJE told me about cutting cost with flat gussets. also the reason given for switching from 10.9 grade hardware to 8.8 and grade 5 was that lower grade bolts will bend before shearing.
now that i have what i feel is the correct hardware, the warm fuzzy feeling is starting to come back.
WHEW I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WENT IN WITHOUT A FIGHT!!!
hope this helps someone. i have pics but they are HUGE!
also, anyone want to start a flame about gussets vs. tube cross bracing?
thank's for letting me rant!
Eric B

 

what they are saying about lower grade bolts is true, and in some cases its preffered to use a softer bolt.
but in no way shape or form will i ever install a suspension bolt unless its L9 or 10.9.
you dont want to get me started on aje. i bought a set of spindles from a member here(nothing against him, he didnt build them!)
but they are JUNK! the 3 pieces of metal didnt even but or notch together, and there was a weld that looked HORRIBLE holding the 2 plates together.
my buddy(the chassis guy) wouldnt let me put them on the car.
i dunno about cutting costs, but whatever they want to do. ill never buy anything from them.

hope it all works out for you.