LG 25% off sale is BS.

Contacted Justin at LG via email. He tells me that all suspension parts are 25% off right now.

I am interested. I submit some questions about the $1595 coil-over kits. Then he responds that that kit is not included in the suspension sale! I guess the coil-over kits are not considered shocks and springs!

Give me a break!

 

In LG's defense, they do exclude them in their ad:
http://www.ls1tech.com/ubb/ultimateb...;f=10;t=001329

I too was disappointed because I wanted the lightweight PHB/LCA's.

If you think Justin misrepresented something, call LG and ask to speak the Lou. He has always been fair with everyone I know, including myself.

 

Must have to do with what they have a good margin on, and what they can afford to take a hit on.

 

It might also have something to do with the fact that 25% off the coil-over kit would be about $400. That's a big chunk of change. I'm ordering their SFCs on this sale and saving about $50.

In the previous GPs LG has done, he's always had exceptions for the coilover kits and the aluminum LCAs and Panhard bars. Oh well. I'm looking for a bargain on his aluminum parts too, but I'm in no hurry.

 

Awe, come on, Mike! Be a real man--make your own!

It's actually much easier than when I did it--Coleman now stocks the stuff pre-cut in the correct lengths, already tapped with wrench flats machined on both ends. Does $13 each qualify as a bargain?

 

Dude,

The coilover kit is a bargain for what it costs in reality.

The shocks alone are $300 from bilstein direct.

I think making the lcas by yourself is a great idea. And if I did it again I would.

LIke Jon said all you need is a tube of aluminum, which you cut to desired length. Then tap both ends (one right handed thread, and one left handed thread), They buy two high quality QA1 rod ends, some jam nuts and voila!

Steve

 

Jon, $13 where???

 

Got this email from Jon yesterday.

================================

Here's the info on how I did it:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jonaa/AluminumLCAs.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~jonaa/AluminumPHB.html

Here's Coleman's site:

http://www.colemanracing.com/

By far the biggest PITA was cutting and tapping the tubing. But I just recently
noticed they now stock the tubing in 1/2" lengths all the way up to 40".

http://www.colemanracing.com/section/index.htp?id=638

I'd go with 16" for the LCA's and 40" for the PHB.

Add your own rod ends and spacers and it's pretty much just a
"bolt-together-deal." And since the arms themselves are dirt cheap, you can put
the money where it makes a difference--buying QA1 rod ends. I believe that's
what LG now uses and is one of the reasons his aren't as cheap as BMR, Spohn,
etc.

I don't think they offer rod end spacers that will fit perfectly, but you can
make them by cutting down longer ones like I did on my site. Or, I understand
BMR will sell rod end spacer kits even though they aren't listed on their sight.

I really should update my site with this info.... ;-)

Hope that helps.

============================

 

My point was that I did not see any sale flyer. I emailed LG to find out what the 25% sale applied to. Justin's response was that it applied to "all suspension components". This looked like a "right now" deal.

Since I just bought expensive Koni DA shocks (which I cannot use immediately, as the Global West front adjustable height suspension did not work), I was not in a hurry to buy the LG coilover kit. However, if it had been on sale, I would have probably ordered 1 immediately. I spent about an hour to think about the design and asked several questions to find out the specific applicability to my setup.

Then Justin tells me the $1595 kit was not included in the sale. Now do you really think that LG would mark-up his parts/kits less than or equal to 25%. I used-to partner with a speed-shop years ago and bought many items at jobber prices. The mark-ups were typically 35% to 40%. I am skeptical that Bilstein charges LG $300 per shock. He could still make a profit, just not a killer profit.

At any rate, I can wait awhile. I will probably try the Ground Control setup in the interim at 1/4 the price (with my existing Koni DAs or Bilsteins).

Rick R

 

Good info on the aluminum tubing. It looks like good stuff, but I don't see any information on material strength, alloying or heat-treating at the Coleman site. I love aluminum, as long as it is properly alloyed. At any rate the quality of work in your photos is impressive.

I have handled the Hotchkiss rear LCAs and they are heavy (other member says 10lbs, sounds right). I used Metco solid-aluminum rectangular LCAs and they seemed to be almost as heavy, but were 10 times stronger (with same outer dimensions as Hotchkiss but solid aluminum - overkill). Note that the poly bushings make either of the above LCAs junk for road-course/autocross handling.

The Global West LCAs are pretty hefty, but not near as heavy as the Hotckiss (I was guessing 8lbs each, but maybe as little as 5lbs each). The nice thing about the GW LCAs over rod-end LCAs is that the spherical bearing assembly is welded inside of the end-loop of the control arm. Therefore, if the bearing were to totally come-apart, the LCA would still stay connected. Compared to rod-end units, this appears to add more safety margin. Note that the spherical bearings appear to have a larger surface area than the rod-ended units I have seen.

Now personally, I would not want a rod-end to pull out of soft aluminum and have my rear-end bounce around at high speed for a 3 to 5 lb weight savings per side. However, assuming something like a 7075 alloy were used with rod-ends with significant thread engagement, then that would probably be a great piece.

Rick R

 

I CORNER1 - Like I said before, if you feel the sales people are not treating you correctly, call LG and ask for Lou. And if you decide to sell the DA's, shoot me an email.

 

Jon,

Looks like you did your homework and made some fine lower control arms. Good work.

I don't want to sound like a snob, but my time is worth something. I am a Principle Electrical Engineer working for a Nuclear Plant, which runs personnel staff levels 30% below industry average. Result: I am often required to work alot of overtime (fortunately paid at 1.0 of equivalant salary rate) and I could work more OT anytime I want.

So the time that I would spend finding tubing, rod-ends and spacers that will fit and the time spent cutting and fabricating, would cost me far more money in time than just ordering the parts that I want, already made.

Of course, I do 99% of the installation/modification work on the car to make sure that it is done right.

Rick R