Does anyone have experience with the King Pin Overhaul Kits from NewElms Rutherford Engineering? Can the $1000 installed price be justified by significantly improving ride and handling for non-spirited, around town driving? It seems as though the Suplex upgrade works as advertised, but the price may not be similarly justified. Your thoughts.
I think it might be a good idea to do a bit more analysis of what's wrong with your existing setup first, including taking a few measurements. That would help being able to make the judgement as to whether spending the money is going to be worthwhile.
For example:
What year is your car?
What weight is it?
What is the castor angle? - steeper angled cars had 4 degrees and tend to wobble and shake more than the later 6 degree cars
What size wheels and tyres do you have?
Is steering via box or rack? - if it's a rack then you've probably got 6 degrees of castor
What rating are the current main springs? If they are the originals and more than 20 years old, they're probably knackered.
What are the kingpins made of?
When were they last rebored and honed?
What make are the front shocks absorbers/dampers?
Do you have damper blades fitted?
How often do you grease your front suspension?
Is the rebound spring free at static ride height?
What exactly is wrong with the current ride? Do you need more compliance?
What is wrong with the handling? Do you get Malvern dance?
What is wrong with the roadholding? Does it understeer of oversteer?
If your rebound spring is under compression at SRH, then the simplest way to improve your suspension is to simply cut a couple of coils off - crude, but cheap and reasonably effective.
Or, if it's not been touched for a while, it could be that a thorough overhaul of the existing setup might be all that's needed. Or if you are running mild steel kingpins and old shock absorbers, then the Four Elms kit (stainless kingpins, new bushes, AVO shocks) would definitely be worth considering. If it's more compliance and ride comfort you need over rough surfaces, then the Suplex kit AND hard chrome kingpins should sort you out.
How much money you spend is of course up to you, but for me, money spent on improving the way the car goes, handles and stops is always money well spent.
