Attn: Steeda and anyone else thinking of making something like this

This post is on behalf of the many S197 Mustang owners here and abroad that are experiencing the infamous strut popping caused by the horribly designed plastic strut caps that cause the suspension to sound like it has 150K miles and 25 years on it. Almost anyone with lowering springs, and even many without, are experiencing this noise which is not only annoying but embarrassing.

From what we can gather, Steeda is the only company that makes heavy duty replacements that are guaranteed to fix this issue. However, these also run $300 when the cheap replacements are in the $20 range.

http://www.steeda.com/products/heavy...nts_street.php

I didn't manufacture them, I don't own the P&L for Steeda, but seriously, $300? How many sets are sitting on the shelf not being sold because of this price? How many sets would move at $200, or $150? It's one thing to protect margin, it's another to do so at the sake of lost product sales. Can you guys seriously not do better than $300? I'm amazed that after hearing of all of these problems and gloriously riding into the posts discussing your wonderful product, that you've never taken the time to even think of a group buy or to establish some sort of method to make these things more affordable. How about now? Can you folks take a few moments to look into this?

So with that said, is there anyone else out there that might be looking at making something like this? At a price point of less than $300 per set? I can't imagine how big your market would be, but if people here complaining about their suspension popping is any indication, you should be able to do pretty well.

Who else is with me on this? I need a fix for my struts popping, do you? Chime in!

 

You know my thoughts Sean, I basically told Steeda Gus the very same thing. $200 would tempt me greatly. $150 would seal the deal. $300.... I'll live with it awhile longer

 

I replaced both of mine on my 2005 when I purchased and installed a set of front lowering springs that weren't manufactured correctly. They didn't seed properly on the bearing cuz the spring was out of spec. Spring company fixed this issue, gave me a new set and installed new bearings from Ford and never had a problem since. This was almost 2 years ago now. But I hear where you are coming from though.

 

I completely agree. Steeda tends to be waaay overpriced. Their CMCV delete plates are a perfect example. For $300, they didn't even tempt me. When FRPP came out with their version for $90 (shipped!), I jumped all over it. If Steeda sold their plates for $150 from the beginning, I would have bought them right away.

 

I'd drop 120$ for a set of them but yea.. 300 is a little steep.

Till they come out with an affordable replacement or come down on the price, i'll just add that popping (it came back a few weeks ago) to the list of strange sounds my car is making... (not going to point at FORD Quality, it's just the nature of the beast when it comes to a less expensive Muscle car...

 

The Shelby GT-500 Uses a Specific Strut Mount which I would {Assume} would be Heavier Duty but I can Not Verify that. Physically the Only Difference I can See is the Mounting Studs are a Tad Longer and they are More Expensive the the Stock Base and V6 Ones. Got a Set in Stock if somebody would like to take the Plunge!

KC

 

 

I was going to buy a set from Steeda and then I saw a post where the Ford ones were 100.00 and they looked the same TOO!!!!!!

 

What strut mounts are the 07 GTs using? The regular ones that are known to pop, or something new/different?

 

05-07 v6&gt Models use the Revised 05 Part Number. The one that came out with the TSB. Shelby GT-500s Have their own Specific 07 Part Number.

 

Since you have a set in stock can you take a look at them and see if they are made of a similar composite (plastic) material as the normal GT and V6 stockers?

It's not the top portion you'll be looking at, it's the lower portion the "bearing race" that's the trouble spot.

 

BMR has some listed in their lowering package - part # SM001.

can't find it listed individually; worth a call.

 

I've had the dreaded popping/clunking/rattle at low speeds since day 1 and I'm convinced it's these mounts that are the culprit. Ford's technicians supposedly have the problem narrowed down to a "chassis" issue rather than a suspension issue, but if it truly was the chassis (unibody), then every Mustang built should have this problem, correct? I also agree with Steeda's pricing. Why is it that their Tri-Ax isn't competitive with the other shifters in price, or better yet, why have the other shifters for the S197 suddenly gotten more expensive?

 

There is a reason why they are more money. They are not a gutted stock plate. They are a machined billet aluminum plate with ports that are slightly larger than the stock plates for a better port match.

Making stuff out of aluminum nowadays is not cheap. Anyone who watches CNN or keeps track of the news I'm sure has seen the same story over and over again over the past few years on how the costs of steel and aluminum have skyrocketed. This affects companies much bigger than Steeda Autosports hence it has made national news for this reason.

Aluminum right now costs us close to 8 times what it did 3 years ago to 4 years ago. We do our best to keep the price as low as possible. But being a real multi-million dollar company with employees to provide benefits for, vs a small shop giving away parts at just over cost, you will find sometimes yes, we are higher in price than others.

Sometimes people dont compare apples to apples either. We have a shifter that competes directly with lower priced shifters. Our sport shifter http://www.steeda.com/products/steed...r_assembly.php which is a great shifter compared to its direct competitors and is priced competitively for those on a budget but want a great shifter.

As far as our strut mounts not selling. That is far from the case. They are selling quite well, in fact we have sold close to 80 sets in the past 30 days, and as more word gets out on the part sales are bound to increase.

While I agree they would sell even better if they were priced lower. We would have had to cut corners on the part in order to do it. Something we were not willing to do. There was close to 1 year's worth of R&D on this part before it was released. And by the time we went to production, the cost of materials for them was so high that the price that they are at now is where they had to be priced.

We gave customers everything they wanted out of this part. Customer asked for a solid mount that would not break apart, they asked for camber adjustment from the top of the vehicle like you could do on the previous generation of Mustangs, and they asked for the part to be quiet, unlike our original competition only mounts. On top of this, we also made this mount compatible with our upcoming coil over kit. So it can be used in either application without the customer having to buy a whole new part.

Customers are now purchasing the part in response to us listening to their needs, and we thank those that have and continue to support us.

I just wanted to make it clear we are not out to gouge the customer. We provide quality parts and service at the best price we can given materials costs and the costs it takes to run a company of our size. We did not grow to the size we have by ripping off the customer.

Gus

 

I'm probably going to break down and save up for a set soon... I have more noises in my car than in any previous car, including my 72 chevelle i used to have.

I only imagine it's going to get worse.

 

They installed a set on my car last week , along with their struts & shocks , and I have no popping sounds anymore. I personally feel they're well worth the money. BTW , I love how the struts & shocks handle ...

 

I've got some time before my struts start to make popping sounds, so I'll just wait until the aftermarket struts and strut mounts drop to realistic prices.

 

So gus, instead of hogging out of a solid block of aluminum, was a weldment of machined parts ever considered? A whole lot less material wastage. CNC from billet for aircraft mandatory, race cars sometimes, street performance / competetion ... not so sure.

 

Not sure. As far as engineering and R&D, Im not very deeply involved in the initial design and concept work as much as I am in the testing and evaluation of parts once they are designed, so I honestly can't answer that question.

Gus

 

I'm not defending Gus or Steeda here but when was the last time that you heard someone say that Steeda products were P.O.S.? I don't mind paying a premium price for a premium product. My struts aren't popping yet but when they start I'll probably spring for the mounts. Just my 2 cents~