aaaaannnnd, ANOTHER casualty from Comp 918 springs
11-26-2011, 01:38 AM
#32
Your not remembering that Comp probably sells 200,000 of those springs a year. A broken spring here or there is a very low percentage, because all spring manufactuers have defects. Its just that no one else sells as many as Comp, so you dont here about them as much. Your idea will have 16 broken springs if the end user isnt very careful, which most people are not........
I happen to know, for a fact, that Comp has decided to put their money into marketing as opposed to quality...sad but true.
If we want to play percentages though...how many LS6/LS9 springs does the General put in the stock engines that get beat on daily, through all sorts of conditions, all year round? Yes, the factory cams are less aggressive, but considering the specs on the Comp 918's, they are often overkill for milder cams with slower ramp rates, like a Comp XE lobe.
Not looking to argue here, I'm just real down on Comp, as I've seen too many poor shlubs broken down because they got sucked in by Comp's awesome marketing and shitty product.
Personally, I like the PAC's...my dad on the other hand, uses Manley duals, no dampeners, in most of his 1000+HP $18,000+ race engines, with ti retainers, light valves, yada yada.
I know that there aren't a whole lot of folks using what Crane has to offer, but I've always been impressed with their products, and know of one member here, with a boosted low-11sec ex cab who has about 60k on his Crane duals with .583 lift IIRC
*EDIT* I just want to mention that I've been totally blown away from the numbers that the LSXrt has put down, most of which I have seen in your posts brother
If I had the dough, and could be assured that it would fit right the first time, I would definitely want one, and maybe one day eventually still will...I just wish that a company like Competition Cams, that has been in the industry so long, would stick to the philosophies that made them what the are. 
Last edited by budhayes3; 11-26-2011 at 07:59 AM.
11-26-2011, 08:25 AM
#33
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This thread for me always brings up the question in my mind for well anybody out there using ANY brand or type of spring and had a failure. Did the person take the time to setup the valvetrain correctly??? That means checking installed spring height, clearance before coil bind, using a pushrod length checker to verify the correct length is being used, etc.... Know I now for a fact that valve springs have failed and it had everything to do with "user error".
Now to the guy who started the thread with the broken 918 this is in no way directed towards you that it was your fault because I know very well their have been those bad batches of 918s that have been turned out and people have seen a lot of failures with them. And yes in this case in particular a basically "mild" cam is being used. It's still always a very good idea to make sure everything is/was setup right before just pointing the finger at the guys who manufactured the springs. Just saying. Like I said above I know their is certainly a history of problems with the Comp 918s.
FWIW for me personally I am on my second set of 918s in my motor using what's been considered one of if not the most aggressive lobe out there, the XER lobe from Comp with the cam in particular I'm using is right about .600 lift and have not had one issue with them. The only reason I am on a second set is just for the simple fact of mileage wise on the springs it was time for some new ones.
Now to the guy who started the thread with the broken 918 this is in no way directed towards you that it was your fault because I know very well their have been those bad batches of 918s that have been turned out and people have seen a lot of failures with them. And yes in this case in particular a basically "mild" cam is being used. It's still always a very good idea to make sure everything is/was setup right before just pointing the finger at the guys who manufactured the springs. Just saying. Like I said above I know their is certainly a history of problems with the Comp 918s.
FWIW for me personally I am on my second set of 918s in my motor using what's been considered one of if not the most aggressive lobe out there, the XER lobe from Comp with the cam in particular I'm using is right about .600 lift and have not had one issue with them. The only reason I am on a second set is just for the simple fact of mileage wise on the springs it was time for some new ones.
11-26-2011, 07:20 PM
#34
I see what you're saying about the percentages, but over the past 5 or so years, or since Comp stopped getting their springs from PAC, it appears that their failure rate has been more than just a broken spring "here or there"...and not just broken springs, guys with misfires on engines with 918's with less than 5k on them. And it's not just their springs, it's everything besides their cams, which is the only thing that they make in-house instead of buying from the lowest bidder. I love the numbers that FAST intake has put down, unfortunately I've seen numerous threads in this section of brand new FAST intakes that aren't even close to fitting properly.
I happen to know, for a fact, that Comp has decided to put their money into marketing as opposed to quality...sad but true.
If we want to play percentages though...how many LS6/LS9 springs does the General put in the stock engines that get beat on daily, through all sorts of conditions, all year round? Yes, the factory cams are less aggressive, but considering the specs on the Comp 918's, they are often overkill for milder cams with slower ramp rates, like a Comp XE lobe.
Not looking to argue here, I'm just real down on Comp, as I've seen too many poor shlubs broken down because they got sucked in by Comp's awesome marketing and shitty product.
Personally, I like the PAC's...my dad on the other hand, uses Manley duals, no dampeners, in most of his 1000+HP $18,000+ race engines, with ti retainers, light valves, yada yada.
I know that there aren't a whole lot of folks using what Crane has to offer, but I've always been impressed with their products, and know of one member here, with a boosted low-11sec ex cab who has about 60k on his Crane duals with .583 lift IIRC
*EDIT* I just want to mention that I've been totally blown away from the numbers that the LSXrt has put down, most of which I have seen in your posts brother If I had the dough, and could be assured that it would fit right the first time, I would definitely want one, and maybe one day eventually still will...I just wish that a company like Competition Cams, that has been in the industry so long, would stick to the philosophies that made them what the are.
I happen to know, for a fact, that Comp has decided to put their money into marketing as opposed to quality...sad but true.
