MARKUS_P

Just wanted to know if their "testing" is over :skep:
Or did I miss their post which explains all our problems?
I want to finish my car this summer and I´m not willing to buy another spring from a different manufacturer because TRW did a bad job on mine.
Markus

Kid Vette

I think we all realize now that they never had any intention of doing any testing. They've known all along they had a height problem with their spring and they just decided to ride out the storm. I'm really surprised that there are people on this forum that are still considering the TRW spring as an alternative to VBP. :confused:

stingry

Markus,

I don't know about TRW but I have finished mine. I had the following configurations:

Rear Shocks - KYB GR-2
Rear Spring - 340LB TRW VS the 300LB VBP

The 340LB TRW made the car look like a stinkbug. The 300LB VBP sits at almost stock height with 8&1/2 inch of thread on a 10 inch bolt. The bolts can be cutoff and a pin placed in them. The ride is SMMMMOOOOTTHHHHH. No "kickback" when you hit a bump like the 340LB TRW. I am so glad I changed it over tot the 300LB. No squeaks from a steel spring but a nice soft ride.


[Modified by stingry, 1:15 PM 4/20/2004]

MARKUS_P

It's really sad that TRW doesn't do anything to satisfy their customers.
I won´t buy anything from this company again!! :mad :mad
Do you think I have a change to get a special price from Ecklers for the new VB&P spring because the first one didn´t work for me?
Problem is that I bought the TRW spring a long time ago....
Maybe if I make a big order and tell them about my problems...

conway62

I seem to have missed this tread. I have a TRW 360# on my 71. What is the issue everyone seems to be unhappy with?

Scooter70

Markus,
I'm pretty sure that TRW no longer makes the springs themselves. They only did the initial design. Muskegon Brake is now the distributor.

Personally, I'm not really happy with the height of mine so I think I'm going to do the VBP dual mount in the front and rear eventually. The ride with my 340# spring and Bilstein Sport shocks is good, but I can't get used to the height. Between removing the spare tire and tub and the LS1, I should be under 3000lbs. The heavyweight spring with no adjustment just isn't working for me.

MEGALADON

That sucks, I always thought TRW was a good company with their products.
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Kid Vette

Just to clarify. It's a TRW design spring made and sold by Muskegon Brake. I think Muskegon bought the rights to the spring back in the '80s.

lostpatrolman

LOL, i dont understand how you people are so quick to blame a company that has stopped making the spring 20 years ago. I do not believe there were any complaints of the spring back when TRW owned the patent and produced them. They were the same springs used on the late model c3s. It seems that some of the new muskegon springs do not sit so well, while others perform as expected. Seems it is a toss of the coin of which one you will get.

Kid Vette

Evidently a few of us were hibernating this past winter. :D Here's a link to the thread we were refering to.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=706428

It's 10 pages long. Enjoy!

vettfixr

I have one of the early TRW springs that were made by TRW. In fact I bought it from VB&P who sold them before they started making their own springs. I've never had a bit of problems with it. In fact if I set the spring bolts at their bottom setting I can drag the exhaust pipes when I hit a good sized bump. This is with a 340# spring. I've read all of the comments in the other thread and all I can say is the transition to another company either resulted in a lack of quality control or possibly a difference in material or design that was not present on the original springs.

killain

I've had a 330 lb TRW spring on my 79 for at least 10 years now and had never had a problem? The improvement of the ride is perfect.

flynhi

I've had a TRW 315 for about 15 years. I bought it from Muskegon. It has an AOSmith manufacturer's label on it. I've tried three different VB springs with different ratings and keep coming back to the TRW for ride quality. One VB broke on me and a second showed edge delamination. the TRW looks new when wiped clean.

The TRW spring was designed for late C3s that have a different design differential carrier. I think the height issues we are discussing may be due to using this spring on early design rear ends that were designed for a steel spring. Any other opinions on this?

The cross section of the "TRW" is quite different than the VB. TRW is wide and flat and the VB is rectangular and narrow. My experience has been that the wide TRW with more curvature responds to inputs more smoothly as it moves through a longer arc. The VB is flatter (less curvature) and seems choppier as it responds to similar inputs through a shorter arc. Consequently, shock selection is more important with the VB spring.

LemansBlue68

You can adjust the rear end height to about anywhere you want by varying the bolt lengths that link the spring to the trailing arms. I have the TRW spring and my car sits just right. Am I missing something here?

Kid Vette

I have a Muskegon Brake 340# spring that I'll sell cheap if anybody is interested. :yesnod:

427V8

If the bolt cannot touch the pavement when you have a flat tire you don't have a problem, if it can,

1. It's ileagal in many states.
2. It's dangerous.

PatG

I have a 315# TRW and it works just fine. Not sure what all of the fuss is about. Looks like most of the problem is caused by people buying too stiff a spring and then trying to fix it with longer bolts.

LiveandLetDrive

Why do you think a stiffer spring should sit higher? If it were made correctly it would sit at the same operating height. If you don't understand the problem, read the 10-page thread. For example, I have a 400 lb/in spring (VBP 5leaf) and it sits fine, maybe even lower than the old 9leaf.

lostpatrolman

[Modified by lostpatrolman, 9:40 PM 4/21/2004]