slutz4

As title states, what is everyones opinion on both companies, and who has the better product??


Id like to get top hats for more travel and a lil lower ride

xn7

im trying to figure out this same thing, are you going to use it for all 4 corners or just 2(if u have adjustable perches)

it seems pretty hard to bottom out the fronts w/ stiff springs.

slutz4

Im goin with all four, theres also another company called NOPRO that makes them as well

Benswen

I just installed the FCM's with a 375/250 GC setup on Koni Sports - it rides better than stock, even at a very low ride height (12" front, 12.5" rear.) Actually, I had it slammed down to about 11.5" all the way around so my 13x8's would look cool, and even though the ride wasn't bad, it was scraping the crap out of my GV lip.

Thumbs up for the FCM kit (mounts, stops, boots) and Koni shocks.

STS2

I'd go with normal NB mounts, as the FCM are a modified version anyways.

What do you have now, suspension wise?

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1990 Classic Red Miata (STS/Track)
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slutz4

I dunno, check my garage , running agx's and millen springs. Planning on swapping to high rate springs with top hats. Running that till I blow the agx's and then replacing them with bilsteins

STS2

FM mounts, but NB for low budget minded person like myself .

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1990 Classic Red Miata (STS/Track)
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Caleb

They don't add travel, just make you lower.

xn7

well the top mounts let u retain travel at a lowered height.. so thats basically the same thing

actual travel can be gained by using the shorter bumpstops

Caleb

Right, but only with adjstable height springs. Even then you aren't adding travel, simply shifting the balance of compression and rebound travel.

I have FCM 46mm stops and they made a huge difference, but I can't justify $200+ for 20mm of lowering and "feel". Maybe someday.

xn7

i agree with that ^ except that it does have the same effect on fixed height springs. installing the upgraded tops effectively shifts all relevant surfaces of the upper spring perch upward vs stock.

reckless_abandon

when it comes to top hats, its same shit different hand.
chikara is nothing special, i know for a fact. but probably wont break.

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modernbeat

You could always make your own. Works best for Koni shocks with a 12mm shaft, but with a helicoil in the nut it can work for any shock.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2343497

I used this when I had Koni Yellow shocks. Worked well. It moved the shock shaft up about 3/4 of an inch, moved the spring up about one inch, dropped a bit of weight and removed the rubber out of the suspension.

xn7

nice write up.. question though, do you think it was necessary to use the gc polyurethane upper spring isolator? and how flush did it sit vs the bottom surface of that nb mount? if it has room for the isolator to flex i don't think that would be good..

Sean Jay!

FAT CAT OR ELSE

xn7

^lol

i was just looking at the fat cat setup, the 1 piece that is "special" is the 10x.125 or 12x1.25 nut with extended shaft,

i was going to go with FCM or one of the others but now im considering custom.. seems easy enough thanks to modernbeat ^, if i can find a 10x1.25. 12x1.25 is much more common..

Caleb

Try it! and take pics!
I made this up a while ago when I was thinking of trying :wink:

xn7

any idea where to get the 10x1.25s??

i know my local stores don't carry anything like this, ive tried

modernbeat

AFAIK, there isn't an easy to find nut like that. You can use an ATV mag wheel lug nut or you can use a helicoil inside the 12x1.25. I've seen the helicoil method used and it worked well. The guy did epoxy the helicoil into the lugnut and then cleaned it up with a tap.

You don't have to use the isolator. I was afraid of the spring skewing but in subsequent versions I've left the isolator off. Everything worked just fine.

modernbeat

I got a tip that Banjo Nuts used in brake systems may be the ticket.

See this for an example:

http://www.tpr-racing.nl/index.php?p...emart&Itemid=1

xn7

nice find. i plan on calling around some hardware suppliers to see if they have anything in spec.

Mechazawa

You can get a bag of 50 or 100 or something for like $7.00 from Mcmaster-carr.

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modernbeat

Have you got a part number so everyone else doesn't have to thumb through the 10,000 page catalog?

slutz4

If we can find a place to get the rest of the parts that would ben sick

modernbeat

I sourced the parts from the following places:
Koni Shocks = Goodwin Racing
GC kit and bumpstops = GroundControl online store
NB Shock Tops = Mazda Salvage Specialist or Mazda Motorsports
All the misc hardware was purchased at PepBoys including the hose, the bushings, the lug nuts and the thick washers
I bought the aluminum rod for the adjuster tool from a local hobby shop. Glue came from a local Ace hardware shop.

All the important parts from PepBoys show the part numbers in the photos.

Jeff_nc

I just installed NB mounts on my NA (this thread gave me the idea). I got the whole suspension from an NB for $70 and then went to Pep Boys and got 8 washers and 2 bushings for about $7. I cut each bushing in half and sandwiched those halves onto the strut mount with the washers... works perfect. I also re-used the NB bump stops instead of the NA's.

I was going to buy the Chikara mounts, but then I saw this thread and realized I could save myself some money by building my own.

Now my car doesn't bottom out anymore and it's a little lower.

Sid

fat cats and chikara are the same thing... just NB mounts in kit form.

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klutchmaster

Nobody mentioned ISC racing top mounts.
http://www.iscracing.net/Miata_suspension.htm

Ham

Uh it's been mentioned plenty of times.

Search?

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slutz4

this thread is ancient. My originally post was over a year ago...