We believe any modified car, replica or racing car is a specialty car. Street Rods and Customs are modified cars.

Yes, if you want the best ride and handling from your specialty car. All specialty cars, whether they are Customs, Racers, Replicas, or Street Rods, are modified from stock Detroit iron. The front and rear weights will vary, requiring different springs and shocks. Ride heights always vary and the type of ride desired varies by car and owner's taste. The suspension may also be modified to fit the application, further compromising the factory design.

Specialty suspension components that are correctly engineered and designed will permit the suspension to be tuned to fit your specialty car. This should include spring selection to provide the type of ride you want, ride height adjustment, and improved performance handling. It may also include extra alignment adjustment, modifications to correct original design deficiencies, or other items to aid in fine tuning the ride and handling of your specialty car.

You will find frequent reference to "Specialty Cars" in our literature. We believe that any modified car, street rod, replica, custom, or race car is a Specialty Car in that it is specially designed and fabricated to the owner's specifications. Each is unique in its power train, appearance, weight distribution, equipment, and many other features. These unique features mean that many systems must be fine tuned to work together properly. While these special features make the car unique, they also can pose many problems in bringing it all together in a fully functional package.

Just as you are using current technology in the drive train, interior appointments, wheels & tires, and other areas, why use old technology in the suspension and braking systems. Current technology in the suspension and braking systems will provide the quality ride and handling that your specialty car deserves. With changed weight distribution, various ride height needs, ride and handling standards sought by the owner, and various other factors, suspension and brake upgrades are not a luxury, they are a necessity.

A quality ride and handling can be achieved on a budget. While tubular control arms add to the quality of the ride and handling, most times coilovers can be used with stock control arms. You might also consider a brake upgrade first, saving the suspension upgrade for later. In any event, if you do the upgrades in segments, be sure that the total system is balanced for safety. Also remember that while part of the system may be improved, some parts aren't and you need to be aware of and respect the limitations this may impose on the operation of your specialty car.

By using coarse threads on the outside body of the shock or a threaded sleeve, they can use a nut that is adjustable up and down the exterior of the shock. The base of the spring then rests on this nut, permitting you to raise and lower the base of the spring which changes the ride height. This makes the spring and shock a single unit rather than two separate units. With coilovers the spring rate selection is almost unlimited. When you compare the price of springs and premium shocks to coilovers, the price difference is usually not that great. The ride height adjustments and spring rate selection options will definitely be worth the price difference.

When you lower the ride height of a car you lower the roll center of the car. This will reduce body roll in cornering. The height adjustment permits you to make minor changes in the ride height to provide the ride stance you want.

Firmer springs reduce body roll in cornering, tighten the handling on varying road surfaces, and improve the driver's "feel" of the road condition. Coilovers use springs that a readily available in a wide range of spring rates and lengths. This spring rate selection means the spring to provide just the ride you want is readily available.

A firmer shock dampening rate will reduce the speed with which the suspension moves in response to any pressure, be it a bump, hard corner, abrupt acceleration, braking, etc. This permits fine tuning of the suspension and also provides the ability of temporary suspension tuning for a specific purpose such as a race. A significant increase in dampening can reduce or eliminate rear end squat in drag racing or stiffen the suspension for road racing type events.

Tubular control arms are lighter and stronger than stock control arms. In some instances they will help lower the front of a car while retaining a reasonable amount of suspension travel. If the tubular control arms are equipped with urethane bushings, they will reduce or eliminate alignment changes in cornering, on rough roads, etc. which usually produces strange or weird handling. If you have an open fendered type car, they can also improve the appearance of the suspension 1,000%.

Yes. Urethane performs almost as well as rubber to isolate the body from suspension vibrations and noises, while eliminating most, if not all, lateral suspension movement permitted by rubber bushings. Large rubber bushings may permit up to 1/4 inch distortion under stress. An example of problems created by rubber bushings is rear wheel hop under hard acceleration or braking.

Yes! In any car that will be road raced, etc. we recommend the IRS System. You certainly won't see solid axles on Formulae cars.

