Lowering springs question

[newagemuscle]

I'm ready to purchase lowering springs. First, I need a little education. Two of my buddies both lowered their Camaros recently. One went with Pedders and the other one went with Pfadt lowering springs. They like myself, strictly did this as an appearance mod like a lot of people on the forum.

My questions are these, especially for vendors who sell both brands...

1) Is there a difference in quality between the two brands... is a spring a spring?

2) Does one brand, out of these two, lower the car more than the other?

3) If they are relitively the same in quality and lowering height, which one has a better price... vendors chime in please.

[SUX2BU]

[IPAINTBRIDGES31]

I have a new set of Pedders springs I'm wanting to sell. Check out the classifieds.

[newagemuscle]

Originally Posted by SUX2BU

I'll tell ya what... you do a search and post me the link. I could make a dumb post for just about every question people post on here. If you don't have an answer... don't respond.

[newagemuscle]

Originally Posted by IPAINTBRIDGES31

I have a new set of Pedders springs I'm wanting to sell. Check out the classifieds.

I'll check em out. Thanks

[VR Baron]

Pedders and Pfadt are good from all I here. I have Hotchkis and they are just fine and do the job with high quality and design.Handle and ride great other then the normal bump reaction they all have.

[Cali_Camaro_SS]

Do a search on it!!
LOL im Playing,
anyways I have Pfadts and there great, its about 1-1.25" drop.
Ride quality is still great, didnt really feel it lost any.

[baby02]

Originally Posted by newagemuscle

I'm ready to purchase lowering springs. First, I need a little education. Two of my buddies both lowered their Camaros recently. One went with Pedders and the other one went with Pfadt lowering springs. They like myself, strictly did this as an appearance mod like a lot of people on the forum.

My questions are these, especially for vendors who sell both brands...

1) Is there a difference in quality between the two brands... is a spring a spring?

2) Does one brand, out of these two, lower the car more than the other?

3) If they are relitively the same in quality and lowering height, which one has a better price... vendors chime in please.

I have BMR and have no complains and the price was right. Got the stage 1 system, springs and sways, from APEX. Contact Chase, he will give you a good price. The stance is right on the money.

[newagemuscle]

Originally Posted by Cali_Camaro_SS

Do a search on it!!
LOL im Playing,
anyways I have Pfadts and there great, its about 1-1.25" drop.
Ride quality is still great, didnt really feel it lost any.

Dude... I wasn’t trying to be a jerk to the guy, but this is the Camaro Forum, otherwise known as a gathering of Camaro enthusiasts. If it was called the Camaro Archives I could see people throwing that statement around every time people ask a question that may have been posted previously. I come here to share conversations with other Camaro owners, not look up year old posts. I will say the search tool can be very helpful, but I'm not going to look up every thought I have on my mind. Just my 2 cents.

As for the springs, at this point I am leaning towards the Pfadt. Chase at APEX quoted me a great price which I don't think I can turn down.

[JusticePete]

We would say that there is. Our lowering coils are hot wound, which we find best suited for extended service life. Each individual coil is placed in a load cell where it is full scragged. Each coil is verfied to be within +/- 1mm at loaded height. If the coil does not measure up it is sent to the recycling yard.



Newagemuscle,

If you are not 100% satisfied with your Pedders lowering coils, call me at 248.522.8021 and I'll arrange for a full refund.

[PfadtRacing]

Seemingly, you would think a spring is a spring. But here are a couple things to consider:

The first is spring rate choice. If you lower a car, and do not change the spring rate, if your suspension does not have the travel to support it, you can get into the bumpstops sooner. This negatively affects ride quality. If you go to high on the spring rate, you get a bouncy ride, because the dampers are not valved to keep up with that higher rate. Pfadt increases the Spring rate in the front by 30% and the rear by 14%, approximately (because they are non-linear springs).

The second is lowering amount. Too low, and people have reported harsh ride characteristics, as they are hitting the bumpstops more often, and running out of suspension travel. Not enough lowering, and the upgrade seems less desirable from an aesthetic standpoint. This will vary by opinion. We lower the car 1.25", more than some, less than others. This is the right lowering amount for the springs we engineered.

