Vick Shock & Spring Set

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Frog2Spider
Patron 2018
Patron 2018
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:48 pm
Your car is a: 1981 2000 Spider
Location: Vancouver, Washington

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby Frog2Spider » Wed Mar 29, 2017 11:49 pm

Yo familyman,
The Koni 's are very 'dear', but damn, I'm glad I got them. My next choice would be Vick's (62-7344) set of 4 for $175.00. I don't care for the Gabriel brand, and I wouldn't deal with Midwest.
Dave.
Always looking for curves under blue skies!
Frog2Spider

'81 - 2000 Spider

mbovino
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:49 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Fiat 2000

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby mbovino » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:33 am

I just put a set of Vick's springs on all four corners along with conventional (not gas filled) shocks. My car is a 1980, but I retrofitted it with old-style chrome bumpers. The ride height looks about right though. When installing the springs, I loosened all of the suspension pivot points (A-frame and trailing arm bushings) then preloaded the interior with six bags of softener salt before retightening all of the suspension pivot points so as not to overstress the bushings when driving. My only knock about the Vick's springs is that the coil ends are ground flat which do not register well in the receiving cups that are designed for an open spring termination. Grinding off six or so inches on both ends would fix that, but I wanted to be sure of the ride height before I removed any material so I installed them as is. My car is not yet back on the road so I can't attest to the ride quality but I expect it to be fine, if a bit on the stiff side.

vandor
Posts: 3996
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby vandor » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:39 am

mbovino wrote: My only knock about the Vick's springs is that the coil ends are ground flat which do not register well in the receiving cups that are designed for an open spring termination.


I wonder if that's because they were designed for a different car? We designed our springs specifically for the Spider and we tested three different heights before settling for what we had produced (here in the USA). We specified the same type ends as on the stock springs, obviously.
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town

familyman
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:24 pm
Your car is a: 80 Spider

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby familyman » Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:31 pm

Thanks, mbovino, for your feedback. That is the information I needed. But now I have another question. Does anyone have experience with cutting one coil off the stock springs and keeping the tubular bumpers? Keep in mind that this car needs virtually everything, so I am cutting some corners in areas I can easily upgrade in a few years after I get it on the road. So, any experience out there with ride height and ride qualities with one coil removed?

ebrown0104
Posts: 92
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 10:24 pm
Your car is a: 1977 Spider
Location: Jeannette, PA

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby ebrown0104 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 4:52 pm

familyman wrote: Does anyone have experience with cutting one coil off the stock springs and keeping the tubular bumpers?

I removed my tube bumpers a little while ago and I cut about 1-1/2 coils off the front and 1-1/4 off the back to compensate for the height difference (and I also wanted to lower the car some). With a set of fairly worn-out shocks the ride quality didn't change appreciably between being original height and being cut.

I just replaced the shocks with Vick's Hydrasports within the past month, and the ride is definitely much better now. My old shocks had pretty much no compression damping left, so when I'd hit an expansion joint or pothole the suspension would crash. It now rides just a little more firmly, but takes bigger bumps with much more composure. The main reason I've stayed away from replacement springs is because I'm afraid that they will take the ride quality too far into the sporty ride territory. With the stock springs and Vick's shocks it's a perfect combo of being sporty while still being comfortable.

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So Cal Mark
Posts: 13839
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:45 pm
Your car is a: Fiat
Location: upland, ca.

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby So Cal Mark » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:10 pm

cutting the stock springs will make the ride much harsher. The problem with cutting the rear springs is that you end up with no tension on the springs when the rear end is hanging at the end of it's travel. That shouldn't be a big problem until you either jack the car up or go over a bump that unweights the rear end. Either situation can allow the spring to come off it's seat and not go back in once the car has weight on it again
Mark Allison
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familyman
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:24 pm
Your car is a: 80 Spider

Re: Vick Shock & Spring Set

Postby familyman » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:10 pm

ebrown0104 wrote:I removed my tube bumpers a little while ago and I cut about 1-1/2 coils off the front and 1-1/4 off the back to compensate for the height difference.


Why did you remove more from the front springs? I would think this would cause the nose to sit lower than the rear.


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