Madison Motorsports
Are the car parts you buy upto track abuse? - Printable Version

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Are the car parts you buy upto track abuse? - white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

Apparently I have overcome the limits of my suspension with regards to braking torque,

[Image: IMG_0442.JPG]

Notice how the strut mounting ears are 'bent'.

This guy bent his a little more than me,
[Image: CO1.jpg]

We both got our coilover kits from MaximumMotorsports a heavy supporter of race mustangs. I bent mine last year he bent his a few months ago once MM saw that mine wasn't just a 'fluke' they started testing,

[Image: Bilstein+Strut+Testing+Photos+018.jpg]

[Image: Bilstein+Strut+Testing+Photos+025.jpg]
(the strut here is an OEM design from a 03/04 cobra, it wasn't as strong as a 'regular' OEM tokico strut)

[Image: Bilstein+Strut+Testing+Photos+019.jpg]

Once they had collected enough data they started making 'prototype' fixes,
[Image: DSCN4479.JPG]

[Image: DSCN4484.JPG]

After testing they settled on this design,
[Image: strut1.jpg]

[Image: strut2.jpg]

[Image: strut3.jpg]

What's my point in this? Well when you take your cars out on track like we do and beat the ever living hell out of them you need to be 100% sure of where you are getting parts from. The struts above in question came from bilstein and sold to me by a company that campaigns a mustang in American Iron and is HEAVILY involved in RoadRacing and such. I paid quite a premium for my TRACK TESTED parts yet still they failed. When you buy parts you intend to put on a track car you need to shop based on quality and company reputation, not price. I firmly believe that had I purchased my coilover kit from any other other manufactures in the after market they would have told me to pound sand and buy another set of struts (well there's one other company out there for mustangs that might have been a little understanding).

Whenever I have to replace something I always check w/ the OEM first, not 'autozone' brand stuff (unless you know the brand parts they are selling are OEM suppliers). Yes you pay more for OEM quality but it has been tested over and over again. There are so many companies out there in the aftermarket selling cheap parts because that's what the American public demands, cheap stuff, trust me when I tell you that the low volume company that's selling a quality product for 2x the competition isn't selling it at that price because they want higher profit margins they are usually selling it at that price b/c of the R&D and testing that went into the development of it. Now that might not always be true, so do your homework first!

- CaptainHenreh - 05-18-2007

Chad, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen.

- Maengelito - 05-18-2007

agreed, very cool. i'm not terribly surprised though. one of the banners used at the top of this forum is from T1 at summit where your rotors are glowing orange. i imagine you're north of 140mph by the time you reach the braking zone so thats a lot of stress being applied there. are they replacing your struts for free since they bent?

- white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

Maengelito Wrote:agreed, very cool. i'm not terribly surprised though. one of the banners used at the top of this forum is from T1 at summit where your rotors are glowing orange. i imagine you're north of 140mph by the time you reach the braking zone so thats a lot of stress being applied there. are they replacing your struts for free since they bent?

Yup, those XP14's really do the trick Smile.

I have 2 complete set of bilstein's from them. They are replacing at least one set for free (the bent set), but only b/c I was one of the first to bend them and send them in for inspection. I think they are going to charge for the other set. Which is understandable. Over the years I'm sure they've sold 1,000's of these struts. The fix they proposed isn't a cheap one, disassembly of the strut, cut ears off, clean housing, weld on new ears, clean, paint, re grease re-assemble. If they did that to every single strut they've sold they would be out of business.

- Maengelito - 05-18-2007

white_2kgt Wrote:I have 2 complete set of bilstein's from them. They are replacing at least one set for free (the bent set), but only b/c I was one of the first to bend them and send them in for inspection. I think they are going to charge for the other set. Which is understandable. Over the years I'm sure they've sold 1,000's of these struts. The fix they proposed isn't a cheap one, disassembly of the strut, cut ears off, clean housing, weld on new ears, clean, paint, re grease re-assemble. If they did that to every single strut they've sold they would be out of business.

thats cool that they are replacing the busted ones for free. i love good customer service stories

- white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

Maengelito Wrote:
white_2kgt Wrote:I have 2 complete set of bilstein's from them. They are replacing at least one set for free (the bent set), but only b/c I was one of the first to bend them and send them in for inspection. I think they are going to charge for the other set. Which is understandable. Over the years I'm sure they've sold 1,000's of these struts. The fix they proposed isn't a cheap one, disassembly of the strut, cut ears off, clean housing, weld on new ears, clean, paint, re grease re-assemble. If they did that to every single strut they've sold they would be out of business.

thats cool that they are replacing the busted ones for free. i love good customer service stories

Yea, I just hope to have them back before Hyperfest. Right now they are stuck somewhere in Germany...

- Andy - 05-18-2007

Jesus. Another reason why big whp's is a pain in the ass. Big Grin

- white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

Andy Wrote:Jesus. Another reason why big whp's is a pain in the ass. Big Grin

eh, I don't consider what I have big HP. It's only 300ish. It's the weight that gets ya, 3200lbs, trying to stop that at 140ish in 200' isn't all that easy... :lol:

- PDenbigh - 05-18-2007

Wow! Nice going!

- white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

PDenbigh Wrote:Wow! Nice going!

Yea well, I think the 'bent' ears are what contributed to my less than stellar traction at VIR last year and one reason why I lost in turn 2...

- Dave - 05-18-2007

I'm glad you think the weight was the issue too. Obviously more HP will apply more stress, but stopping the momentum of a 3200 lb car at 140 is probably considerably worse than a 2500 lb car at 160+. I love my 2200 lb Z :-D

- .RJ - 05-18-2007

Dave Wrote:stopping the momentum of a 3200 lb car at 140 is probably considerably worse than a 2500 lb car at 160+.

You sure about that?

KE = 1/2 mv^2

- ScottyB - 05-18-2007

as much as this is an inconvenience, theres no doubting how badass it is that you have enough brakes to twist suspension peices. whoa!

you're right though....ya get what you pay for.

- white_2kgt - 05-18-2007

ScottyB Wrote:as much as this is an inconvenience, theres no doubting how badass it is that you have enough brakes to twist suspension peices. whoa!

Yea, and they are just stock Cobra brakes :lol: (I did this before putting on the 4pot brembo's)
I love it when I see all these people spending 4k on 6pot wilwoods/stoptechs thinking it will help them stop better. Yea it will resist fade more and probably make the pads last longer, but you ain't going to stop any quicker.

- Dave - 05-18-2007

.RJ Wrote:
Dave Wrote:stopping the momentum of a 3200 lb car at 140 is probably considerably worse than a 2500 lb car at 160+.

You sure about that?

KE = 1/2 mv^2
screw you man. So i was off by 640,000 Smile