FCM bumpstops installed
 

Just wanted to give props to Paul. He suggested that i should change my bumpstops cause the car was riding really rough on bumps. So i went and ordered some FAT CAT MOTORSPORTS bumpstops after talking to Shaikh about them. We installed the back 2 on monday and we did the fronts today. Damm, it really made a big difference.

I will be ordering some soon, tired of worrying if my tires are going to rub the fenders every time I hit a bump!

actually, if you are currently running the factory NA bumpstops it is more likely your tires will rub if you switch to the FCM ones.

That would be the case for anyone using the factory bumpstops yes, but most people who have not upgraded their bumpstops but have lowered their car have cut their oem bumpstops. If they didn't they would be sitting on the bumpstops all the time. However, this makes for a really rough ride since the oem stop is progressive and when you cut it you've cut out the soft portion and left just the solid hard part for the shock to hit.
+1 on the FCM bumpstops. If you want to do yourself one better, try Shaikh's shock mounts too.

Made a big difference on mine too, gives about 1-1.5" more travel before hitting the bumpstop.

+19

I love me my FCM stuff.

i placed an order and sent an email on monday when i helped paul and artie do the bumpstops and haven't heard anything back yet, i would like my set too lol

I've got mine in the front, I still have to do the rears. have not driven enough to tell a difference yet.

What length bumpstops did you purchase?

36mm linear front and rear, that what artieparty has and that what I just ordered

I'm just waiting for my stuff to come in. I got 4 mounts and 46mm bumpstops up front with 36mm in back. I'm glad to hear it's good stuff.

what is your shock/spring setup?

im running stock 95 R package suspension (with new bump stops of course). its got 84K on it right now.

How much was it? (their on my list)

If somebody needs just bumpstops, I'm pretty sure I have a new set of 54mm, and a used set of 46mm sitting around.

i paid 44 shipped for the 4 36mm bumps and 4 washers.

I run Shaikh's bump stops on my '95 R package E-Stock car. He was nice enough to give them to me to try before Nationals last year in exchange for running his decals on my car. They are a great product and me and my wife won the ES championships on his stops and Ryan Buetzer won CS on them in a '99 miata as well.

i haven't used my fat cat stuff that i bought yet, so no comment there. But i will say the service i recieved was terrible. Website says stuff will ship in 2 weeks, if not you will be contacted. That never happened and he never responded to any of the several emails i sent, finally got my parts 6 weeks later, maybe more. if i did that at my job i'd be fired so i consider it unacceptable.

Odd, that's very unlike Shaikh. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with FCM. Usually his customer service and turn around time are top notch - let's remember, this is one guy handling an entire company from sales to advertising to doing every single custom shock rebuild with his own hands. And his products aren't just generic go-fast parts, they're top of the line race-worthy stuff that have all been tested, revised, and tested again until they are just right before ever even being available to buy. That takes time (a LOT of time). If I was trying to do all that, I don't think I'd be able to keep all the customer orders, emails, phone calls, etc. straight for more than one day.
-Ryan

mine took a long time to ship too. 3 weeks, if I recall.

Shaikh drove to my work place to drop off my bump stops :D Talk about awesome customer service!

For fooooooooooooooks sake don't fit the Fatcat bumpstops on used AGX's.

Fitted mine about 2 weeks ago, foooooooooookin 2 shocks popped on the 3 mile drive home, emailed fatcat and he said yea he knew about this problem on KYB AGX shocks and would put a notice up on his site.

Bit late for me though :vash:

what do you mean popped?

Front right and rear left seals popped, pissing oil everywhere inside the inner wings and on me garage floor.

honestly I dont see how the bumpstops would of done that. How low are you running your car?, AGXs dont take being really low and stiff too well

Total was $314 with some change. On the website it says that your order will ship in 3 weeks. I don't think that is unreasonable.

I had great service when I called. He helped me pick out what I needed. He even called me back when he said he would.

i still haven't heard anything......

Had the AGX's fitted with the kit for 5 years, ride height is/was 12.5" front 13" rear.

Removed the cut down bumpstops, not 1 drop of oil.

Fitted the Fatcat bumpstops after a 3 miles drive there was 2 pools of oil on me garage floor from where 2 shocks had pissed themselves.


Fatacats explanation is that the shocks get work over a certain length, if the bumpstops are shortend you then use the shocks out of this range and it pops the seal.


Measured me shock shaft and theres not even 1mm of wear so it sounds like bollox to me, i recon the 43mm bumpstops allow the AGX to over compress popping the seals.



Cheers
Mark

what spring rates are you running?

Who me?

AGX seals are marginally decent quality at best. When you buy them new and isntall them, whatever given range of motion you use them at with X springs and Y shock mounts and Z bump stops will wear those seals in for that range because they are used to just that range of motion. When you change one of those factors after using the AGX's for a while with one given setup, the seals will blow oil because the range of motion has been changed. Not FatCat's fault - it's AGX's fault. They know this can happen because I installed rear shock mounts and blew both of my AGX rears. Because I had been on my AGX's with stock shock mounts for 30k miles. I switched to used Koni rears and they are perfectly fine. Everyone who has Konis who adds these reports no problems. The problem is KYB doesn't use high enough quality seals to be able to handle range of motion changes after long use with one given setup.

yes

It's the Ground Control kit so it comes with 375lb/in and 250lb/in springs.

As i say though these were the exact same springs i'd run the 5 years previous.
The only thing i did was fit the new bumpstops.

I understand that the seals in the AGX's could well be shite.
But if i was being sceptical i could of course say that's something i can't really prove or disprove so it also acts as a pretty good cop out.

I could also say that knowing that now does me no fooooooooookin good what-so-ever does it ;)
Me shocks i'll still be fooooooked.


I've sorted it now, was pointed towards some very slightly used Tein Flexs so fitted those last week, cars different again, it really brings home just how shite the AGX's are/were.
Needless to say i'll not be changing these bumpstops ;)



Cheers
Mark

Shaikh is always easier to get hold of via phone FWIW. Some people don't sit on the computer all day.

Frank