550 rear shock mounts

where are the pictures??? sounds interesting...

 

Hey that's really neet! How do you describe how the ride change for you? It is nice to see owners getting creative with the 550. There is so little 550 breakdown that owners just don't do much to these cars like they do with the 348/355's I'm used to.

 

Dave- Fixed on the 575M using a hyperblock, number 29. 550 on top, 575M on the bottom.

Taz
Terry Phillips
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Dave- Very ingenious. I assumed you could not retrofit, but was not sure.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Me too! Too bad I'm in L.A.. My 550 seems very nice in the ride however. But I come from a lot of race and raceish cars stiffly sprung. In fact my 550 ride is too lexus. I am debating keeping the cool Ferrari system vs an aftermarket set of adjustable shocks and springs. I keep telling myself I'm not racing the car but you "want what you want".

 

I have an 01 550 with the same noisy rear shocks. Would you be interested in modifying my original mounts? If so how would we proceed?
Thanks

 

I have two used front shock mounts from my 550 which I've recently replaced with new ones. Does anyone want the used ones for free?

I'm responding to this old thread by Ferraridriver, who had figured out a clever way to modify 550 shock mounts for a more compliant ride. If another Fchatter would like to try out that mod, I'm happy to donate my used mounts towards the cause.
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Spoken for by a fchatter and going out in the mail tomorrow! Make sure you report back about the results...

 

I spoke up for Ben’s old rear shock mounts earlier this year, and he was kind enough to ship them from Hong Kong to Texas, refusing any reimbursement. He only asked that I provide some feedback on Dave’s (Ferraridriver’s) modification, once it was done. So Ben, thanks once again for your mounts and here is the “payment”, as requested.

When I first learned that Ferrari had put pillow ball (spherical bearing) top shock mounts on the 550, it was another of those “WTF were they thinking?” moments. For me, solid, pillow ball shock mounts have about as much place on a high end GT car as Heim joints. I’m told the only other “street” Ferrari that had these solid mounts was the 355 Challenge, which I suppose was the homologated version of the full on racecar.

Once I learned what sort of mounts the 550 had, all the little bumps, thumps and whumps that I was hearing and feeling whenever I went over railroad tracks, tar strips, and other road irregularities then made sense, and I was resolved to sort out yet another mad idea from the Italian engineers. So I researched the 575’s shock mounts and learned that Ferrari had come to their senses, dumped the spherical bearings of the 550 and gone back to rubber isolation, but unfortunately the 550 couldn’t be upgraded to the 575’s mounts. Of course not; that would be too sensible, and sensible is soooo un-Italian. So when I learned that Ferraridriver was converting these things to normal rubber dampened mounts, I knew I had to have a set.

Once I received Ben’s mounts, I sent them on to Dave, who modified them as described, and sent them back with full instructions how to install them. I decided I was going to have them done at the same time my fuel tank was being pulled to sort out the fuel fume problems from the rollover valves. So last month while I was playing desert fox, Mark Darragh and the crew at Sphere Motorsports in Houston, pulled my fuel tank, changed all the rollover valves and gaskets, and at the same time, installed the “new” shock mounts.
I picked up the car last week and on the drive home, I immediately noticed a difference in the feel of the suspension. There’s a series of manhole covers in the road near Mark’s shop which I always steer around, as if I hit them, the car sounds, feels, and acts like a 60’s pickup truck with a set of blown shocks. Well, I was suffering mightily from jet lag and completely forgot about them and hit those puppies dead on, and literally cringed as I did so, but the car hardly reacted at all. There was just a minor bu-bu-bump feel that hardly would have put a ripple in a cup of coffee, had I been holding one. Astounding. Before this suspension mod, I would have been wearing the whole cup! Encouraged, I decided to nail a known set of killer railroad tracks at speed instead of gingerly creeping over them like eggshells. Same thing – the car just took it in stride, and if I hadn’t known better, I would have thought I was in a Merc, not the 200 mph Italian equivalent of a 60’s chebbie pickup with blown shocks.

So the feel of the car has been transformed from totally solid (you usually get that when you mount metal to metal) to compliant but taut (with the top of the shock isolated from the frame of the car by compressed rubber.)

In summary, this is a suspension mod that really works, and is a very good thing. And to think only the rear of the car has been done so far – now I can’t wait to get the fronts done!

And did I mention the side benefit of no more twisted shock actuators?

 

I was told by the guys at Wynn Vegas that Ferrari has a fix for the 550 front shocks that works !

Twisted no more is what they said.....

I'll find out next time I'm in Vegas.

cheers,

Bill

 

Will let you know Dave... hope your knee is doing well !

cheers,

Bill

 

John, thanks for the update & feedback! Glad my two old shock mounts have found a new and better life than as paperweights on my desk. Already have plenty of other ferrari parts doing that job anyway...

When my current shock mounts wear out, I'll give this mod a try. At the moment my car is still laid up at the dealer while we search for some parts for the dreaded fuel pump issue, so I've put zero miles on the car in many many weeks.

Best,
Ben

 

I've been using this as a paperweight, Ben. I have twenty-three more just like it.
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Ouch! That picture just made me cringe involuntarily!

 

I'm new but need some for my 2001 550 with 29,000 miles. Suggestions welcome!

Thanks, Brad D

 

Is there anyway to email me the description of the retro fit?

Thanks, Brad

 

Dave, This is the Ferrari part that is suppose to fix the 550 front actuator turning problem...

what do you think ?

Thanks,
Bill
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