If we want to play percentages though...how many LS6/LS9 springs does the General put in the stock engines that get beat on daily, through all sorts of conditions, all year round? Yes, the factory cams are less aggressive, but considering the specs on the Comp 918's, they are often overkill for milder cams with slower ramp rates, like a Comp XE lobe.
Not looking to argue here, I'm just real down on Comp, as I've seen too many poor shlubs broken down because they got sucked in by Comp's awesome marketing and shitty product.
Personally, I like the PAC's...my dad on the other hand, uses Manley duals, no dampeners, in most of his 1000+HP $18,000+ race engines, with ti retainers, light valves, yada yada.
I know that there aren't a whole lot of folks using what Crane has to offer, but I've always been impressed with their products, and know of one member here, with a boosted low-11sec ex cab who has about 60k on his Crane duals with .583 lift IIRC
*EDIT* I just want to mention that I've been totally blown away from the numbers that the LSXrt has put down, most of which I have seen in your posts brother
If I had the dough, and could be assured that it would fit right the first time, I would definitely want one, and maybe one day eventually still will...I just wish that a company like Competition Cams, that has been in the industry so long, would stick to the philosophies that made them what the are.
11-28-2011, 01:13 PM
#35
yeah, you always gotta blame the installer second (usually product first) with any sort of failure! 
here are photos of the spring after I pulled it out. (sorry my digital macro on my camera wouldn't focus on the spring very well for some reason....)
and just for the hell of it, here it is next to a stocker valve spring from one of my 317 heads I had just sitting here... just for reference.
gonna give comp a ring when I get back home later today. I found a contact from an old thread here from 2007 of a guy at Comp, named Chris, who was apparantly taking care of people with broken springs. I'll try to reach him and post up here any response I get.
Found my old box these came in too, but forgot to look at what "batch" number was on there, if any, but I'll post that up later too when I get to it.
here are photos of the spring after I pulled it out. (sorry my digital macro on my camera wouldn't focus on the spring very well for some reason....)
and just for the hell of it, here it is next to a stocker valve spring from one of my 317 heads I had just sitting here... just for reference.
gonna give comp a ring when I get back home later today. I found a contact from an old thread here from 2007 of a guy at Comp, named Chris, who was apparantly taking care of people with broken springs. I'll try to reach him and post up here any response I get.
Found my old box these came in too, but forgot to look at what "batch" number was on there, if any, but I'll post that up later too when I get to it.
12-10-2011, 01:47 PM
#37
quick update for this thread so I don't leave it hanging open ended....
I finally spoke with Greg at Comp, and he seemed like a good guy, no extreme attitude like some customer service reps I've dealt with in past...
He did vaguely mention something about seeing various internet forum threads on this same subject, but was quick to say my issue was not related due to it being a new batch all silver spring and that I was in such a small minority of people having broken a new one that there is essentially no way it could have been defective.... Not to mention was quick to say there was nothing they could do for me anyway once he found out the springs were just over a year old from purchase date, regardless if vehicle was dd or only weekend warrior... warranty is over when warranty is over.
There's really nothing I could say back in defense of my argument other than, “damn, yeah the spring broke, none of us are going to find out why, poor me,“ and I think he knew this.
He did mention I could feel free to send the spring in to have it examined, free of charge... but I took this to mean more like confiscated just so broken product was not just floating around out there, especially since it's now out of warranty and there is nothing they could do for it regardless if they found why it broke or just threw it in the garbage.
He also finally offered to sell me another 918 kit at a discounted price, or their upgraded dual spring kit with retainers, seats, etc... but I don't think I'll be going back that route at this point.
So, really all I can do at this point is move on and be glad this didn't happen on some $6k longblock, or even a fresh swap, just to have to go through it all again.
I finally spoke with Greg at Comp, and he seemed like a good guy, no extreme attitude like some customer service reps I've dealt with in past...
He did vaguely mention something about seeing various internet forum threads on this same subject, but was quick to say my issue was not related due to it being a new batch all silver spring and that I was in such a small minority of people having broken a new one that there is essentially no way it could have been defective.... Not to mention was quick to say there was nothing they could do for me anyway once he found out the springs were just over a year old from purchase date, regardless if vehicle was dd or only weekend warrior... warranty is over when warranty is over.
There's really nothing I could say back in defense of my argument other than, “damn, yeah the spring broke, none of us are going to find out why, poor me,“ and I think he knew this.
He did mention I could feel free to send the spring in to have it examined, free of charge... but I took this to mean more like confiscated just so broken product was not just floating around out there, especially since it's now out of warranty and there is nothing they could do for it regardless if they found why it broke or just threw it in the garbage.
He also finally offered to sell me another 918 kit at a discounted price, or their upgraded dual spring kit with retainers, seats, etc... but I don't think I'll be going back that route at this point.
So, really all I can do at this point is move on and be glad this didn't happen on some $6k longblock, or even a fresh swap, just to have to go through it all again.
12-10-2011, 03:10 PM
#39
I was thinking of posting this over on LS1tech side too, and maybe ls1truck... but seriously, I doubt it will lead anywhere except to argument.
12-10-2011, 05:47 PM
#40
Yeah he's full of sh**. I had 2 break in the exact same spot. I think it was the same spot as yours, but it has been a few years... You're lucky the valve didn't fall in. One of mine did, and KABOOM. I have been using Patriot Gold springs for the last 3 years and absolutely no problems.