You will get people telling you cutting bumpstops is the worst thing you can do and how your struts will blow up or something even more ridiculous, but the fact is there is a time and place for such an application. I'd like to explain why we reccommend cutting the bumpstops in our procedure. Our Pfadt drop springs provide a 1.25" drop approximately. As a result of this change in static ride height, the usable region of the damper travel is offset, to be approximately 1.25" lower. The Camaro has a very limited amount of bump travel to begin with, before contacting the OEM bumpstops. We recommend to trim 1" from the bumpstop in our installation procedure to give you back that 1.00" of damper travel, that is not influenced by the added spring rate of the bump rubber. We leave some bump stop in place to give a rising rate on big hits. Because dampers function by resisting the shaft velocity, this offset operating region has no negative effects on the component durability, or performance. This is a fact.

This conclusion was made from testing, and experiencing harsh bump characteristics that some have mentioned, who have not cut them. This of course, is just our position in regards to our own product installation. I hope that helps clarify the reasoning.

Finally, there is the quality of the spring manufacturing process. Getting repeatable results is key, as we want customers to know what to expect. The biggest caveat in this mentality is that the aftermaket springs, including Pfadts, are held to a higher standard of variance than the OEM springs are. Meaning, the tolerance range on your front springs, say, is large enough that when compared to another completely stock Camaro, your ride height could be slightly different. This difference is greater than Pfadt springs variance, and to be honest, I do not think there is a manufacture on Camaro5 that makes springs to a lower standard than OEM. Everyone here will agree that their springs are held to stricter tolerances than the OEMs. So at least you have that to look forward to!

Take a look at some pics of Cars using Pfadt Drop springs, and let us know if you have any more questions!

Thanks in advance to all the members who's cars I have posted pics of below:

[BMR guy]

There is more to spring manufacturing than most people realize.
This was originally posted in August 2009 and just gives you an idea of the multiple steps necessary to produce a high quality spring:

Most people don't realize how much work goes into manufacturing top-quality springs. BMR offers a LIFETIME guarantee against SPRING SAG. Here are the manufacturing steps used to make BMR springs:


1) BMR Springs are manufactured from chrome silicon high-tensile spring wire. This is the best spring wire available for automotive applications. Most NASCAR teams use this type of spring wire for their designs.

2) Every BMR spring is computer tested as the last step of the manufacturing process. Every spring...not just a sample from each batch. EVERY SPRING!! Each spring is loaded in the spring tester at the factory. The spring is compressed and the CNC Load Cell measures the force for a variety of spring lengths. The computer takes this data and compares it to the BMR quality specs. Bad springs (if any) are kicked out and the good ones are sent to BMR. Per our requirements, the test data for each and every spring is electronically sent to BMR.

3) BMR springs are cold wound on a CNC Coiling Machine. The CNC coiling head can adjust the spring diameter in real time to ensure that every spring is the same as the other springs. This guarantees that your right spring matches your left spring!!

4) Every BMR spring is compressed solid at the factory. Not once, but twice. This gives the spring its permanent set...and guarantees NO SAG. This allows BMR to offer a lifetime warranty against spring sag.

5) BMR springs are stress-relieved at 750 degrees F. This ensures that most stresses induced during the winding process are eliminated. This process is necessary to achieve the repeatable high-quality product that BMR offers!!

6) All springs are shot-peened to eliminate residual surface stresses. Many spring manufacturers skip this step. BMR insists on this operation as part of our spring manufacturing process.

A few more notes:

1) BMR springs are Proudly Made in the USA!!! Costs are minimized and quality is maintained using CNC manufacturing equipment. Shipping costs are low. No boats. No planes. No custom fees passed on to the customer. Just good old American manufacturing ingenuity!!

2) BMR springs are manufactured by a spring company that has been making springs for over 140 years. Think about it...when GM was founded in 1908, this spring company had already been making springs for 40 years. I say they know a thing or two about making springs.

3) BMR springs are manufactured by a family-owned spring company. The same family has owned this company for 140+ years (6 generations). No corporate bail-outs. No passing the buck. When your name has been on the door for 140 years, you make sure that you own the best spring manufacturing equipment available.

[JusticePete]

All I did was make a short post...

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by baby02

I have BMR and have no complains and the price was right. Got the stage 1 system, springs and sways, from APEX. Contact Chase, he will give you a good price. The stance is right on the money.

Thanks for your business and the referral.

I'm glad to hear you are happy with your springs.