flex a Form fiberglass springs
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zookeeper
Founding Member
I installed a VBP composite leaf on the rear of my wife's '69 Corvette several years ago and the difference was unreal. If they weren't so spendy there would be a pair on my fastback right now. The difference in weight alone would be enough, but there is no way steel springs can match the progressive feel of a composite spring. Do it, you won't be sorry.
I have had FAF springs (200lb-in, 1"drop reverse eye) for several years. I really like them. They save a lot of unsprung weight (8lbs each vs 35lb each for the 4 leaf stockers), and react incredibly quickly. The rear is stiff but not brutal and the quickness of reaction makes them seem almost like an independent rear. They are quite stiff laterally, too, and don't allow the rear to sidestep the chassis much at all. No wheel hop either, although my power output isn't as high as some... 
Sorry for the messy undercarriage--this car is driven quite a bit and I had an oil leak that made the entire underside a dust magnet. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat and I think they are worth the extra money. 
They come painted black, but before installation, I sprayed them with paintable rubberized undercoating and cast iron grey spraypaint. I did this for rock chip protection, but it probably is overkill.
Daniel
Sorry for the messy undercarriage--this car is driven quite a bit and I had an oil leak that made the entire underside a dust magnet. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat and I think they are worth the extra money. They come painted black, but before installation, I sprayed them with paintable rubberized undercoating and cast iron grey spraypaint. I did this for rock chip protection, but it probably is overkill.
Daniel
I have a set on order from here, Alex was very helpful in figuring out what spring rate to select and what ride height option would be best. Springs
I'd get them from Alex Denysenko at Moneymaker Racing as mentioned above. They will be the same price (or very close) as directly from Flexiform and he offers much better tech support (best support and info in business for nearly everything he sells). I haven't dealt with the new owners, but George was minimalist in his communication. Let Alex know exactly what you are looking for (i.e road race, street performance, amount of drop, etc.). My 200in-lb springs react similar to a 160in-lb steel spring, although strength-wise it is a true 200in-lb (it doesn't bottom out even over rough, large bumps).
Daniel
Daniel
xoxbxfx
Founding Member
afast93stang
Founding Member
IIRC, I payed $425 shipped to my door a few years ago, but I think it is still close to that. This included the front and rear eye bushings (poly) and sleeves).
IMO, it's a good value for the benefits, benefits including:
Someone has asked about weight distribution issues with the lighter weight in the rear. I haven't noticed any tendency to oversteer, but do plan a battery relocation just to remove a little of the forward bias. The better reaction certainly compensates for any weight loss, and it's unsprung weight to boot.
I wish it did use stock front and rear eye sizes so that I could change out the poly bushings more easily to DelALums if I wanted to (I think the supplied size is generic, perhaps the same as a Toyota or Jeep?), but I have no complaints about the ride with the supplied poly bushings. I also undercoated them as I drive on roads that sometimes have rocks, etc, and I didn't want to chance a rock chip. You can see the undercoating and the cast iron colored paint in some of my pictures above.
IMO, it's a good value for the benefits, benefits including:
- much better handling from reduced unsprung weight, less side flex, quicker reaction
- reduced overall weight (16lbs for the set instead of 60-80lbs+ for the stock set)
- identical rate for each side (one wide spring is cut in half to make the two stock width springs, so the two sides are really "clones")
- little to no sagging (ever). I shouldn't have to buy a new set every few years to replace the dreaded sag.
- it will never rust
Someone has asked about weight distribution issues with the lighter weight in the rear. I haven't noticed any tendency to oversteer, but do plan a battery relocation just to remove a little of the forward bias. The better reaction certainly compensates for any weight loss, and it's unsprung weight to boot.
I wish it did use stock front and rear eye sizes so that I could change out the poly bushings more easily to DelALums if I wanted to (I think the supplied size is generic, perhaps the same as a Toyota or Jeep?), but I have no complaints about the ride with the supplied poly bushings. I also undercoated them as I drive on roads that sometimes have rocks, etc, and I didn't want to chance a rock chip. You can see the undercoating and the cast iron colored paint in some of my pictures above.
afast93stang
Founding Member
I tried doing a google search for them and when I go to http://www.flex-a-form.com/ I get an Not Found 404 error. Are they still in business?
As far as I know they are still in business. With change in ownership, the Flex-a-form webpage may have temporarily lapsed. Try the FAF phone# (864)261-7006 or contact Alex at MoneyMakerRacing since he keeps in regular contact with them and has some stock on hand. Let us know if you get through. 
