Ben Herman
Member
All the parts I bought were the largest Firm Feel offered. Overall everything was great and I'd recommend them to everyone.
I have finally got my car moving again with all 4 wheels on the ground. Everything is installed except the rear sway bar as I'll have to reroute the exhaust a bit as well as my fuel lines (both aftermarket). It did take a very long time to get everything in but I did tell them I wasn't in any rush as I have no heated place to work in the winter. There was one unfortunate delay after some welds on one part came out cosmetically bad and he wanted to remake the part. If I remember correctly this was the rear sway bar.
The Install:
Overall it went well. All the parts an pieces looked perfect, were finished perfect, and were wrapped like they were your grandma's china. Almost everything fit perfect with the exception of the pins on the leafs being about 25 thou too fat for the sway bar mounting plate and the axle hole. This sucked to learn when the first leaf was hung so I had to file it in place. For the second I was able to measure and plan ahead.
I didn't expect the front sway bar to attach differently but once I had the instruction it went smoothly. It looks more stout that stock and my stock strut rods had bends where the sway bar attached.
The nylock nuts on the pins are a bit of a trick to get the pin to not rotate with the nut. The first one went great but I still think I might need to grab a couple jam nuts to ensure the second is actually as tight as I want it. I also found out that due to my exhaust routing the torsion bars have to go in from the front so make sure to do that before putting the LCA on. lock rings for the back of the torsion bars were a bit too small so I reused the factory wire ones.
The tube UCAs went quickly and easily. A little tapping with a rubber mallet to help guide them in line for the bolts and there they were.
There were a couple bits missing from my quote (which I didn't notice either) That I tried to order from Firm Feel then ordered elsewhere when they never got back to me after calling to pay my invoice. They've been busy and I didn't follow up so I don't hold it against anyone. I ordered some strut rod bushings from Prothane (for a B body iirc) and got some parts store U bolts for the axle.
The "Finished" Product:
First of all it was worth every penny and it felt a little silly putting all this nice stuff on my raggedy old car. The car is noticeably stiffer but not in any way too much. I haven't gone terribly fast yet but there is no body roll. The car feels tight and goes where I point it versus the previous "steering the ship" feeling of all my ruined rubber.
There is noise from the polyurethane bushing but it seems to only be in the rear shackles. I may have over tightened them and need to take a look and possibly back it off a bit. This can only be heard when pushing on the car while it is off and parked. There is no audible noise while driving of any kind.
The first bit of my drive as always was my sketchy driveway. This is where you hear any rattles or creative noises from things bottoming out. The car flexed just the right amount to not be violent but also not take a bite of dirt. Once on the road I found out I forgot to top up 6 months worth of leaky transmission. Once that was done it did the rest of the test drive uneventfully. The only adventure was the tree that wasn't in the road when I went by the fist time but was 2 minutes later after I turned around. I had it about 80% of the way when other folks started getting out of their cars to help...
Once I got home I confirmed all the bolts where where I put them and gave it a bath.
I have finally got my car moving again with all 4 wheels on the ground. Everything is installed except the rear sway bar as I'll have to reroute the exhaust a bit as well as my fuel lines (both aftermarket). It did take a very long time to get everything in but I did tell them I wasn't in any rush as I have no heated place to work in the winter. There was one unfortunate delay after some welds on one part came out cosmetically bad and he wanted to remake the part. If I remember correctly this was the rear sway bar.
The Install:
Overall it went well. All the parts an pieces looked perfect, were finished perfect, and were wrapped like they were your grandma's china. Almost everything fit perfect with the exception of the pins on the leafs being about 25 thou too fat for the sway bar mounting plate and the axle hole. This sucked to learn when the first leaf was hung so I had to file it in place. For the second I was able to measure and plan ahead.
I didn't expect the front sway bar to attach differently but once I had the instruction it went smoothly. It looks more stout that stock and my stock strut rods had bends where the sway bar attached.
The nylock nuts on the pins are a bit of a trick to get the pin to not rotate with the nut. The first one went great but I still think I might need to grab a couple jam nuts to ensure the second is actually as tight as I want it. I also found out that due to my exhaust routing the torsion bars have to go in from the front so make sure to do that before putting the LCA on. lock rings for the back of the torsion bars were a bit too small so I reused the factory wire ones.
The tube UCAs went quickly and easily. A little tapping with a rubber mallet to help guide them in line for the bolts and there they were.
There were a couple bits missing from my quote (which I didn't notice either) That I tried to order from Firm Feel then ordered elsewhere when they never got back to me after calling to pay my invoice. They've been busy and I didn't follow up so I don't hold it against anyone. I ordered some strut rod bushings from Prothane (for a B body iirc) and got some parts store U bolts for the axle.
The "Finished" Product:
First of all it was worth every penny and it felt a little silly putting all this nice stuff on my raggedy old car. The car is noticeably stiffer but not in any way too much. I haven't gone terribly fast yet but there is no body roll. The car feels tight and goes where I point it versus the previous "steering the ship" feeling of all my ruined rubber.
There is noise from the polyurethane bushing but it seems to only be in the rear shackles. I may have over tightened them and need to take a look and possibly back it off a bit. This can only be heard when pushing on the car while it is off and parked. There is no audible noise while driving of any kind.
The first bit of my drive as always was my sketchy driveway. This is where you hear any rattles or creative noises from things bottoming out. The car flexed just the right amount to not be violent but also not take a bite of dirt. Once on the road I found out I forgot to top up 6 months worth of leaky transmission. Once that was done it did the rest of the test drive uneventfully. The only adventure was the tree that wasn't in the road when I went by the fist time but was 2 minutes later after I turned around. I had it about 80% of the way when other folks started getting out of their cars to help...
Once I got home I confirmed all the bolts where where I put them and gave it a bath.
