Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension ground control bearing upgrade w/ pictures

Check out this thread on NECO, an upgrade to the standard front roller bearings on a ground control setup have been found...

Well looky here! We "found" one too!
Check the thread in the "Group Buy" forum.

Coming soon to a CDW27 near you!

I thought about that design also, but decided against it for the following reasons.

1. Price - frankly they are overkill and I'm sure they won't be 10$ shipped overnight for both bearings.

2. They are too tall and differ far too much from the original design of the kit. With these bearings you are raising the height of the entire kit by another 1/2" or more compared to what it was designed to do.

3. The "problem" why we are busting bearings is because the bearing would bore a hole into the upper perch (bearing was just slightly bigger than hole). Once halfway through the hole, then next bump you hit you destroy the bearing. All you really need is a bearing with a larger O/D.

Don't forget Ground Control uses the style bearing (Steel Needle-Roller Thrust Bearings) for all their coil over kits, not just the Cougar/Contour, unfortunatly they used a bearing with too small an O/D for the cougar/contour kit.

In conclusion I'm not trying to dog another idea, I'm just saying that the same results while maintaining the original configuration of the kit can be achieved for 10$ shipped to your door.

PuckPuck, I see where you guys are coming from with the affordability of your kit. And I hope I didn't come out as agressive.

The kit we will be selling is a lot more expensive, like you stated it is complete overkill, but at this point I had just had it with mine. We're not in for the money anyways and I wasn't aware of the availability of your solution. I guess that would be a great opportunity for those that are more on a budget.

Antonio is running a set of our bearings, without the dust boots and I recall that he liked the difference it made in the steering's feel. They nicely wheigh it down to a really solid feel, I don't remember if stock was like that or not, but the GC kit wasn't for sure..

Maybe you guys could look into a dust boot of some sort? I agree that the weight causes the failure but for the people that drive in a lot of road salt and grime, I think dirt contamination can really speed things up. The dust boot we're using seals out the assembly as it rests against the aluminium top hat and is held on to the bearing cup at the top. We're hoping that this will add to the longevity of the whole system.

EDIT: There's another problem with the original GC kit.. As the bearing takes a "set" in the upper black mounting cup, it's so thin that you can have the aluminium CG hat contact the black hat. At that point they bind together and the black hat starts rotating in the strut tower, acting as a bearing. Thus destroying them and causing you to need the 30$ pieces that BAT is selling.

Mine are worn down so thin that the centering cap that goes topside under that last bolt in the engine compartment doesn't even touch the strut tower any more... leaving the strut to potentially come off-center while cornering, fcuking up the alignment. Bad. The thick bearing definitely prevents this from happening.

You do lose around 3/8" drop potential. I was't running at the bottom so I didn't consider that...

Puck, found the page for the bearings but do not know exactly what to look for. Have a part number by any chance?? Size of the bearings?

Seen Silversvts kit, and it should last the life of the car. Period. The other upgrade, i am not so sure...Maybe if you live in a nice, low dust environment...

Overkill is good when you don't want to do it again...Height is not an issue in Montreal. You have to have balls of steel to lower an svt all the way here, even with the 3/8" height increase...

The pakrat - i've put the part numbers in that link, it's like the last message or something now

mangler - ever drive around in the Detroit area?
I slam my cougar with a GFX kit and sit 2" from the ground (no joke), and i'll drive around town like that.... now that is balls of steel...
as for dust, that's not really an issue, the problem is not getting dirt in the assembly, but rather the bearing boring a hole through the upper spring seat.

Detroit, Montreal, whatever.. we all seem to think we have the worst roads. For the record, I'd still lower it more but I'd have to leave it outside at night.. and at 25K$ you bet I'm gonna use that fcuking underground parking I bought in our building.. I draw the line there.

PuckPuck, as far as the bearing kit goes, one of my originals was crushed, but the other one was rusted solid, seized from salt contamination. No other damage.. You can't say this is not an issue. That's the only reason we'd been looking at a protective boot.. and found one!

When are these due out? I need them bad!

http://www.contour.org/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=46;t=000409

Just to reference - Detroit roads have been named worst roads in North America many years in a row (except this year they are 3rd worse).

I am french and have much family in Trois-Rivieres, I do drive through Montreal occasionally and I can tell you compared to Detroit, you are blessed.

anyhow that's not the point, I just checked my bearings again last night and they are in perfect condition, either case to each his own.