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Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:00 pm
by Brian
First picture with prototype Progress Lowering Springs.

What's different from the Eibach Springs? The Eibach Maverick Springs are a really good experience, loved the look and those will be THE choice for customers wanting max lowering springs and front to rear heights as perfectly level as possible without going with much more expensive coilovers. With the Eibach springs we are half inch into the front bumpstops at all times unless we trim the front stops, which is called for in the Eibach instructions. We have the Eibach choices on the site, click here for lots more detail on those and current ship status.

But we want also want a choice that does not require bumpstop trim. So, the first change is the Progress Springs are made to use with STOCK bumpstop, no trim needed. That makes install easier and has other benefits we think some customers will appreciate. This means we are slightly higher... but we keep full bumpstop performance, truck free rides when going straight and is above the factory bumpstops until you turn the wheel, at which point we have much smoother transition into using the bumpstops as a progressive spring in the turns. Result is smoother down the freeway and over freeway joints and really under all conditions and quick gain in rate as you load it into a turn. Our Miatas are designed from the factory to work this way, you use the bumpstops as soon as you turn the wheel but you are just at the top tip of them until you turn that steering wheel (and decades ago the Porsche 944 was one of the first Sports Cars to use bumpstops in this manner).

Progress Springs also have a bit of rake with the goal of keeping more 'truck like' usefulness, you can load the bed and result is level, also keeps geometry better for towing moderate loads like our aluminum trailer with race car. When you go to Home Depot with these springs and load some garden mulch in the bed it won't be doing a Carolina Squat.
ProgressMaverickLowered2.jpg
ProgressMaverickLowered2.jpg (1.15 MiB) Viewed 16628 times
Finally, we have little to no dead coil stack, and the Eibachs have about five dead coils. Some dead coils are needed because they keep the spring seated when truck gets some air over potholes and railroad tracks, but we like to keep it minimal for lowest unsprung weight and best travel without coil bind, etc.

FRONT Progress
MaverickFrontProgress.jpeg
MaverickFrontProgress.jpeg (190.31 KiB) Viewed 17260 times
REAR Progress
ProgressMaverickRear.jpeg
ProgressMaverickRear.jpeg (133.15 KiB) Viewed 17260 times

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:02 pm
by Brian
Because trucks get used extra hard, the Progress Springs for Maverick will use Dual-coat powder coating!
 

The process uses two coatings developed for superior corrosion resistance & impact durability.

First coat is a zinc-rich primer

Second coat is a TGIC polyester top coat

Both layers are bonded together during the curing process in a microprocessor-controlled conveyor-oven.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 4:58 pm
by Brian
Lowered Maverick with lots of other fun added by Mark Austin.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:15 am
by JohnG595
Hello fellow Goodwin!

I’ll admit. I came here just for this thread. I do love Miata’s, but don’t fit well in them (fat guy in little coat).

Looking forward to seeing the results of the in house springs. Seeing the shop truck pictures and knowing your expertise it’s a pretty easy choice to follow suit. Bring on the low!

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:10 am
by Brian
JohnG595 wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 7:15 am Hello fellow Goodwin!

I’ll admit. I came here just for this thread. I do love Miata’s, but don’t fit well in them (fat guy in little coat).

Looking forward to seeing the results of the in house springs. Seeing the shop truck pictures and knowing your expertise it’s a pretty easy choice to follow suit. Bring on the low!
Welcome John!

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:14 am
by Brian
Had a customer drop over with lifted Maverick and he used the spacer and bolts kits that are cheaply available on EBAY and other places. The big issue with raising the Maverick up but retaining stock spring rates is that leverage on the springs is quite a bit more and the ride was soft and sloppy. Higher center of gravity without increase in rates made for a mess in a S turn road unless you drive it like an old lady. He asked if we can do better, and we figured we could do a lot better. So with our friends at Progress we have a set of prototype LIFT springs that are 20 percent stiffer than stock. Result drives more flat in the turns than the stock height Maverick, and quite a bit better than lifted Mavericks that retain the stock springs. 


These springs will be ideal for those that wished they waited for Tremor package. Like the Tremor package we are about an inch above stock Maverick, nothing crazy. And with higher rate springs it actually handles more flat in the turns than a stock Maverick despite the higher center of gravity. It will be a few months before these springs reach production. We decided to use the same tire that Ford picked for their Tremor package, except we did one size wider.


245/65R-17 Falken WildPeak A/T Trail SL on 17x7.5 Sparco Dakar wheels in 35mm offset.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 4:09 pm
by Brian
I forgot how SLOPPY the AT tires feel. Suspension still feels pretty flat with these springs and our big rear sway bar but the A/T tires with big sidewalls on narrower wheels feel much more sloppy than my lowered setup with 18x8.5 and 235/60/18. This is development fun, but will go back to the lowered truck that I prefer after we put some development time on this setup.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:28 pm
by JohnG595
The combo looks fantastic. I guess the benefits of California is ample places to test and good weather for it too. Can’t wait for the finished products.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 2:05 pm
by Brian
With the higher center of gravity I also decided that I would like to test even more rear sway bar, we offer currently the 1.00” three-hole bar for Maverick, but even beefier 1.062” tubular “race” rear sway bar is on the truck now and feels good.

Re: Maverick the Shop Truck!

Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2022 11:18 am
by Brian
Rear lift springs and prototype rear sway bar.