The Evolution of the Coilover
10-15-2008, 06:23 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
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St. Jude Donor '08
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The Evolution of the Coilover
Corvette coil overs finally have an engineered mounting system! The video above shows the new Pfadt spherical upper coil over mount in action.
All Corvette coil overs on the market use either a polyurethane or clevis mount. These current mounts simply adapt existing mounting hardware to the Corvette. While both styles are functional, they leave a lot to be desired in terms of durability, weight savings, packaging, and range of movement. Our new mount is the result of taking the time to engineer a better solution for the Corvette from a blank sheet of paper.
Shock Travel
One of the coolest features of our new mount is that it removes several inches of wasted space in comparison to a clevis style mount. This allows maximum ride height flexibility and shock travel in the tight packaging space of a Corvette. Our mount does not consume valuable shock length and travel like a clevis style mount.
Weight
Our mount is 43% lighter than an aluminum clevis style mount. Our mount is ultra light weight because it does not need heavy steel bolts or a spherical bearing. We take advantage of the upper shock perch as the bearing half for our large Delrin ball. The entire mount is a Delrin bearing which allows free articulation and has extremely low friction.
Noise
The hard anodized aluminum and Delrin combination allows quiet operation and no noise. We use a reliable, small polyurethane spring that won't corrode, break, or fail while providing tension on the spherical which eliminates worry of noise over time. Our new mount retains a Delrin barrier between the shock and frame to reduce noise transmission from the road unlike a steel clevis which will transfer road noise into the car.
It just looks right.
This rendering shows the internal workings of the mount.
Patent Pending
In addition to applying for a patent, we're also submitting the mount package to SEMA for consideration for Product of the Year. Unfortunately both of these pursuits consume hours of time on paperwork, but we think it's worth it.
Available for retro-fit on all Pfadt Coil Overs and most pin top style coil overs. The set of four retails at $125.
Our next batch of coil overs will ship with these mounts on all four corners and the Pfadt coil overs will now retail at $1890. We'll be shipping in early November.
Call us with any questions.
-Aaron
It is always good to see continued development on these products
10-15-2008, 07:19 PM
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Vetteless
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St. Jude Donor '09
Man, such nice hardware! With all the great parts from Pfadt and some of the other vendors out there, it's getting harder and harder to keep my car in T1 trim... I'm having dreams of coilovers, BBK's, and a little aero and what that would be like. Nice stuff!
10-15-2008, 11:32 PM
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Burning Brakes
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WHAT! gosh darn it guys! Just when I make an order from you all, that SAME day you come out with this... now i need to find another $125 :-D
Nice work as always guys!
Nice work as always guys!
10-16-2008, 11:22 AM
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Burning Brakes
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St. Jude Donor '08
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We've been working on this concept for a long time. Our first solid models were done over a year ago and we have been working since then to get this concept into production.
Patents are a very tricky thing that I have a lot of experience with from my days at Chrysler. It may or may not go through, but this mount application is very unique and may be patentable. We are definitely going to give it a go. I learned long ago that patents are primarily used as a 'feather in the cap' rather than an enforceable legal standard, but that isn't going to keep us from going forward on this.
-Aaron
Patents are a very tricky thing that I have a lot of experience with from my days at Chrysler. It may or may not go through, but this mount application is very unique and may be patentable. We are definitely going to give it a go. I learned long ago that patents are primarily used as a 'feather in the cap' rather than an enforceable legal standard, but that isn't going to keep us from going forward on this.
-Aaron
10-16-2008, 12:38 PM
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Burning Brakes
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St. Jude Donor '08
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Hey Guys,
Here is a photo showing our current poly bushing next to our cool new Delrin/Aluminum bearing system.
The poly bushings on the left are no longer part of our system. We've eliminated that style of mount completely and are now implementing our new Delrin/Aluminum solution.
These particular parts came off our test vehicle and have several thousand miles on them. You can see the surfaces are beautiful.
-Aaron
Here is a photo showing our current poly bushing next to our cool new Delrin/Aluminum bearing system.
