550 aftermarket springs and shocks

Henry - The FHP fronts are 375 and the HGTC fronts are 400 according to my dealer.

 

Terry, do you know the spring rates of these and if the shocks are appropriately valved for them?

 

Abe- I have posted the info somewhere here. We have the stock spring and the FHP data, but the only data we have on the HGTC springs was measured by Henry. Rears nearly identical and fronts slightly stiffer and longer.

Found it. Tough search: spring rates.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301532&highlight=spring+rates

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Are these for the cosmos spring or for the OEM HGTC?

 

all i can say is that i am pleased as punch with the swap. was initially a little ticked of that the FHP rear bar is no longer available but the car is nice and firm with very predictable handling at the limits. so that HGTC smaller rear bar works.

 

Please check this with your dealer... but I was told if the Actuators fail the car would go into Sport Mode until you could get em fixed.

The other guys talking on this thread know a lot more then I do !

so maybe they will confirm.

Cheers,

Bill

 

Maranello 550 shocks are made by bilstein and in a bilstein shop you could rebuild them . You could also change their pistons by others that produce even 5 times stronger forces bound or rebound . The result is absoluty superior than stock in track even on public roads .
My set up :
600 lbs/450lbs fron/rear springs . You have to constract adapters as you could not find springs in stock diameter .
New pistons and washers by bilstein that they produce 3 times stronger forces than stock . Before and after rebuild the socks on specific dynometer .
The result is beyond every aspect you could have from an aftermarket suspension . The handling and cornering are perfect . The car still remains a grand tourer mile-eater ...

 

http://www.bilsteinus.com/products/search-service/service.html

 

Yes, front rear before and after .
There is a difference also in curve speed/force .
Sorry but I could not attach the grafics .

 

Great Info, I have the Moton Club Sport with 1000LBS both front and rear works good on and off the track.

Alex Lin

 

My best laptime in WSIR big track was only 1:47... due to worn street tires, will try next time with some fresh rubber to break 1:40... With the small tracK " Street of Willow" I did 1:29.562 which is OK, look forward to 1:28s or even 27s someday.... AAA "Roval" was 1:57.752.... Last month with Speedventure I could not break my own laptime due to light rain and I could only get down to 2:02....

Alex Lin

 

Of course, we should. On Jan 29th, EVO sports booked Big Willow Saturday all day event, I plan to join if I can spare my time out. Will let you know when time gets closer...

Alex

 

Would any of you who have gone to aftermarket shocks on the 550, still have your OEM shocks? And would you want to sell them?

If so, please PM me. Ideally, I'm looking for rebuildable cores and could use a rear set soon.

p.s. Partial sets are interesting too!

 

I'm looking into a hydraulic lift kit for the front of the 550 and am needing to source some custom springs.

Our stock springs are around 11" tall (free length), 5" OD, and 4" ID, with a rate of around 310-315 lbf/in.

The hydraulic rams that will be located under the springs are about 3" tall, and since I still have about 1" of adjustability at the bottom of the Bilsteins, I'm needing new springs that are about 2" shorter than stock, or 8 3/4" to 9" tall.

Most coilover springs are designed with a 2 1/4" or 2 1/2" ID, however for some reason Ferrari chose much larger diameters for the 550 (it would be interesting to know why).

It would be "possible" to go to a smaller diameter spring, however the 550's top shock mounts have a spring centering boss cast into them that would have to be machined off. Not a problem, but it starts getting a bit messy when you're trying to make a PnP setup and stuff has to be taken to the machine shop and modified. The better solution would be to stay with the stock spring diameters, and just have some new springs wound. Easier said than done, however. So far, I've contacted Eibach, Ground Control, Performance Shock, Eaton Detroit, Cannon Racecraft, and a few others, and no one is interested.

If anyone knows of a US based custom spring winder, I'm all ears! Else, like most weird car stuff, I'll probably end up sourcing these from the UK.

 

John,
From another thread( http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301532&highlight=fhp+springs )
it looks like 575 FHP springs are about 9.5 inches long.

 

Thanks Dave - those FHP's are just a bit too long, but it's good to know they're available and they'll work.

So far, I've been able to find two places in the US that have, or can make the springs. Eaton Detroit (http://www.eatonsprings.com/) will make them for around $650 for the pair, and Rob from DeltaVee was kind enough to find some Lensing springs for me at LeftHander Chassis for less than $100 for the pair (and they're normal production items - not custom!). https://www.lefthanderchassis.com/v2a/viewproduct_group.asp?idgroup=2511847

Also, Peter Faulkner @ Faulkner Springs in the UK said he'd wind nearly any spring I needed for around $250 for the pair. He's running the calcs on some 8 3/4" x 5" x 315 lbf/in now to see where they'll bind, and how well they'll work with these rams.

 

John- Make sure you set them up so you can bounce the front end up and down. That will bring down the house any time you do it.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fjq0VBCrNo&feature=fvst[/ame]

 

Taz / Barry, I'll definitely need a set of those super-duper motor mounts before I attempt one of those setups

This is more what I had in mind:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0H-bfUKRxI[/ame]

 

John- Jan has it on her GL 550, but it is pneumatically powered. Push a button at low speed and the car raises 4" all around. Jeep now has the system on the Grand Cherokee, too. Worked great when I took her fly fishing in Colorado.

 

All the lowriders in that video had the "old solution" 550 mounts installed.