Colorado general chat...

[Cloudbase]

Tomorrow if anyone want's to come by. The majority will be new material. Fall flying and Arizona Comp...

[Bimmerman325i]

Alex, if I was in CO I'd be there in a heartbeat. Any videos for the long-distance fan?

[Bimmerman325i]

Like I mentioned in the Craigslist thread, I'm considering selling my AST 4100s from my Subaru to better fund M3 racecar stuffs. Kit includes <4k mile dampers, 350/350 springs, and f/r Vorshalg GC high caster/GD camber plates. This should be bolt-on for GD subarus, likely other models. Let me know if interested!

[Roland H]

Tomorrow if anyone want's to come by. The majority will be new material. Fall flying and Arizona Comp...

I'll be in class :(

Anyone thinking about going should definitely do it, Alex puts on a great presentation!

[clarkkey594]

I'll be in class :(

Anyone thinking about going should definitely do it, Alex puts on a great presentation!

I might have to stop by the first one I went to was pretty sweet. Only problem is that the talk is hosted by REI and I always get myself into trouble when I go in there.......ugghh

[fsmtnbiker]

I don't like hearing this, I'm about to order some soon! Hasn't Chris been running AST's for a few years? What does a rebuild cost?

I've put well over 100k miles on the two sets of ASTs that I have owned. Zero, nada, NO issues with them.

I also run them on several of our shop cars. ZERO problems.

I don't know what/how people blow them up regularly, but I tend to think it's the same way people bend wheels regularly when I don't... A little common sense.

FWIW, I've also had 2 high-speed offs this season that were very rough. No problems with the shocks as a result.

Patrick: Ryan's shocks were the very first set of Evo 5200s they ever built, and the shocks don't need to be rebuilt... The uppers need to be replaced due to a problem with the finish on them. The shocks themselves are prefectly fine.

I think the internet tends to blow this stuff out of proportion - he said she heard kind of stuff. I've seen, with my own eyes, failed JRZs, Motons, TC-Klines, countless Konis, and just about any other manufacturer you can dream of. The most reliable shocks I've experienced are KWs, and if I was building a streetcar of any kind their V1 or V3 shocks would be at the top of my list (V2 are Koni based, I am not a Koni fan in any sense of the word.)

[Eric]

I've put well over 100k miles on the two sets of ASTs that I have owned. Zero, nada, NO issues with them.

I also run them on several of our shop cars. ZERO problems.

Good to hear! You have 4200's right? What would be an advantage of running 5100's over 4200's?

I don't know what/how people blow them up regularly, but I tend to think it's the same way people bend wheels regularly when I don't... A little common sense.

Agree, I'm not quite sure how people do that either

FWIW, I've also had 2 high-speed offs this season that were very rough. No problems with the shocks as a result.

Ouch, any other damage?

I think the internet tends to blow this stuff out of proportion - he said she heard kind of stuff.

Totally agree 100%. Worst part about it is that happy customers hardly make time to comment on the product, so all you end up getting is grumpy people with gripes.

[Roland H]

Good to hear! You have 4200's right? What would be an advantage of running 5100's over 4200's?

5100s
pros: inverted (less flex), and also upgradeable to D/A or T/A
cons: more weight, less room for tires, single adjustable
4200s
pros: double adjustable, more room for tires, less weight
cons: not inverted (more flex), not upgradeable,

Agree, I'm not quite sure how people do that either

One of my friends had AST say it was because he was running his car too high. His car was slammed.

The other had the pass-through bolt holes on the struts ovalize because he torqued it to factory spec and not guten-fukin-tight, AST doesn't tell you to tighten more than factory from the get go. They said $60 to fix, then charged him $60 per strut to fix. Plus shipping, both ways.

Another had to rebuild his 4200s every winter. AST used to do it for $75/shock, but now it's pretty spendy. He just bought JRZs.

Totally agree 100%. Worst part about it is that happy customers hardly make time to comment on the product, so all you end up getting is grumpy people with gripes.

I was suuuuuper happy with mine, but the long term quality was "meh" at best... I used to nay-say all the people who talked down AST, but I really can't do that anymore after what I've seen.

Amazing shocks when they work though, Chris proves that pretty much weekly at the autocrosses.

[boosted_E30]

Who all snowboards on here? I got an awesome shot of me riding from Thurs at A-basin with my GoPro!

[lambo]

^ Gah...you have no idea how badly I have been wanting to go...

[CO318is]

I've put well over 100k miles on the two sets of ASTs that I have owned. Zero, nada, NO issues with them.

I also run them on several of our shop cars. ZERO problems.

I don't know what/how people blow them up regularly, but I tend to think it's the same way people bend wheels regularly when I don't... A little common sense.

FWIW, I've also had 2 high-speed offs this season that were very rough. No problems with the shocks as a result.

Patrick: Ryan's shocks were the very first set of Evo 5200s they ever built, and the shocks don't need to be rebuilt... The uppers need to be replaced due to a problem with the finish on them. The shocks themselves are prefectly fine.

I think the internet tends to blow this stuff out of proportion - he said she heard kind of stuff. I've seen, with my own eyes, failed JRZs, Motons, TC-Klines, countless Konis, and just about any other manufacturer you can dream of. The most reliable shocks I've experienced are KWs, and if I was building a streetcar of any kind their V1 or V3 shocks would be at the top of my list (V2 are Koni based, I am not a Koni fan in any sense of the word.)

Always good to hear from people that actually know, sorry to spread misinformation. Have you gotten a chance to look at the new stuff that is coming out? Any information you can share with us about them?

[fsmtnbiker]

The other had the pass-through bolt holes on the struts ovalize because he torqued it to factory spec and not guten-fukin-tight, AST doesn't tell you to tighten more than factory from the get go. They said $60 to fix, then charged him $60 per strut to fix. Plus shipping, both ways.

I've seen two ways this failure happens:

1) Leave the factory washers off - the nut will bottom out on the shoulder of the bolt, and even though it *appears* to be tight, it is actually not clamping at all on the strut.

2) Not tightening the bolt to the factory spec (80 ft*lbs, 105 Nm)

That area of the AST is considerably stronger than the stock, or TCK/Koni struts.

[fsmtnbiker]

Always good to hear from people that actually know, sorry to spread misinformation. Have you gotten a chance to look at the new stuff that is coming out? Any information you can share with us about them?

Nothing beyond what has already been posted about them - better top guide/seal arrangement, stronger shaft support, different piston design (double digressive).

I'll likely be upgrading to 4x50 shocks in my car.

I currently have 4100s, had 4200s in the past. I would like to switch to 4250's this season, but it is very budget dependent.

[MisterMiniS]

little update from me

Found this great looking 318 in the basement of the parking garage at work. It sat there for about a week (2 months ago). Haven't seen it since. Temp tags.







Also, found this guy at the airport last week



As for me, I took the a/c stuff out...so I have parts if they are needed (R12 system).





Got some goodies over the last month:





I'm thinking I want to mount the seat to some sliders, so I need to look into that. I'd rather not have it on sliders, but the GF races it also, and she is a foot shorter than me.

Current car status: Won't start. That's a new development, but I'm working on it. Roland gave some suggestions. We will see how those go.

[Eric]

buy my seat mounts!