M&S Model A Shocks

I have a set of new shocks that were put on a couple of months ago. Thanks to the Blue Ridge Tour, we have put 1,000 miles on them. They were purchased directly from Dick Pirkl, owner of Tubular Conversions, phone 608-575-7433. My car handles better, corners nicely and my wife, the Boss, likes the ride now. She says they keep the wheels on the road and the car feels more stable. "Happy Wife, Happy Life", need I say more.
 
KANE MCAFFER said:
Have to phone and see if they still have em. Tom I have got some really good advice from you in the past, what are your thoughts here? Go stipes if I can?
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Yes, you can't go wrong with Bill Stipe's shocks.:)
I believe his name is on the covers.
Bratton's would know and would tell you also about who made them.:)
 
Photo of Dick Pirkl's shocks
 

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Yes, the Stipe shocks have his name engraved on the back. They also are incredibly well machined. Too bad he isn't making them anymore, unless he changes his mind.
 
I recall a posting by Bill that explained, essentially, that his tooling and manufacturing of the shocks darn near put him under financially. As Brent has explained many times, suppliers like Bill Stipe are small boutique firms that have to invest a ton of money to ramp up production of something like the shock absorbers. If things go wrong or the product is deemed "too expensive" and doesn't sell then a small firm could go out of business. I dont know Bill Stipe's business finances of course, but my guess it would take some real persuading to get him to do more shocks, unfortunately. Maybe if there were a bunch of pre-paid orders.....?
 
Kane: you should have asked before you ordered or done a search.
Hopefully you will be able to cancel and get stipe's. OR if you have re-buildable there are a few who do an exceptional job in rebuilding them. Please do a search or ck vendor's list top of the page.
Paul in CT
 
Bill Stipe's shocks are now sold out. When I recently contacted them, they put my name on an interested list in the event they resume manufacturing them on another machine.
 
I have only purchased two sets of the M&S shocks. From my limited experience, M&S shocks are okay as to function when you first put them on. Two out of four from each batch quit functioning at about 10,000 miles or about two years of driving. I have two sets of four available ... free to anyone that will pay for shipping. ;)
Bill Stipe's shocks are very good...I hope he makes another run. I recently purchased his last set, directly from Bill, for a project coming up. In discussing the possibility of another batch with Bill, he thinks the machining tolerances needed to assure the same quality of his recent offering, will drive the cost considerably beyond his recent pricing. He sold the CNC machine he had that did much of the machining so this precision work would need to be outsourced. I think the Model A community will need to continue to politely encourage him to pursue making another batch if we are ever to see his quality product again.
Good Day!
 
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Greg Jones said:
I recall a posting by Bill that explained, essentially, that his tooling and manufacturing of the shocks darn near put him under financially. As Brent has explained many times, suppliers like Bill Stipe are small boutique firms that have to invest a ton of money to ramp up production of something like the shock absorbers. If things go wrong or the product is deemed "too expensive" and doesn't sell then a small firm could go out of business. I dont know Bill Stipe's business finances of course, but my guess it would take some real persuading to get him to do more shocks, unfortunately. Maybe if there were a bunch of pre-paid orders.....?
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He had a multi million dollor machine that the economy (sales) could not support. He made as many as he could of all the products he made on that machine before it went went back.

It is very sad that he and even those like Brumfeld have fallen victim to the economy and the quest for cheaper faster. M&S shocks have been talked about here for years but it is easier (cheaper) for them to replace a bad shock under warranty then retool for a better shock.

I'm not trying diss anyone these are facts of the times and I don't see it getting any better anytime soon. What we need to see is no taxes on new machinery for a company and steeper write offs on the purchase price. I believe this will bring better machinery to the little guy to get better products to market. How long does to take to make back just the taxes on a million dollar machine. (1300shocks - material/taxes) How much to you think the lease is on a piece that much? Just my humble opinion.
 
I have a set of M&S shocks that I used for several years and 20,000 miles. I had to nurse a couple along by taking them apart, refilling, and replacing seals. You may want to use the dogbone shock links so you can R&R them quicker when you have to do repairs.
 
The vendor can recall the items by notification to the shipper. If the package arrives, you can refuse, or send it back unopened. Good luck
 
Well I called Brattons. They were Stipes. But apparently the ones calMI just received we're the last set!! Lucky bugger! Want to sell em? Lol so now I guess I take the chance on m&s or find someone good with rebuilts. I have no cores.....
 
You know it is funny (...at least to me) how some vendors mysteriously come here defending their products when someone blasts them in a forum setting. I realize that Kane did not blast anyone but I was really hoping M&S would have come here and offer their opinion as to why so many have failed sooner than their customers had hoped.

If I could buy an extended warranty from them on their shocks, I would do it in a heartbeat because I have several units that were new when installed, and went bad just after their warranty period had expired. Naturally I knew what the warranty period was and so I did not complain to them however I (and my customers) felt for the money they cost, they should have lasted much longer. I would like to have some dialogue with them where maybe for a few dollars more, better materials can be used to increase the service life.

.
 
Personally, now, I think I would buy a bunch of used ones and try to rebuild them. I've sent some to Apple Hydraulics on Long Island and if they have to re-sleeve them it can get expensive [$185], but, they do work well and have lasted.
There are other folks that do rebuild them that some here have had good luck with.
I would much rather have correct shocks.
 
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