Check your Pfadt lowering springs........

[1Camaro2SS]

Damn, i was just going to order the Pfadt springs tomorrow. I'm sort of on the fence now. I hope you get this figured out soon. I look forward to hear what is causing it to pop out like that.

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by 1Camaro2SS

Damn, i was just going to order the Pfadt springs tomorrow. I'm sort of on the fence now. I hope you get this figured out soon. I look forward to hear what is causing it to pop out like that.

I'm certain that mine is an isolated incident. I've never heard of this happening with a Pfadt product, so I think you are probably good to go. The upper perch seal that my dealer ordered last week should be in tomorrow. So tomorrow, I will have the dealership take some measurements of the strut and spring to ensure that everything is within factory tolerances.

I will let you know what they find.

[Transfusion]

I am quite curious if you would replace a set of springs or coilovers if a customer asks? If they feel they are not satisfied. Suppose i never heard of this forum and I bought your stuff from a dealer, will the dealer do an exchange?

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Hey Todd. Make sure that when the car goes back together the spring properly seats in the upper perch. If it's a little crooked when it gets all bolted back in place there is a possibility that the spring could become unseated and cause this issue. This isn't something we've ever seen on the V8 rear shocks. Shoot me a PM or give us a call at 1-888-972-2464 if you get a couple of free minutes and we will make sure you get squared away.

[tadams72]

Originally Posted by monstertodd

Just measured ride height on the right rear and left rear. I don't have a tape that measures in MM so I used inches.

Driver's rear: 26 1/2"

Passenger rear: 26"

Half inch too high on the drivers side. but this is probably due to the spring being unseated and canted.

See if you can get the dealer to check for any binding or unusual loading of the suspension on that side. Still seems to me that something is keeping the spring from be preloaded properly by the weight of the car. Unless of course you and Bo Duke have been jumping Johnson's Creek again running from Sheriff Roscoe.

Travis

Sent from Droid

[blade_ss]

I hope you get everything squared away.

waiting to see what caused it.

[SUX2BU]

Originally Posted by The LSX Dr.

I am 99% sure this is installation error. The lower perch is part of the strut. It has a rubber insulator with a specific position for the end of the coil to rest in. The upper perch must be clocked in the correct position to align the other end of the coil spring and the 4 bolt holes that go into the body. If not done in the proper alignment the springs will never be in the correct position and will come out of the upper perch. I have fixed 5 Camaros with the same problem that all had aftermarket springs installed at another shop. And BYW none were PFADT Springs. Don't blame PFADT, it really sounds like the install facility is not competent in this area.

I was just about to post the same thing.

[PfadtRacing]

Well before we throw the dealer under the bus here lets wait for the spring isolaters to be replaced under warranty and get a little more data on the shocks that are actually installed on the car. We've sent some troubleshooting steps over to monstertodd for the dealership to take a look at and once we hear back we can get a better idea of what's going on.

Either way it's a strange situation for a V8 Camaro, and even stranger that the issue only seems to be happening on one side of the car. My feeling is installation issue as well, but we will have a better idea of what's going on soon. We are confident that one way or another MonsterTodd will be back on the road soon!

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by The LSX Dr.

I am 99% sure this is installation error. The lower perch is part of the strut. It has a rubber insulator with a specific position for the end of the coil to rest in. The upper perch must be clocked in the correct position to align the other end of the coil spring and the 4 bolt holes that go into the body. If not done in the proper alignment the springs will never be in the correct position and will come out of the upper perch. I have fixed 5 Camaros with the same problem that all had aftermarket springs installed at another shop. And BYW none were PFADT Springs. Don't blame PFADT, it really sounds like the install facility is not competent in this area.

Originally Posted by SUX2BU

I was just about to post the same thing.

Originally Posted by CC Performance

I would have to agree. Having used and swapped lowering springs a bunch of times its easy to not pay attention and not get them in the locators

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Well before we throw the dealer under the bus here lets wait for the spring isolaters to be replaced under warranty and get a little more data on the shocks that are actually installed on the car. We've sent some troubleshooting steps over to monstertodd for the dealership to take a look at and once we hear back we can get a better idea of what's going on.

Either way it's a strange situation for a V8 Camaro, and even stranger that the issue only seems to be happening on one side of the car. My feeling is installation issue as well, but we will have a better idea of what's going on soon. We are confident that one way or another MonsterTodd will be back on the road soon!

Hey guys, no one is trying to throw anyone under the bus here. All I'm trying to do is figure out what the root problem is. I have an appointment tomorrow with South Coast speed and sound here in San Diego. I tried to get in to Cunningham motorsports up in Temecula, but they are booked solid for the next two weeks and I need to get this fixed now. The owner of SCSS is a friend of Mike's up at cunningham and he recommended this shop.

Pfadt: I will have measurements for you tomorrow afternoon.

LSX doctor: I share your feeling that the dealership isn't very competent in the area of aftermarket part installs. They have been good to me, but I don't exactly trust them 100%.

[Avalnch]

Originally Posted by monstertodd

LSX doctor: I share your feeling that the dealership isn't very competent in the area of aftermarket part installs. They have been good to me, but I don't exactly trust them 100%.

What I've noticed lately is that dealership garages are relying way too much on their own internal manuals and methods for all their work. Most of the guys now get trained in front of a computer and read the manuals to see how things go together. If anything is not standard equipment, they can become hopelessly lost. It's like all this info at their fingertips has made them stop thinking for themselves.

I'm not saying that you should avoid your dealership for service (they're great for what they are trained to do), just be careful about getting custom work done. I like to talk to the mechanic before I let them doing anything radical on the car (even my Avalanche truck). You can usually get a sense of whether he know what to do or not.

[1Camaro2SS]

I placed my order for Pfadt springs today through Apex. It sure sounds like an installation error to me. I plan on doing the install myself and feel pretty confident. Pfadt also has really good instructions.

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by 1Camaro2SS

I placed my order for Pfadt springs today through Apex. It sure sounds like an installation error to me. I plan on doing the install myself and feel pretty confident. Pfadt also has really good instructions.

Indeed, you won't be sorry with Pfadt products. Only reason I haven't taken this apart and investigated this myself is that I have no where to jack my car up.

[monstertodd]

[1Camaro2SS]

Wow, looks pretty messed up. Seems the spring was not seated correctly from the initial installation therefore the perch got damaged.

[fastkevman]

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Hey Todd. Make sure that when the car goes back together the spring properly seats in the upper perch. If it's a little crooked when it gets all bolted back in place there is a possibility that the spring could become unseated and cause this issue. This isn't something we've ever seen on the V8 rear shocks. Shoot me a PM or give us a call at 1-888-972-2464 if you get a couple of free minutes and we will make sure you get squared away.

I guess you guys forgot about me but, this happened on both my rear springs many times and there is no way it was ever an install issue.
I sent you many pictures, we talked on the phone multiple times, and you sent me two rear shocks to try.....nothing ever worked.
The only thing that partially helped is I zip-tied the spring isolator to the top of the springs so that it wouldn't get twisted when they came un-perched and would be easier to pop back in place.

Also, Jordan at JDP Motorsports tried his best to help diagnose and identify the cause of the issue so he may be able to help.

My issue is now being resolved with coil-overs, I gave up on the springs.