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QA1 Coilovers?

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Old Sep 7, 2011 | 05:23 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by blackmagic9805
I had a slight noise issue with the original brackets on my C5 as well but QA1 exchanged the upper bracket for the new one with the hole in it that prevents the shock body end loop from making contact. No more clunk.

Looking at the pictures of the shock installed in the brackets it almost appears the brackets were reversed left to right. Mine had an "L" marked on the left side bracket and an "R" on the right. The brackets look very similar but they can not be switched. My shocks are straight in the brackets with the weight on the wheels. As far as the spring rates go I have 450s on the front and 550s on the rear. I love the way it handles with that set up. Good luck.
Cool... thanks for the feedback. My brackets were NOT marked, but installed based on the installation pictures of how they are to be orientated. I'll check it out and report back..
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Old Sep 7, 2011 | 05:57 PM
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Good thread.....
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Old Sep 7, 2011 | 06:15 PM
  #23  
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Based on the QA1 installation instructions and also the pix I've posted, it appears that I have installed the correctly.

The mounting ears are perpendicular with the mounting base. The mounting ears need to be canted to match the shock angle. I'm going to see about modeling up the brackets, shocks, and an angled shim in Solidworks and see if my machine shop will proto some for me.

I still firmly believe that the upper shock mount should be a stud design. It appears that the other coilover manufactures use a stud mount for their rear shocks....
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by gr86ss


Based on the QA1 installation instructions and also the pix I've posted, it appears that I have installed the correctly.

The mounting ears are perpendicular with the mounting base. The mounting ears need to be canted to match the shock angle. I'm going to see about modeling up the brackets, shocks, and an angled shim in Solidworks and see if my machine shop will proto some for me.

I still firmly believe that the upper shock mount should be a stud design. It appears that the other coilover manufactures use a stud mount for their rear shocks....
Shock with stud/pin design along with spherical bushing would give you all the articulation and lighter weight!

The welds on the QA1 mounting ears, well......
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 11:10 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by victorf
Shock with stud/pin design along with spherical bushing would give you all the articulation and lighter weight!

The welds on the QA1 mounting ears, well......
Actually the mounting ears are tab (ears) and slot (mount) then welded, so structural integrity is sound.

I hope QA1 is reading...
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by gr86ss
Actually the mounting ears are tab (ears) and slot (mount) then welded, so structural integrity is sound.

I hope QA1 is reading...
What I hinted was the poor quality weld on the original ear base!

Good luck!
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 09:03 PM
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Originally Posted by victorf
What I hinted was the poor quality weld on the original ear base!

Good luck!
Hmmmm I just took a closer look at the welds and they look pretty good to me. Nice bead and penetration... Must have been the angle of the previous pix. The replacement bracket welds, although not pretty, are also good welds, so I don't really know what you are referring or hinting at?

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Old Sep 10, 2011 | 06:22 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by gr86ss
Here's pix from when I removed the shock and mount from the rears. You can see how the top of the shocks were hitting the QA1 shock mount.


My comment was based on your post #8, left side mounting ear base, inside weld. Could be angle and or lightening, weld appears to be sub par!

Bottom line, what count is, as long as your are happy with the weld and performance.

Lots of luck!
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Old Sep 11, 2011 | 03:12 PM
  #29  
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Old Sep 12, 2011 | 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by victorf
My comment was based on your post #8, left side mounting ear base, inside weld. Could be angle and or lightening, weld appears to be sub par!

Bottom line, what count is, as long as your are happy with the weld and performance.

Lots of luck!
Yeah, it was the angle and lighting for sure. Welds are consistent all the way around as shown in pix a couple post prior to this one. I appreciate the concern!

Mahalo
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Old Sep 19, 2011 | 01:31 PM
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Here's pix of driver and passanger side with full weight of car on suspension. I took pix through the wheel. I'll try and get pix from different angles to show that the shock and brackets are not parallel.

I'm getting the poly bushing, that QA1 sent, modified to fit the brackets today. I'll post pix later on that....

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Old Sep 19, 2011 | 03:19 PM
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Once again - thanx for documenting this!
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 01:56 AM
  #33  
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any updates??
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 03:06 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Xedes
I read in a post that someone else with the same coilovers needed to notch out a small piece of their outer sway bar for clearence. Could that be the sound your hearing? Check the sway for any marks.
Me 2
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 10:19 AM
  #35  
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Sorry for delay on updates.

I received poly bushings from QA1 and had to modify them to fit because each one was approx .125" too thick.

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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 10:23 AM
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I installed new bushings

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re-verified that they were correctly installed per instructions sent by QA1

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Installed onto car and put full weight of car onto shock and to these pix. You will see that the shock angle and bracket angle are still not parallel with each other

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Last edited by gr86ss; Oct 4, 2011 at 10:39 AM.
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 10:26 AM
  #37  
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These pix show that there is binding/scrapping of sorts with the shock body and springs. Note on the second and third pix that the spring is scrapping on the black anodized spring seat. This is the shock that is making the noise.

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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 10:33 AM
  #38  
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I swapped the left shock with the right shock and fully disconnected the sway bar to rule out swaybar end link noise and also to rule out sway bar interference with springs.

The noise transferred from the left to the right. I've narrowed it down to one shock making noise, but both shock show scrape marks on the shock bodies.

There is a NOTICABLE ride difference (read: harsher) with the poly bushings. The noise still persist. This is my daily driver and the noise is driving me CRAZY.... sounds like the suspension is going to fall apart back there.

I will be contacting QA1 today and see what they can do to rectify this.
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 12:47 PM
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Sorry to hear about all of these issues. The money saved on this brand is nothing compared to the wasted time and additional effort needed to get them installed correctly. Too bad!
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Old Oct 4, 2011 | 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Xedes
Sorry to hear about all of these issues. The money saved on this brand is nothing compared to the wasted time and additional effort needed to get them installed correctly. Too bad!
Yes sir, I agree. I hope that QA1 steps up and resolves the issues and makes things right for me and also for the Corvette design of their product
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