Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm sorry you went through all that, but I can still see a way that some of us might use the G40 with success.
I was the first person to order Flatout GR+ coil-overs but for the purposes of this discussion, there is no difference. I highly suggest you search my user name and Flatout and you will find a lot of info. There has been a production change since I got mine, that involves the sway bar mount, on the front strut, now being welded rather than adjustable and I can see the pros and cons of that. I believe most/all of Victors problems came from a bad installation, as I've had numerous conversations with him. What I suggest, if you aren't installing them yourself, is to get someone you fully trust to install them right the first time! Measure your ride height at all four fenders and all 4 jack points, prior to the installation. Give your installer those numbers and tell them you want X amount of lift. I recommend a minimum of 1.5" in front and 1" in the rear. If going over 2" in front, you should probably buy a front subframe drop. If going up 1.5" or more you should use a rear subframe drop. I believe the GR40 now comes with (?) brake line relocation brackets, for the rear and you will want to use them for anything more than 1.5". My BS is now lifted 2" front and rear, which I did in a series of increments but I recommend you do it all at once. A more conservative 1.75" F&R may not be a bad idea.
I'm in absolute agreement here. It was not the product, but rather the installation. While the installer has assisted in an install with us personally, they are primarily a Subaru shop. I think between our install and Victors, a lot of the little details were forgotten (we weren't present) which lead to a lot of the issues. The installer has since bowed out of wanting to do anything but Subaru.
Thank you for sharing all that. Great videos too! How's your friend in the Subaru doing with his off-road adventures? Similar suspension setup?
I've had coil-over suspension upgrades for many vehicles and can say I haven't had too many issues with a pretty wide variety of aftermarket units. I think it can work wonders over an OE setup. Even my street cars with very little suspension travel in stock form were fine. About the only other thing I'd add is that some of this depends on your tolerance to the inherent squeaks and rattles that come with the territory. On that note, is there a big difference with noises between your GR Lite and GR40 units?
There's no difference in noise between any model. If you get a camber plate, you might hear a little chatter, but a GR Lite with an OEM Hybrid acts just the same as the GR40 with the hybrid. We have the GR Plus on our Bronco (camber plate) and it's perfectly quiet. I've had several people comment that they've never experienced coilovers like this and thought they all rode rough.
Why not come in at the middle? Our GR Plus is basically a GR40 just without the reservoirs. We even (as of writing) have one in stock:
We market the GR Lite as a daily driver, occasional offroader that maybe just drives offroad mildly. Here's a breakdown on the variations if you haven't seen it...
Same, it's amazing what a proper suspension can do.
My Subaru friend, has the same 11" of ground clearance but he is still on stock struts but with strut top spacers and other suspension parts. He followed us, for everything except for the last downhill decent, to the exit, after we made a wrong turn and had to back out. He did everything we did but wasn't real happy about some of it. He also got stuck in one mud hole and had to winch himself out. He does have a nice setup.
Very nice. I'm impressed with that all around. I have a neighbor with an Outback and spacers for a bit of lift (same stock struts though). Really, only the CVT holds it back. Approach/departure angles could be better, but seems the CVT is the weak link.
Awesome videos. This is what I am working on doing as well as far as trails are concerned.