Yes! There will also be a noticeable difference in the ride on a street driven car with an IRS versus a solid axle.

No! In drag racing an IRS can be a liability. IRS systems are more costly to install and maintain. In some cases the rules may prohibit an IRS system.

The brake system you are using from a Detroit car may not have been designed for or be adequate for your specialty car. For example, the nine inch rotors used on the Mustang II were adequate for normal use on a 2600 pound car. If you have a 3200 pound street rod, a 2500 pound Cobra Replica with 450 hp, or other type of modified cars, the stock Mustang II brakes will be marginal, at best, and possibly dangerous. Also, mixing of brake systems, changes in weight distribution, etc. combined with stock items such as the proportioning valve can be dangerous, if not deadly.

Disc brakes will always out perform comparable-sized drum brakes. Disc brakes should have more stopping power and, when vented, will dispose of heat better. This means better stopping power and less brake fade.

There are many excellent products on the market designed for racing application and some of these products may work in street applications. Most of these racing type products make generous use of aluminum for weight control and are usually designed with the eye to maximum effect with little regard for longevity and trouble free service. Most are also considerably more expensive to purchase and maintain than products developed primarily for street use. If your primary concern for your specialty car is racing and your vehicle can benefit sufficiently from racing type products, you should be carefully examining this type of product. If not, you can achieve the suspension and brake upgrades desired for a lot less money if you purchase upgrade products intended primarily for street use.

Yes, all of our customers may exchange springs so long as they are unused or only tested and in like new condition. If the springs surface is damaged, we may not be able to accept the return or may have to impose a refinishing charge. The first exchange will only cost you freight and the second exchange will cost 20% of the spring price plus freight. We want you to have the right spring rate and know that you have no use for springs that do not work right. So long as the spring is like new and can be sold as a new spring to another customer, we can use the spring.

We believe that a properly packaged suspension or brake upgrade product includes everything needed to install, except for the tools and labor. Accordingly, we include fasteners and other items required to install the product. We also favor cad plated grade 8 fasteners.

Someone who is selling more than steel. You want a supplier that knows their business. That is the most important thing as you want to know that the supplier can solve any application problems that you may encounter. They must also understand what you are doing and recognize that "one size does not fit all". Run, don't walk, away from the supplier that has "order takers" manning their order phones. If they don't have a bunch of questions about your car and what is unique about it, they probably can't or don't want to bother trying to fit your needs, they only want to sell you all the parts they can.

• They are experienced in the use and application of the specific type parts for your car.
• They or their supplier designed and engineered the parts they are marketing. (Avoid the "me too" duplicators.)
• They stand behind their parts and will provide reasonable tech help to make the parts work in your application.
  

You should be look for companies that have the customary group that researches, designs, and develops functional products to meet a need. The industry has many good companies who design, develop, and test their own products. The customer is better served by doing business with the companies that design, develop, and test their products since they understand its application and can solve the occasional problem that may arise in a specific application. Also, when you support the company that actually designs the product, you help them profit from those efforts and encourage the development of additional products. Some suppliers idea of R & D is "rip-off and duplicate". While the rip-off supplier may be able to match the design, they frequently fail to use the correct materials or construction standards, thus providing an inferior product that may fail and/or not function properly. How can the rip-off supplier help you with application problems or fine tuning questions when they did not design the product so they don't understand what the product is supposed to achieve, or how it is done.

The suspension design for any production car represents a series of compromises, none of which help performance ride and handling. The changes made will usually include:

• Softer springs for a comfortable cruise ride.
• Lower shock dampening rates to match the softer springs.
• Large rubber bushings at all suspension pivot points to reduce road noise transmission and provide a soft comfortable ride, with the least expensive material.
• Progressive rate springs to provide a soft cushy ride on modest bumps with a stiff enough rate to reduce the possibility of suspension bottoming on severe bumps.

• Substantial reduction in unsprung weight which will improve performance handling and ride.
• Each wheel moves independently of the other, which will also improve handling and ride.
• Greater adjustment capability.