Daniel
Daniel
They can be reached at 864-261-7006. Their address is 2060 Frontage Road, Anderson S. Carolina, 29261
Good to know. By the way, the website order form will ask a bunch of questions for info not usually needed from us in that our springs aren't "custom" per se. They already know the dimensions (for unaltered Mustangs) and will steer you into one of several spring rates (180#, 200# and 225# being the most common I've seen). You just need the desired drop, the intended use of the car and the desired spring rate (if you think you know). For me, I had a mostly street driven car that was dropped 1" and may be autocrossed or road raced. That got me the 200lb-in road race spring. I did drop some (maybe 1/2" compared to stock), but still reversed the eyes and rebonded the them. It took some careful work to reverse the eyes and would have been easier if I had ordered them with the reverse eyes in the first place. Total drop now is about 1" to 1 1/2" compared to stock. BTW, 200# in a fiberglass seems to have similar characteristics to maybe a 165# or 180# 4 or 5-leaf steel spring. Hope that helps.
Daniel
Daniel
I looked into a set 2 years ago and the rep at FAF talked me out of set.
He warned me that stick cars making decent hp WILL have wheel hop. FAF springs need to be used with cal tracks to eliminate the wheel hop. At $400 for the springs and $300 for the cals plus shipping, I decided not to buy a set.
I was also told if I did any autoxing that I would need a device to keep the rearend centered. He told me that the spring will begin to fray at the spring mount if I didn't.
This IS second hand info....so take it for what it's worth.
I do know a couple of guys on here, have had wheelhop issues with the FAFs.
He warned me that stick cars making decent hp WILL have wheel hop. FAF springs need to be used with cal tracks to eliminate the wheel hop. At $400 for the springs and $300 for the cals plus shipping, I decided not to buy a set.
I was also told if I did any autoxing that I would need a device to keep the rearend centered. He told me that the spring will begin to fray at the spring mount if I didn't.
This IS second hand info....so take it for what it's worth.
I do know a couple of guys on here, have had wheelhop issues with the FAFs.
I think you bring up valid points, but many of them are also true of steel springs. Caltracks are used on steel springs to control wheelhop, not just on FAF ones. The fraying ends may be a possibility (though steel springs won't have this particular issue), but I've not noticed any. Some lateral movement is also likely (like on steel springs) since today's tires allow much more grip than these cars were ever designed for (at least on the track), but there are ways like panhard bars and/or spherical bushings to deal with this issue. Here is a Camaro example, but Carl Cassanova used teflon lined spherical bearings instead of the poly FAF ones to reduce roll bind and torsional loads. He seems to have had some success with them. Scroll down to the bottom for his writeup. Again we are talking about more expense, but this expense would be similar in a comparable steel suspension (like the GW cat5) or you would have to go to a more complex system like a multi-link or fully caged one.
It may depend on the car setup and how much "decent hp" is but I've not had any wheelhop issues, even when doing burnouts, or fraying of the spring even when cornering hard. I do periodic checks, though. For my intended use (spirited street, maybe a little track), these springs have worked well, but I could also have gone with the cheaper Mustangs Plus spring package and only sacrificed a bit of ride quality, eventual sag and weight. The FAF springs are not without cons, though, and won't be right for everyone. You are smart to do research before commiting that much coin! :SNSign:
Daniel
It may depend on the car setup and how much "decent hp" is but I've not had any wheelhop issues, even when doing burnouts, or fraying of the spring even when cornering hard. I do periodic checks, though. For my intended use (spirited street, maybe a little track), these springs have worked well, but I could also have gone with the cheaper Mustangs Plus spring package and only sacrificed a bit of ride quality, eventual sag and weight. The FAF springs are not without cons, though, and won't be right for everyone. You are smart to do research before commiting that much coin! :SNSign:
Daniel
I do get wheel hop @ 250-300rwhp, but I still think the gains everywhere else are well worth that one trade off.
Keep in mind I had to pay another few hundred to get them to the other side of the planet, and I am still very happy. They cost me all up about 3-4 times what a set of steel springs are worth here.
It really is hard to overstate just how much better these are than steel springs.
I will be looking at their fiber slapper bar equivalents and maybe caltrac style of traction control in the future.
Keep in mind I had to pay another few hundred to get them to the other side of the planet, and I am still very happy. They cost me all up about 3-4 times what a set of steel springs are worth here.
It really is hard to overstate just how much better these are than steel springs.
I will be looking at their fiber slapper bar equivalents and maybe caltrac style of traction control in the future.
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