Roller spring perch users

sparky said:

How do you like them? Are these safe enough for a daily driver?
All opinions appreciated.

TIA, sparky!!!

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Overview: Fits well after a small mod to clear the shock bolts. This makes a night and day difference to my car! I would recommend anyone to buy or make ones to add to their car. It’s that different. I won’t need any re-alignment, either. The difference is dramatic, but may be the same with brass ones too. This is the only mod I’ve made recently and is well worth the $180 or so I paid for it.
Driving impressions: Wow! It’s like I added a whole new front suspension and a larger sway bar in one day. I can’t describe it well, but I can handle and speed :o much better and with more confidence than before. There’s no guessing where the front end will settle as I come in or out of corners. It’s smoother over rough roads and recovers better after acceleration or braking and around corners. With stock suspension, tires and stock sway bar (which I just noticed has the rubber starting to crack) and only upgrading to a heavy-duty export brace it corners and tracks down the highway flat and straight. I don’t notice any roll or pitching in corners and it seems to even steer lighter than before (I have manual steering). In town you notice it a bit while maneuvering (the lighter steering feel helps), but at street legal highway speeds and better, the car feels more like a new car than a 40 year old car. Now I need a set of lower bias tires so I can get rid of tire roll.

I bought roller spring perches back in March/April from "Opentracker" after reading other online review of them and after researching the benefits of them versus stock (rubber), polyurethane and brass (like the 65s had) and oil-impregnated brass bushing like those sold by Cobra Automotive and others. I chose to have them made for me as I didn't have time, experience nor equipment to make them properly., but they are simple to make and he'll supply a list of parts you can buy to make your own (or he'll sell you the parts). I installed them last night at a buddy's house and was able to test them last night. I knew why I was replacing the perches when I removed them. Not only did the stock ones not pivot, they were stuck at an angle where the spring had forced them to sit.

The product: The spring perches are just like the pictures in Opentracker's website. They are welded well and finished with a black enamel paint.

Installation: Installation requires removal of the wheel, the shock cap, shock, spring and old spring perch. You will need 2 jack stands, a good jack (you'll use it several times on each side to lift the wheel up to gain access to spring perch bolts), a spring compressor, a half inch open wrench, several sockets (1/2" deep and 1/2" standard and 9/16" short)and a 3/8" ratchet or equivalent and a short extender and long extender. The process is simple and straight forward, but helps with few tips... The old spring perch bolts are pressed in and don't unbolt from the top--there are castle nuts that unbolt from below. It helps to jack the wheel up a bit to access the underside of the upper A-arm. Total installation time (including the mods listed below) was about 2-3 hours, including R&R of everything including tires.

Modifications needed: Because the center shaft housing is larger in diameter than the originals, Opentracker crimps the center to clear the two shock bolts. I had to give each side a good whack with a wide flat screwdriver where the crimp is to give me a bit more room. The sockets just wouldn’t fit otherwise. Basically, you need to test fit the shock end bolts on the spring perch before installing. If you are able to fit two deep ½” sockets on to both bolts at the same time, you should have enough room. Another tip: Put the rubber grommets and washers on to both shock bolts before tightening down either top or bottom of the shock. Install the back bolt on first, too. You need enough play in the shock base to do this. You might also need to grind the front washer flat to have an easier installation time. You don’t have a lot of room to play there. After the bottom bolts are tightened, you can tighten the shock tower caps and the upper bolts.

I hope this description help any of you that were thinking of this modification. If there are any other angles I haven’t covered but you want to know about, let me know.

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