Spax introductory sale (2002 and 1 E21 set)

[mooseheadm5]

Greetings,

For those of you that met us at Vintage, thanks for dropping by to see us (or drinking with us in the parking lot at the Hawthorne.) For those that don't know us, we are Moosehead Engineering, and we are getting into 02's now. My wife insists that I get her one, so I must obey.

At any rate, we have hooked up with the US importer for Spax springs and adjustable dampers and would like to get more of them in the hands of you guys. brad_c-ville_VA is running a set for testing (dampers only, no springs yet) and has reported favorable results thusfar. Unfortunately the car couldn't make it to Vintage due to an overheating issue, so nobody got a ride with them installed other than Brad and Anne Marie. We have decided to offer up some of our on hand inventory at a low price to get them out there. What we have is:

2002 Spax Cup kit - set of springs with adjustable dampers (SOLD for $575)

E21 Spax cup kit - set of springs with adjustable dampers $575 (also !)

2002 adjustable dampers $475 (front and rear sold together, 2 sets at this price)

Why are the cup kits so cheap? Well we brought them to Vintage strapped to the roof of George's E24 and the boxes got soaked. We can't take them back to the distributor like that, so we are selling them super cheap.

All of the Spax dampers we offer have 28 positions of damping adjustment. They can be adjusted in the car. The fronts from the top and the rears from the bottom near the lower mount. They can be varied from cushy soft to granite hard and are suitable for virtually any lowering spring or coilover front (provided you are running stock strut housing length.)

These were not provided with gland nuts for the strut housing, but we can order new ones for you if you need them.

If you have any questions, ask away and stay tuned for more stuff you can't live without.

-Paul

[Chamonix72]

Out of curiosity, do you know if Spax makes a Rabbit strut for those of us planning coilover conversions? I figure they do, since the Rabbit/Golf was made worldwide. I think it would be nice to be able to dial in shock stiffness based on spring rate if desired. I think it would be another avenue for future sales. It would be an alternative to having to buy Ground Control's proprietary Konis if one desires an adjustable shock/strut.

[RayC911]

That Cup Kit sounds like a smoking deal! I like the way Spax have the clicking adjustment : ) What springs do Spax use?

[mooseheadm5]

That Cup Kit sounds like a smoking deal! I like the way Spax have the clicking adjustment : ) What springs do Spax use?

Spax uses their own springs. The drop is quoted at 50mm front and rear, but that is probably for UK cars and I don't know how that translates to the various years of US E10 vehicles. I have the E28 springs and dampers on my M5 and I am very pleased with them. They are the lowest spring you can get for an E28 without going to coilovers.

They do make Rabbit/Golf I struts. I assume you would only need the fronts for coilovers, correct?

[Chamonix72]

They do make Rabbit/Golf I struts. I assume you would only need the fronts for coilovers, correct?

Not necessarily. I think if I were going to have adjustable front struts, I'd want them out back. But some guys like their rear setups and would just want the fronts.

[mooseheadm5]

They do make Rabbit/Golf I struts. I assume you would only need the fronts for coilovers, correct?

Not necessarily. I think if I were going to have adjustable front struts, I'd want them out back. But some guys like their rear setups and would just want the fronts.

Sorry, what I meant to say was that you would only need the Golf fronts, but would need the '02 rears. Is that correct? Are the Golf inserts actually shorter than the 02 inserts, or is just the piston rod shorter?

Supposedly there are 02 units available for "extreme lowering" but I don't know what the specs are.

[Chamonix72]

They are actually shorter units to allow for shock travel at lower ride height. Generally you will need a space for the bottom of the strut tube to make up a little bit of the difference.

[mooseheadm5]

They are actually shorter units to allow for shock travel at lower ride height. Generally you will need a space for the bottom of the strut tube to make up a little bit of the difference.

OK then. Making the piston rod shorter would have the same effect. The overall travel will be reduced as with the Golf units, but they will fit the strut housings like the stock units. The reason I asked is that with the E28 you need to shorten the strut housing and use a shorter insert to drop the car more than 2 inches. At Vintage, Jay and Grice told me that you don't need to shorten the strut housings when installing coilovers. Since Spax sells the struts cheaper when purchased in sets it would be best if we could order whole sets of extra short rod dampers rather than piecing together Golf/Rabbit fronts and '02 rears. I'll contact Spax and find out what the deal is with the shorter shocks. The regular ones are made for lowering springs, though. If you'd like I can measure the distance from the top of the strut body to the upper strut mount so that it can be compared to a stock strut and Bilstein sport. IIRC, Brad mentioned they are roughly as short as the Bilstein sports if not shorter.

[Chamonix72]

You don't NEED to shorten your struts to run adjustable coilovers, but you run out of shock travel in a big hurry. That's why most people cut their shtrut tubes and weld on the collars, etc.

I totally understand Spax wanting to import sets. I'd certainly give it strong consideration if it could be done.

[Swiftus]

Yea, when you end up running 600 pound springs, shortening the strut tubes is simply a waste of time.

What would be awesome is if Spax could just sell a 2002 strut with a 2" shorter rod in it. *I think*, as you said, that would eliminate the need for the cut strut tubes, which would make a coil over conversion even easier.

[Chamonix72]

600 lbs? I think my crown just preemptively jumped out of my skull just reading that.

Yeah, you're right though. To get appropriate levels of shock travel (unless you're running the aforementioned 600 lbs springs) something has to be shorter. I the reason companies don't is because there are costs involved in doing something with a limited run. That's one reason the Ground Control kits costs a little more. It's often easier and cheaper to modify or adpat an off-the-shelf product.

BTW, this is a pretty world class hijack. I mean, sorry I hijacked your thread. Hope you sell boatloads. If I hadn't just installed Bilsteins...

[BWAutosport]

I have a set of adjustable spax and coils on my racer. Ordered them basically from spax direct. I like em! Good price you have on them. Good luck!

P.s. You can see my ride height in my project blog titled "Otto goes racing" . We are running 14" wheels with 225 50 14 rubber. Or something close (Hoosier speedsters)

[mooseheadm5]

Thanks for chiming in everyone.

Jay, you need one 2" shorter than a stocker or 2" shorter than a Bilstein sport?

I'll grab them out of the trunk tomorrow and measure them if anyone has something to compare it to.

No problem on the hijack at all. It is all relevant.

[williamggruff]

Paul,

What are the spring rates on the Cup springs? I'm interested in the 2002 cup package you're offering, since my 600 lb front springs are a bit much on logging roads.

Grice

[mooseheadm5]

I don't actually know the spring rates. I will take some measurements and can calculate them within reason, but the number of active coild may be up for debate because I can't count them while they are installed on a car. I will measure them tonight along with the strut length and get back to you on that.