SLR angle kit

[4ce30]

Wisefab is only banned in formula drift and I don't think anyone on this forum can afford or drive that good soo that's not a bargaining point.
Also you can run your stock knuckles with no problem.

How is the slr kit better than wisefab? I have a hard time believing that, wisefab has zero akerman and is 100% ready to run and bolt on. slr has massive akerman issues and gives you (shims) to fix this.

I'm getting a little irritated seeing al this slr>wisefab it's simply retarded to think a cheaper/lesser design is better.

Here's the deal sack up fork out the money for wisefab if your looking for the best if your on a budget go slr. I personally can tell you from experience wisefab is the shit I've been running it since they came out and it took an hour to instal.

[jalopi]

The SLR kit has adjustable ackerman, don't know where you got the info about it having issues... maybe in the past, but now the ackerman is adjustable from zero to stock in four different positions with pins. Not to say that the SLR kit doesn't have its own issues though, which I plan to rant about once I've got everything documented and have pictures taken. Really though, it's only a few things that need to be fixed and if Sean (the guy who runs SLR) took care of them it would be a great product.

Things I've seen (and I've seen other people complain about) with the wisefab kit is:

1. Not from 'murica. Got problems with your parts? Gotta wait for shipping from Europe.

2. Their solution to the camber issue you get with the longer control arms pretty terrible imo. Yes, I realize regular camber plates will offset the suspension load, which isn't great, but the wisefab top mount extends the load point out of the suspension mounting points. I'm no engineer, but I'm pretty sure that turns the strut mount into a pivot. I guess you could choose not to use their mounts, but the arms are so long you pretty much have to do so to get a reasonable amount of camber. IMO a shorter arm and a lower offset wheel will get you the same results.

All that being said, I don't know what it's like dealing with the wisefab people, but Sean at SLR is pretty terrible to do business with. He is very unresponsive and isn't very straight forward when answering questions. I understand we're dealing with custom, made-to-order race parts here, just don't tell people you've got parts in stock and can ship them out the same week, then not do it and/or not answer your phone, then ship parts out three weeks later.

[FLG]

Oh Sean is horrible! Anna helps him and she does a good job. They're moving Atm but either way he sucks with communication.

I don't think wise fab is legal for pro am either which some drivers here do.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

[jalopi]

Do you think it's not legal because of that wack ass strut mount? That's my best guess anyway.

[FLG]

Do you think it's not legal because of that wack ass strut mount? That's my best guess anyway.

Yep that's the only reason it is. You can't move your suspension mounting points.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

[SkiFree]

Wisefab is only banned in formula drift and I don't think anyone on this forum can afford or drive that good soo that's not a bargaining point.

Not so.... Andy Hately (user name: Shmately).

http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/04/formula-drift-long-beach-the-streets-of-desire/

@ Long Beach

[FLG]

This is from Sean, granted its going to be bias towards him, was posted mid 2013

Key differences:
SLR kit:
Lighter (both the steering geometry plate and the tubular chromoly arms).
Uses all spherical bearings (WF uses a stock inner balljoint)
Adjustable roll-center(roll-center AND bump-steer can be tuned with shims)
Adjustable bump-steer
Adjustable ackerman (5 different positions: FULLRACE-1/2RACE-CENTERED-1/2DRIFT-FULLDRIFT)
SLR arms can be swapped easily without removing the inner balljoint stud (quick swap from drift to race arms for dual-purpose cars)
All our heims and spherical bearings are easily replaceable.
Our kit is FD & Pro-Am legal without custom camber plates.
We can custom build arms with sway-bay tabs.
We offer adjustable arms so you can start mild, and go extreeeeeemm widebody later)
Our kits won't bind in droop travel (we angle the inner and outer bearing housings like OEM, WF uses flat plate steel)

I can tell you for a fact our manufacturing costs are HIGHER and we sell for a LOWER price.

When we made the tube/plate adjustable arms I chose a special HSA steel for extra strength, and also had the bushing end milled rather than welding on the bushing stub because I was not comfortable relying on a small weld joint for a high twisting load ( also welding will anneal the joint location and this part of the arm is a very critical load point)


WF arms are longer (much longer than necessary for reverse entries)
WF fixed camber plates rely on your chassis being 100% straight for proper alignment.
WF uses OE type inner balljoint and tie-rod end (no adjustable bump-steer)
Formula-D legal WF kits cost even more, and you can't adjust camber easily because the upper ball joint sits under the steetmetal.

[SLR]

Wisefab is only banned in formula drift and I don't think anyone on this forum can afford or drive that good soo that's not a bargaining point.
Also you can run your stock knuckles with no problem.

How is the slr kit better than wisefab? I have a hard time believing that, wisefab has zero akerman and is 100% ready to run and bolt on. slr has massive akerman issues and gives you (shims) to fix this.

I'm getting a little irritated seeing al this slr>wisefab it's simply retarded to think a cheaper/lesser design is better.

Here's the deal sack up fork out the money for wisefab if your looking for the best if your on a budget go slr. I personally can tell you from experience wisefab is the shit I've been running it since they came out and it took an hour to instal.

Brandon, I must ask; where do you get such information?

I understand you've had a WF kit on your car since 2011, and you're happy with it which is great, but please don't spread misinformation about my products.

