KW's Plastic spring perches?

akina335 · 05-11-2011, 10:22 AM

So I just installed KW Clubsports (thanks to Julius@wheelsto) on my M3 and there are a few things I noticed. On the plus side, the bump adjustment is now an adjustment knob and not the small allen bolt that I've seen in pictures. Same goes for the rear, maybe the old ones here knobs too, though. But the one thing that I noticed (and I couldn't tell from pictures) is that the front spring perch is made of plastic. That kind of scares me to be honest.

A simple google search brought me to 2-3 stories of the spring perches either stripping or failing. I also found (through google search) that the spring perches aren't really made of plastic, but rather aluminum with a plastic coating. It's not only the current ones, either. I've seen some posts on here from maybe 2008 on a V3 install and it too had plastic perches (looks just like mine). They are also plastic looking on some Clubsports I'm looking to get for my S2000 as well. Can anyone chime in here? KW maybe?

rzm3 · 05-11-2011, 11:28 AM

It's polyamide. Used to reduce NVH. The Clubsport, after all, is street biased and designed for 70/30 street/track. KW does offer full aluminum perches you can install on your CS from their competition line if needed.

kitw · 05-11-2011, 11:56 AM

I've only seen KW perches fail with heat. I know a few race teams that found them to not work because of their inability to resist high temperatures... For street and mild track use (ie most mortal drivers) you're not really going to have a problem, because from a material perspective, they are as hardy as the typical aluminum perches.

LateBraking · 05-11-2011, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akina335

So I just installed KW Clubsports (thanks to Julius@wheelsto) on my M3 and there are a few things I noticed. On the plus side, the bump adjustment is now an adjustment knob and not the small allen bolt that I've seen in pictures. Same goes for the rear, maybe the old ones here knobs too, though.

Sorry for OT akina335, but just curious about this myself, I have KW CS on order. Any pics of this? Thanks.~

akina335 · 05-11-2011, 08:14 PM

Cool! It looks like I would need special spanner wrenches for these. Does that sound right? If so, is this also something I can get from KW?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rldzhao

It's polyamide. Used to reduce NVH. The Clubsport, after all, is street biased and designed for 70/30 street/track. KW does offer full aluminum perches you can install on your CS from their competition line if needed.

akina335 · 05-11-2011, 08:15 PM

I'll have to check when I have access to my camera.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateBraking

Sorry for OT akina335, but just curious about this myself, I have KW CS on order. Any pics of this? Thanks.~

LateBraking · 05-12-2011, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akina335

I'll have to check when I have access to my camera.

Thanks in advance!

rzm3 · 05-12-2011, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akina335

Cool! It looks like I would need special spanner wrenches for these. Does that sound right? If so, is this also something I can get from KW?

The spanner wrenches are pretty standard and are readily available.

You can purchase the perches/collars from any distributor of KW Competition products.

akina335 · 05-13-2011, 01:34 AM

Got a chance to look at the pics I took and none of them show the bottom adjustment knobs very well. Sorry!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateBraking

Thanks in advance!

05-11-2011, 10:22 AM	#1
akina335 Second Lieutenant 60 Rep 277 Posts Drives: a car Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: CA iTrader: (2)	KW's Plastic spring perches? So I just installed KW Clubsports (thanks to Julius@wheelsto) on my M3 and there are a few things I noticed. On the plus side, the bump adjustment is now an adjustment knob and not the small allen bolt that I've seen in pictures. Same goes for the rear, maybe the old ones here knobs too, though. But the one thing that I noticed (and I couldn't tell from pictures) is that the front spring perch is made of plastic. That kind of scares me to be honest. A simple google search brought me to 2-3 stories of the spring perches either stripping or failing. I also found (through google search) that the spring perches aren't really made of plastic, but rather aluminum with a plastic coating. It's not only the current ones, either. I've seen some posts on here from maybe 2008 on a V3 install and it too had plastic perches (looks just like mine). They are also plastic looking on some Clubsports I'm looking to get for my S2000 as well. Can anyone chime in here? KW maybe? __________________
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05-11-2011, 11:28 AM	#2
rzm3 Moderator 673 Rep 4,737 Posts Drives: E92 M3 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: USA iTrader: (18)	It's polyamide. Used to reduce NVH. The Clubsport, after all, is street biased and designed for 70/30 street/track. KW does offer full aluminum perches you can install on your CS from their competition line if needed. Attached Images
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05-11-2011, 11:56 AM	#3
kitw Colonel 471 Rep 2,991 Posts Drives: F91 M8, 991.2 GT3 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (20)	I've only seen KW perches fail with heat. I know a few race teams that found them to not work because of their inability to resist high temperatures... For street and mild track use (ie most mortal drivers) you're not really going to have a problem, because from a material perspective, they are as hardy as the typical aluminum perches. __________________ DSC_3369 by Kit W, on Flickr
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