New Droop Travel Spacers for AST's

[m3f_PurduinaM3]

Anyways - everything that could have been wrong with my setup was wrong. Bad packaging, incorrect spring rates, missing parts, parts installed on one shock not installed on another, bent brackets, poorly designed top hats, allen heads to lock on the threads?? wtf?? etc etc etc fail fail fail.


You'd think that if they designed this **** with a certain car in mind.. they would have the car at the shop and see that it just doesn't make sense and could lead to damage/failure. "oh.. it bolted on.. so it works right?"

Asking AST for setup tips, they had no idea on that either. Its like they (AST USA) are just middle men for Vorshlag and AST Norway.

Who did you deal with/talk to?? Brian or Stewart?? I find this EXTREMELY hard to believe. AST has had a few issues that we've known about - sway bar collars were sometimes installed backwards on one of the struts, and had to be reversed (not a hard task at all), and their old shipping packaging would sometimes bend the knob on the rear shocks if dropped by UPS. Easy fix however, and they've since improved their packaging as a solution. Which top hats are you referring to, the ones included with the Vorshlag camber plates?


Also, look at all the experience they have with E36's and AST's on their own cars... they've been running them for years on at least 5 test cars, and are VERY competitive with their own equipment. Brian and Terry are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about how to set up their product properly, and have been very helpful to a lot of us who run AST's. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'd just like to hear the story more in depth...


Edit: Just found out your AST's were for your Mini Cooper - that makes a lot more sense. They definitely don't have the same experience or knowledge on setting up Mini's as they do E36s...

[m3f_PurduinaM3]

Okay, fair enough. BUT - there is a thread on bf.com where Terry specifically states that the ASTs are meant for LOW ride heights, and should not be used at or anywhere near stock ride height. Just sayin'.

Define "low". Low compared to stock, or low compared to BFC rides and styling??


Like I said previously; there's not a ton of room for shock travel on the front of the E36's suspension, and you've got to find the sweet spot of the damper. AST's are not designed for low ride heights, like most BFC R&S cars, but they're also not meant for stock ride height. I'd say 12-12.5" F is the sweet spot, anything more or less and you risk the possibility of running into issues. I wouldn't call that low, I'd call that just about the perfect ride height.

[m3f_epj3]

Heh, at least their customer service is reasonable.



Only had one issue with my setup (wasn't a design flaw though) and it was fixed within 72 hours of me calling them.



I have mixed feelings about all of this. I love my setup, but some of the 4100 kits don't seem to be as robust....

You guys know I was one of the earliest adopters of the 4100's here... hat's kind of how I've felt with mine.



The front struts have ALWAYS made LOUD knocking noises on bumps. I contacted Vorshlag long ago and was told it was something else in my suspension, regardless that literally every other piece in the front was replaced two weeks before the AST's with new OEM parts which have been removed/reinstalled a few times with new hardware for oil pump nut fix and other stuff (and never had noise with OEM struts.) I just kind of lived with it.



But now my rear shocks have been knocking loudly too, they are definitely due for a rebuild with about 25k miles on them. We'll see how this goes when I contact Vorsghlag - I hear they are great to deal with. Kind of hoping they can take care of my "early run" issues, ie the brake line mounting tab, the sway mounts, and hopefully a set of these spacers



Lets put it this way, I still would never say I regret buying the AST's, they were unbelievable when new. Just time for a rebuild.

[m3f_epj3]

Who did you deal with/talk to?? Brian or Stewart?? I find this EXTREMELY hard to believe. AST has had a few issues that we've known about - sway bar collars were sometimes installed backwards on one of the struts, and had to be reversed (not a hard task at all), and their old shipping packaging would sometimes bend the knob on the rear shocks if dropped by UPS. Easy fix however, and they've since improved their packaging as a solution. Which top hats are you referring to, the ones included with the Vorshlag camber plates?



Also, look at all the experience they have with E36's and AST's on their own cars... they've been running them for years on at least 5 test cars, and are VERY competitive with their own equipment. Brian and Terry are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about how to set up their product properly, and have been very helpful to a lot of us who run AST's. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'd just like to hear the story more in depth...

Agreed - when I was starting to figure out alignment specs (and do my own string alignments), how to read the suspension under certain conditions, etc., it was typically terry's posts on bf.c that made the biggest difference in my understanding.

[m3f_SG_M3]

You guys know I was one of the earliest adopters of the 4100's here... hat's kind of how I've felt with mine.



The front struts have ALWAYS made LOUD knocking noises on bumps. I contacted Vorshlag long ago and was told it was something else in my suspension, regardless that literally every other piece in the front was replaced two weeks before the AST's with new OEM parts which have been removed/reinstalled a few times with new hardware for oil pump nut fix and other stuff (and never had noise with OEM struts.) I just kind of lived with it.



But now my rear shocks have been knocking loudly too, they are definitely due for a rebuild with about 25k miles on them. We'll see how this goes when I contact Vorsghlag - I hear they are great to deal with. Kind of hoping they can take care of my "early run" issues, ie the brake line mounting tab, the sway mounts, and hopefully a set of these spacers



Lets put it this way, I still would never say I regret buying the AST's, they were unbelievable when new. Just time for a rebuild.

25k and you're having to rebuild? ouch

[m3f_MPRESV]

Not to bring up an old thread, but this relates back to all of the previous discussion.



I finally got my new Hyperco springs dropped in the front and rear. I pulled the tenders I had up front as well and am running an 8" spring. And now the ride is amazing. I did have to go with a larger spacer, but I don't have e36 wheels either. I think I'd need 8-10mm with stock wheels. No clunks and nothing weird.



As for quality of the ASTs, if Hanchey or Fair could comment, my car now has 182k on it. As far as I know the fronts have only been rebuilt once, by me. Hanchey doesn't remember every doing a routine rebuild on these in the near past. If either of you could comment on when roughly these were put in, it would bode well for the 'quality' of the ASTs on a DD and lightly tracked car. And again, I do have the original Sportlines because I have Hanchey's old car.



I can't say enough about this set-up now...and I have all of the 'old' stuff. I can't fathom how great a new set-up would be. I can't imagine another company being better to deal with. The only way they could get better is if they came to my house and did the work for me.

[m3f_zek]

Anyone know if there is a spacer available for the rear AST shocks too? I don't see this mentioned yet?


To get a decent amount of droop I have to run the rear lower than I would like. This is on an e46 330.