WF uses water jet cutting to make their arms. Back in early 2011 I had the same exact idea and was quoted $60 each to have a waterjet arm cut out. That's in FL, USA. Not Estonia or Lithuania. I pay my fabricator much more than $60 just for the LABOR on welding ONE tubular arm.

My Chromoly comes from Benteler Gmbh. (Same supplier as OEM BMW steel). It's true seamless aircraft tubing, NOT DOM, NOT ERW. True seamless, the best money can buy.

All of our machined parts are made in a mil-spec (military tolerance) machine shop from the best rated materials for each application.

Our kits are lighter and offer more adjustability than any WF kit. And we also hold THREE track lap records records with E36's at tracks around the country using the road-race version. (that's 3 different customers too)

I have supplied customers with SLR kits who have been unhappy with the feel of their WF kits and the high caster-trail feel in racing situations.

SLR goes back to 2006 when I was pro drifting myself and computer designed my own spindles for my E36. From 2007-2010 I built custom spindles for many cars all over the world, but it was only on word-of-mouth advertising.

Our very first kits designed in 2010 were non-adjustable ackerman (ie. WF).

2011 we came out with 2-position kits (race and drift settings)

2012 I redesigned the steering arm to be lighter, yet stronger and devised a way to offer 5 position ackerman adjustment based on feedback from Mike Essa running our parts.

The only ackerman shims we have ever made, are meant for the 5position kits, they simply lock the tie-rod bolt in place in one of FIVE positions, as opposed to the earlier cam bolt which provided 2 positions.

Now in 2014 we are on the SLR V5 kits, fully metric to simplify things for our overseas customers and also because I just like having all metric parts on a European car.

2014 kits use an innovative locking ackerman position system which provides adjustment built in on EVERY kit. No need to change shims depending if you want race, drift or somewhere in between.

So there you have it.

I am still a one-man company (with help from my wife of couse!), yet I always push to be the best and develop new ideas.

That costs money. Using all-metric hardware costs money. Buying the best materials costs money. Paying for top quality machine work and fabrication costs money. Doing this all in the USA costs even more and I still undercut WF on pricing.

How do I do it? Well let's just say I ain't gettin' rich!

One of our suppliers had a tolerance problem this year which instantly cost me $20,000 in product and also created delays which obviously no one was happy about.


So yes, you can 'sack up' and pay Wiesfab more money for a lesser product, using lesser materials and processes.

I understand it's hard to believe a company could sell a better product for less money. But then again, bimmerworld will happily sell you a set of E46 arms with FK bearings installed for $1600. When I founded SLR my goal was to provide a badass product to my customers, while not slapping any BMW-tax on there.

You won't find any racing car using plate-steel suspension, but you'll notice F1 and Indy cars use tig-welded chromoly. And so does SLR.


Sincerely,
Sean@SLRspeed.com
561-542-2810

[FLG]

Well put Sean!

Btw id like to thank Anna, after much wait for the boots I ordered everything got sorted and she send them rush 2 day. Thank you!

I think your stuff is great, and I realize your alone besides Anna but getting in touch is very very hit or miss, I think that turns a lot of people off. And in the end you guys always do the right thing, but taking a bit more time to answer emails would put you even further ahead.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

[Farbin Kaiber]

I'm actually looking into getting into contact with SLR about a project soon, there isn't a question on quality from my research or opinion formed, but the negative reports of contact seem to be the only thing I'd worry about. I'll be getting in contact soon.

[jalopi]

I only have two major complaints about SLR:

1. Sean's response times suck. I guess he makes up for it though, since when you actually get a hold of him he's pretty patient/thorough in explaining/describing his product or answering questions.

2. The "tie rod" sleeves should be made out of steel, not aluminum. I realize this could be an issue in the future with corrosion, but I busted one of the lower sleeves on my car after adjusting the ackerman:



The circled bit straight up broke off. I didn't use a torque wrench the second time around, but I was only using a 10" wrench... shouldn't have broken. I weigh 125lbs, I don't exercise, I'm pretty goddamn weak. Wouldn't have broken if it was made out of steel. Dropped the good one off at a machine shop to have a full set turned out of steel.






Sean, you should switch to steel for goofs like me who manhandle our parts :P

[SLR]

That part is made from 303 stainless steel ;)

They don't require much torque at all (55-60nm) and I ship them pre-torqued. The instructions may have had a slightly higher torque spec which has now been corrected.

I can get you a new spacer no problem though.

[jalopi]

Aaah, that would explain why my pocket screwdriver magnet wouldn't stick to it.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm having one turned out of chromoly. I also asked the machinist to thicken up the bottom of the spacer/sleeve (like, make it so that there is no ridge any more). I realize this might potentially cause binding if the suspension drooped a whole lot, but imo if my car's ever in that position I've got a lot more to worry about than a slightly bound steering wheel :P

[SLR]

At full lock there is a lot of articulation at that joint also, so there needs to be some undercut in the spacer. That's why we use the high-misalignment spacers.

Have a look here: https://www.google.com/search?q=high...w=1225&bih=601

The maximum diameter you'd want at the root of the undercut will be 15mm. Just don't wanna see you damage the tie-rods by limiting the travel at full-lock.

All the best,
Sean