Here we go again.

Mine are silver and are 80% covered in rust.

 

uh oh

 

Doesnt sound good, whts up with this? First the Springs now the sways...How long have you had them on your car?

 

SWAYS!!!!!?..???... oh my

 

Less than a year. And they are silver....must be the same outsourced powder coating as the silver springs.

 

my h&r's have no rust. checked last week.

 

haha oh no i just bought a comptech icebox, i hope the plastic doesnt rust!!

 

 

Yes, but the plastic Iceboxes have their own problems. Like the screws bolts in the bottom of the icebox spinning in the plastic so you can't remove the top.

I hope we don't start seeing quality problems with the headers.

 

I had that problem on mine. So now I have a self-tapping screw holding down one corner.

 

~$300 for a damned intake and the screws are crappy?

F THAT

 

The new icebox's like mine have metal threads in the bottom to stop the old issue of the screws stripping out.

 

If you guys put a little logic together you'd see the similarity in the *coating* process they used for both the springs and the sways.

They obviously had a defect on the method/prep/coating materials for springs/sways...


Before you jump on the all things comptech suck bandwagon ... headers have been out a long time and NO ONE has had a problem....

 

... i think its a conspiracy

 

truth be told, and also, I still have the CT (silver springs) and mine are perfectly fine, so I will assum this have to do with the winters some have to endure, that I do not

 

maybe salt on the roads during winters has to do with it?

 

somethings wrong w/ my comptech sways...I don't know if they're rusted or not but yeah...

Every time I go over a dip or a road bump, the car makes a very bad rubbing sound in the rear. It even does it while I'm just driving sometimes. And also it sounds like it's shifting around a little bit ... but last time I checked the bolts were secure. I have to apply white lithium grease every 3 weeks or else the sound comes back...and I dont own a jack or anything so its a MAJOR pain in the ass. I seriously think something is wrong w/ it...because everyone else I've talked to said that they applied the grease and have had no problems since. Yet I've had to re-apply 4 times now, within 3 months!

 

The squeeking is due to the polyurethane bushings. The stock ones are rubber and do not squeek but poly ones perform better.

You have to take the bushings off and apply tape every year or so.

 

I've got the Comptech sways and been through two winters with snow/salt ... Haven't checked them recently, but when I installed my exhaust a few months ago, the swaybars looked just fine. Will have to check them again when I get a chance.

 

I mentioned sways rusting in the "check you springs" thread.

I have the icebox issue with the screws too. How'd you guys fix it?

 

I painted mine b4 I installed um.

 

Siggy has the better half of this figured out. Most of you know I do powder coating and have for 15 years. Powder coatings are very robust, as long as the service conditions are observed for the problem at hand. For sways, I would imagine corrosion resistance (road salt), chip resistance (pebbles and road debris) and flexibility of the coating are very important. All signs point to the proper coating being an epoxy (superior corrosion resistance, but very poor UV resistance) or an epoxy polyester hybrid to get the best of both worlds.

If someone can send me a flake of the paint, it needs to be about the size of your little fingernail, I can identify the chemistry through my analytical laboratory. Then we have a starting point.

But no matter how good powder coatings are (and they are damn good), there can be three problems that can relegate it to junk status:

1. Picking the wrong powder chemistry.
2. Improper surface preperation. It needs to be clean, dry and have some, what we call "tooth", a slightly roughened surface. Usually FePO4, Iron phosphate, provides this and is an additional corrosion barrier. Note: too MUCH FePO4 can also cause problems.
3. Under cureing of the powder coating. This would cause catastrophic failure, irregardless of 1 and 2 above.

If someone can get a paint sample to me, a good contact with a phone number who works well with the A-CL board at comptech, I will try to help you guys solve this problem via phone with those guys.

Usually, painting something is very easy. It's the surface preperation that drives you nuts. It is the foundation for the protective coating.

 

Those Cars from East Coast and Northern US nothing but rust!!!

 

nice going comptech.
oh well now i know not to buy anything eles from comptech. Spring is rusted now my sways might be rusting later. Its nice to see comptech trying thier best to look after thier loyal customers.

 

and all this talk about how it's better to spend the extra cash for Comptech products...for their reliablity....wtf is up with that?...next thing you know, the headers are gonna start falling apart....

 

My sways are BLACK and last time I checked they are in pretty good shape.
They were installed at the same time as my springs back in 04/2002.

So far…so good.

Shawn S

 

are their any comptech reps on this site that can filll us in?

 

I wrapped mine in bubble wrap prior to installation so all should be well.

 

I wouldn't make such a blanket statement. I mean do you see any headers rusting, any S/C rusting or malfunctioning, any strut bars collapsing, any exhaust welds breaking?? Granted, there have been some problems with the coating on the springs and even the sway bars but I would be careful to condemn all their parts and their brand name.

 

I live in chicago and ever winter they salt the shit out of our roads ecspecially if they have a over stock of salt. This will be my second winter with them and after the first beating they still look like new. I actually just wiped them down this weekend when I was repainting the y-piping and mufflers.

 

Louie are yours black or silver?

 

Bubble wrap?! are you kidding? seems like if and when water gets in it can't easily esape the bubble wrap and the springs won't dry..
My springs better be good, have been on a few months. I need to check.

 

everything is rusting. JESUS CHRIST. My springs,maybe sways,and my exhaust at the flanges.
I see a pattern here, good thing i didnt get the cai, the plastic prob. rust too.

 

:captainobvious:

 

 

My black sways are fine. Had them on 2 different cars, total milage would be 41K miles. My springs that have 16K miles are fine as well.

 

Mine are silver. I've had them alittle over a year now. This winter will be their 2nd winter.

 

just checked mine, seem to be ok

6k miles on em

 

Greatest thing ive read all day