QBM Converstion

[wegal]

Will the QBM converstion work on my 06 plate S60 ? I have emailed to ask but had no reply. Is there a UK supplier ?

[wegal]

too late lol.... my impaitence got the better of me. The shipping was as much as the part lol... heres hoping it turns up, didnt fancy the homemade bodge version of it.

[straight5]

Hi Wegal, Where did you buy it and, if you don't mind me asking how much does it cost? Does it have to come over from the US? I will be interested to hear what affect it has.

[wegal]

I got it from vivaperformance.com and yes it has to come from the USA. The unit was $109 and shipping was another $97 !!!!!!! All in its about £140 quid which is pretty expensive but its about the price of a good quality strut brace and with this fitted thats exactly what you have.

It has been shipped today so service is pretty good takes about 5 days to get here, then Ill let you know how it feels.

[straight5]

Looking at the qbm website it looks as though if you leave the standard bushes and do this conversion you can have the best of both worlds....ie a lot more rigidity without too much vibration and noise. I like the idea of tightening up the handling, but not losing too much comfort

[RobbieH]

too late lol.... my impaitence got the better of me. The shipping was as much as the part lol... heres hoping it turns up, didnt fancy the homemade bodge version of it.

Any reason why not?
I did look at the QBM bits but thought "ouch" with the price and shipping combined. That's why I got a pair of mounts off a scrapper to play with first, only cost a tennerish.
My next step, now I know the thing works, is to bore out the original bushes and get a couple of inserts made up at work (turn down some steel or aluminium rod) so the whole thing will be that much more rigid and equivalent to a solid moulding like the QBM.

[wegal]

Cos If you give me two spanners I cant even play you a tune im that cack with em.

No more seriously, if you where to have a serious accident and the police examined your car how do you think a home made mod would go down ? Not well. Also try telling your insurance company that you have modified the cars suspension...... with something you knocked up in the garage ?

Im sure there is nothing wrong with the home made bits, I just dont want them on my car.

[thebadger]

The bits in question are not a suspension component... so there is no charge to answer!

All you would be doing is removing a non vital bush from a standard component!

The general principle is sound... I guess the beans are missing off your diy plate... I did it & have felt a big difference in the performance!

I just lack the funny money for a US shipping bill!

Will you get a local garage to fit these bits wegal?

[wegal]

No Im pretty certain I can undo and retighten 6 bolts, just didnt want to be hacking away at lumps of metal....

[thebadger]

A file & a hack saw... not really an engineering degree!

The washers are £5.

I like having £135!

[wegal]

135 quid.... oh well thats just one night without a hooker and a line of coke !

[thebadger]

Stuff the hooker!

Nahh, I'll blow it on fuel!

[wegal]

Stuff the hooker!




Always thought that was the idea with a hooker looool.

[thebadger]

Only when the other ride is better!

[wegal]

Arrived yesterday.... fitted yesterday.

First thing to notice is that there is a very strong exhaust resonance between 2500 and 3000 rpm under heavy acceleration, doesnt do it under normal load, only when you boot it. Handling wise to be honest its not that much different, feels a bit more together under heavy right foot, bit less torque steer, cornering wise, well I cant tell the difference.

All in all not worth the money.... I would say its not even worth the time it would take to make one of these let alone buy one. Save your money for the coke and the hooker.

[dave stew]

I haven't tried one so my comment certainly isn't gospel - but - it also depends on the condition of the suspension. My dampers are very tired so I'm waiting until I have new dampers along with the recently fitted new wishbone bushes before I modify the brace bar into a strut brace.

[cornclose]

Hmm, this was on my list of 'things to do'. Not sure I'll bother now. I guess if your suspension is in good order in the first place then it's not worth it.

PS - wanna sell it ? lol :daisy:

[wegal]

Mines only got 37K on it with the 4C chassis so the suspension is still pretty sorted. The Chassis on mine is pretty stiff anyway so a strut brace was never going to revolutionise the handling. It does feel a bit more neutral into corners but to be honest with the 4C chassis and the DSTC its pretty neutral anyway. I can see this might help on a car with normal traction control and without the 4C but the whole point of the 4C is to make the car feel more neutral which it does very well.

In short ( and its only my opinion) If you have a newish car with DSTC and 4C its not worth the money. On an older or less well spec'd car its probably going to make a difference....

and no I dont want to sell it... I quite like the noise it makes lol.

[straight5]

I guess best thing you can do to improve handling and traction is better shocks and lower springs. Surely doing those makes far more noticable difference than doing this conversion or changing all the bushes to poly. What do you reckon? I currently have my car bog standard, and if and when I can afford to do something to the handling I want to get it right first time.

[dave stew]

I guess best thing you can do to improve handling and traction is better shocks and lower springs. Surely doing those makes far more noticable difference than doing this conversion or changing all the bushes to poly. What do you reckon? I currently have my car bog standard, and if and when I can afford to do something to the handling I want to get it right first time.


Agreed. Poly bushes and strut braces alone won't make vast differences if the springs/dampers are stock. They will make the suspension work better and keep the wheels in the position that they were designed to, but won't make any discernable difference to how the car handles.

For example, if your front wishbone bushes are worn, replacing them with poly items will dramatically reduce torque steer as the front wheels are better located and less likely to squirm around, they won't reduce the amount the car understeers. To do that you have to play around with other things (eg add a thicker rear anti-roll bar).

Everything in suspension design is a compromise, a stiffer, lowered car will roll less in corners and put the power down better, but will of course be less comfortable and have less ground clearance.

I am going to fit Bilstien B6 dampers with standard springs and poly bush any critical components.

[wegal]

By far the biggest improvement to your handling will be new springs and shocks. You may find that the car is sat on its original running gear so in your case straight it could all be 8 years old ! Just changing the old for a like for like new will make a noticable difference, Lowering the car and putting stiffer springs and shocks will improve the cornering but will make the ride rougher for day to day use. Like most things its a compromise, however making sure that the major components of your suspension are in good condition has to be the first step to improving the handling. I personally dont like PU bushes, they are very harsh for not a lot of improvement. Most people fit PU at the same time as new suspension parts and then say that the PU improved things where in truth the new suspension components have made the improvement.

Personally I dont really like lowered cars, my preference is to get springs that are the same length but have them made stiffer ( loads of companies about that can do that) with a harder shock, that way you kill the body roll without having you car sat on the ground. Keeps it looking like a sleeper. Holts springs in manchester used to offer a re-anneal for your springs so that you could select the compression rate that you wanted, dont know if they still do but it was a very cheap option back in the day think it was about £40 for all 4 springs.

[straight5]

Thanks Wegal and Cornclose, I definately want to keep my car a sleeper, although I wouldnt mind lowering it a little, just because it looks a bit too high anyway. The back end especially sticks in the air. On the flip side I don't want to make it too harsh when I take the wife and kids on long distance motorway journeys. I really want my cake and eat it, as day to day I do a lot of short journeys and wouldnt mind sharper handling, but then occasionally do the long journeys with the family and need a smooth ride for that. Hopefully I will get to see some modified Volvos before long and can make my mind up what to do.

This is all a little academic as it supposes I will ever have spare cash again.

[cornclose]

and no I dont want to sell it... I quite like the noise it makes lol.

Ah well it was worth a try... :)