The poly bushings on the left are no longer part of our system. We've eliminated that style of mount completely and are now implementing our new Delrin/Aluminum solution.
These particular parts came off our test vehicle and have several thousand miles on them. You can see the surfaces are beautiful.
-Aaron
10-16-2008, 01:08 PM
#12
Hey Guys,
Here is a photo showing our current poly bushing next to our cool new Delrin/Aluminum bearing system.
The poly bushings on the left are no longer part of our system. We've eliminated that style of mount completely and are now implementing our new Delrin/Aluminum solution.
These particular parts came off our test vehicle and have several thousand miles on them. You can see the surfaces are beautiful.
-Aaron
Here is a photo showing our current poly bushing next to our cool new Delrin/Aluminum bearing system.
The poly bushings on the left are no longer part of our system. We've eliminated that style of mount completely and are now implementing our new Delrin/Aluminum solution.
These particular parts came off our test vehicle and have several thousand miles on them. You can see the surfaces are beautiful.
-Aaron
10-16-2008, 05:44 PM
#16
Burning Brakes
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St. Jude Donor '08
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All I have ever seen is some rendering of a modified polyurethane bushing mount with a cone section in it. I believe this is it here:
It really has nothing in common with a Delrin/Aluminum spherical bearing assembly.
Compare for yourself.
Aaron
10-17-2008, 11:56 AM
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Burning Brakes
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St. Jude Donor '08
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if that will fit on penske shocks then add another buyer onto your list
Penske did make some units that are either non-inverted or inverted but with a factory style stud mount. Our mount should retrofit to both of those styles. The mount shown above that incorporates a spring perch requires about 3" of stud length.
That is probably more stud than the inverted Penskes have. For short stud applications like that (and our inverted sports shocks
) we are building a shorter version that does not incorporate the spring perch. This will work fine, because the spring perch is on the body of the Penske or any coilover that is mounted inverted. Obviously, shocks do not need a spring perch. These shorter versions should also be usable on all of the GM shocks (like the popular '04 Z06) and even the Bilstein and Koni units. Keep in mind we designed this mount for our products, so you should contact us before purchasing it for use on another brand. We will be able to confirm fit for you as we test this product on the other shocks/coilovers in the marketplace.
-Aaron
10-20-2008, 05:51 PM
#20
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may have just saved me some work!
These will only work on shocks/coilover units that have a mounting stud. Anything that has a 'heim' end will require the use of a clevis or some other design.
Penske did make some units that are either non-inverted or inverted but with a factory style stud mount. Our mount should retrofit to both of those styles. The mount shown above that incorporates a spring perch requires about 3" of stud length.
That is probably more stud than the inverted Penskes have. For short stud applications like that (and our inverted sports shocks) we are building a shorter version that does not incorporate the spring perch. This will work fine, because the spring perch is on the body of the Penske or any coilover that is mounted inverted. Obviously, shocks do not need a spring perch.
These shorter versions should also be usable on all of the GM shocks (like the popular '04 Z06) and even the Bilstein and Koni units. Keep in mind we designed this mount for our products, so you should contact us before purchasing it for use on another brand. We will be able to confirm fit for you as we test this product on the other shocks/coilovers in the marketplace.
-Aaron
Penske did make some units that are either non-inverted or inverted but with a factory style stud mount. Our mount should retrofit to both of those styles. The mount shown above that incorporates a spring perch requires about 3" of stud length.
That is probably more stud than the inverted Penskes have. For short stud applications like that (and our inverted sports shocks
) we are building a shorter version that does not incorporate the spring perch. This will work fine, because the spring perch is on the body of the Penske or any coilover that is mounted inverted. Obviously, shocks do not need a spring perch. These shorter versions should also be usable on all of the GM shocks (like the popular '04 Z06) and even the Bilstein and Koni units. Keep in mind we designed this mount for our products, so you should contact us before purchasing it for use on another brand. We will be able to confirm fit for you as we test this product on the other shocks/coilovers in the marketplace.
-Aaron