Flatout Suspension
Supporting Vendor
- 44
- 78
- Sep 24, 2020
-
Baltimore,
Maryland
Hello everyone,
Let me first warn you that I tend to get wordy and go off on tangents...
I received an email back in September from Chris (Ludachris) inquiring about our suspensions. We had a nice exchange back and forth and he urged me to post and let you guys know we existed. Since September, I've been meaning to post and give a little intro. Every time I would try to set aside time, we get flooded with work. We're still flooded with work, but if I don't do it now, when will I?
We all know the suspension world is flooded with options, some aren't so great, some are pretty good, and some are works of art. We try to fall in the middle of the last two, though our custom stuff has leaned more on the third option. A lot of our custom work is one-off rally suspensions. Last month we completed rally suspensions for a Jaguar X-Type, a Mercedes 190e, and a Mini Countryman. The month prior, we had some guy with a Buick Reatta that wanted coilovers and we came through.
Obviously the DSM stuff isn't much in the realm of custom. but it's not really mainstream either. Its pretty niche market like the MR2. I have the data needed to build a suspension for the 2G FWD and AWD. Doing a 1G wouldn't be too difficult, the OEM stuff is out there for reference. I don't personally know the compatibility of a GVR4 to a 1G, but I venture thats going to be the toughest one to build from scratch.
So back to the task at hand, Chris wants us to build suspensions for you and I'm totally on board. Here's the snag...who are we and why should you buy some brand new untested suspension from us?? Fair enough. I posed that to Chris and I think he's identified what we've done and the no cut corners quality of our suspensions. We're also completely open to making these work exactly how you guys need it to. We have basically everything at our disposal.
A lot of the brands out there (talking about the budget stuff, not the custom built Koni/ Bilstein) use a "universal" threaded shock body and throw on some mounts so it bolts on...then throw on 8k and 6k springs and send it. While we make that option available to please the masses (and depending on the application), we prefer to start with a 1-piece shock body measured and manufactured exclusively for the application. We typically do this for the more "enthusiast" applications. Our NA/ NB Mazda Miata is built this way, for instance.
After we have the threaded body made, we send it off to get electroplated. We chose to do nickel over zinc; a) because it looks fantastic, and b) it oxidizes at a much slower rate of 7-10 years. Most of those budget brands use a steel body and then coat it with some sort of black paint. The problem with that is the first time you move the perch up and down, you are taking off coating. Eventually, you are exposing the raw steel...aluminum, raw steel, moisture...well, it usually results in a thread/ post about "my coilovers are seized and I can't adjust them, what do I do?" We'd rather just avoid that all together in the name of quality. It's those extra details that set us apart.
Once the bodies are back, we take it from a tube to a shock. We use a proprietary cnc aluminum piston that weighs in at just 7 grams. Our shims are stainless steel from Sweden. Our oil is either light-duty or medium-duty Amsoil Shock Therapy oil depending on the build. Our dampers are adjustable, so we give it a linear curve at full soft, and a digressive curve at full hard. No one has ever complained about comfort, I can assure you of that.
Final details of the build are the Magnitude Suspension 2.5" linear rate springs paired with a helper spring. On the top side, we finish it off with top mounts with spherical bearings.
Here's a few that we've done:
In the near future, I'd like to work towards building a 2G AWD & FWD for someone here and coordinate a baseline version with an open door to custom tailoring to each individuals needs.
Let the fun begin!
Let me first warn you that I tend to get wordy and go off on tangents...
I received an email back in September from Chris (Ludachris) inquiring about our suspensions. We had a nice exchange back and forth and he urged me to post and let you guys know we existed. Since September, I've been meaning to post and give a little intro. Every time I would try to set aside time, we get flooded with work. We're still flooded with work, but if I don't do it now, when will I?
We all know the suspension world is flooded with options, some aren't so great, some are pretty good, and some are works of art. We try to fall in the middle of the last two, though our custom stuff has leaned more on the third option. A lot of our custom work is one-off rally suspensions. Last month we completed rally suspensions for a Jaguar X-Type, a Mercedes 190e, and a Mini Countryman. The month prior, we had some guy with a Buick Reatta that wanted coilovers and we came through.
Obviously the DSM stuff isn't much in the realm of custom. but it's not really mainstream either. Its pretty niche market like the MR2. I have the data needed to build a suspension for the 2G FWD and AWD. Doing a 1G wouldn't be too difficult, the OEM stuff is out there for reference. I don't personally know the compatibility of a GVR4 to a 1G, but I venture thats going to be the toughest one to build from scratch.
So back to the task at hand, Chris wants us to build suspensions for you and I'm totally on board. Here's the snag...who are we and why should you buy some brand new untested suspension from us?? Fair enough. I posed that to Chris and I think he's identified what we've done and the no cut corners quality of our suspensions. We're also completely open to making these work exactly how you guys need it to. We have basically everything at our disposal.
A lot of the brands out there (talking about the budget stuff, not the custom built Koni/ Bilstein) use a "universal" threaded shock body and throw on some mounts so it bolts on...then throw on 8k and 6k springs and send it. While we make that option available to please the masses (and depending on the application), we prefer to start with a 1-piece shock body measured and manufactured exclusively for the application. We typically do this for the more "enthusiast" applications. Our NA/ NB Mazda Miata is built this way, for instance.
After we have the threaded body made, we send it off to get electroplated. We chose to do nickel over zinc; a) because it looks fantastic, and b) it oxidizes at a much slower rate of 7-10 years. Most of those budget brands use a steel body and then coat it with some sort of black paint. The problem with that is the first time you move the perch up and down, you are taking off coating. Eventually, you are exposing the raw steel...aluminum, raw steel, moisture...well, it usually results in a thread/ post about "my coilovers are seized and I can't adjust them, what do I do?" We'd rather just avoid that all together in the name of quality. It's those extra details that set us apart.
Once the bodies are back, we take it from a tube to a shock. We use a proprietary cnc aluminum piston that weighs in at just 7 grams. Our shims are stainless steel from Sweden. Our oil is either light-duty or medium-duty Amsoil Shock Therapy oil depending on the build. Our dampers are adjustable, so we give it a linear curve at full soft, and a digressive curve at full hard. No one has ever complained about comfort, I can assure you of that.
Final details of the build are the Magnitude Suspension 2.5" linear rate springs paired with a helper spring. On the top side, we finish it off with top mounts with spherical bearings.
Here's a few that we've done:
In the near future, I'd like to work towards building a 2G AWD & FWD for someone here and coordinate a baseline version with an open door to custom tailoring to each individuals needs.
Let the fun begin!
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