RE: [DML] Re: New door struts

Tom,
When I got into the DeLorean parts 14 years ago the Stabilus door struts had been discontinued and they were coming from other manufactures. I worked with their engineering department back then and brought them back out again with a sizable order.
Then several years ago all the strut manufactures were evaluated by the owners on the DML and Stabilus was determined to the be the best and most reliable. As you know they were the original for the DeLorean. This information should be somewhere on the DML if it wasn’t deleted.

Because of the original design they were built with no damper so when the door reached the top it would bang up there and tend to bend the ball joints. Other Delorean people built door strut and they were to long on extended length and bent the ball post even more on the body
Then several years ago as you know I came out with “ Soft Lift “ with the damper on the door strut and they have work pretty good over all and I would replace them no charge if there was a problem.

Now, several years have gone again by again so I went back to Stabilus and working with their engineering department we are building all the DeLorean struts with dampers with a little re design here and there. Door struts will be coming out of production and shipping next week and others to follow.

My price for the set of 6 will still be $129.95 for the six as always and as the web site shows the price for the others. Nothing changes.

Hope this helps some folks out as to what is going on with struts and explains whey I have been out for the last 2 months.

John Hervey

www.DeLoreanautoparts.com

From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2014 5:08 AM
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [DML] Re: New door struts

Hi,

This is a reply to all your posts about the struts.

My plan is to obtain samples from all the manufacturers and do a side-by-side comparison. I will post pictures and all test info once I get all those samples.

At this time I have received samples from one of the manufacturers.

The problem with the Stabilus is that their sample units are very expensive and I want to make sure there is interest in their struts before I order samples. You know, it makes no sense to order samples, pay for them as if they are made of solid gold and then not order any more...

For now I told them that their price is too high and we are continuing negotiations. I hope they’ll back down a little.

I don’t know if their struts are twice as good as the others. There’s no way for me to know. As I’ve stated before, the warranty is pretty much the same at 2 years and 30.000 cycles for all manufacturers. Every manufacturer says that anything over two years is just “extra” and you should expect replacing the struts after about 3 years. This includes Stabilus struts. The fact is that our struts were designed to offer some margin for aging. When the struts are new they hold the door up firmly. Then, as the strut ages and looses it’s pressure it will still hold the door fully open but the force holding it up will be less. All manufacturers allow up to 10% force loss during the warranty period. According to my calculations a pressure drop of about 20% would still allow the door to stay fully up. So, taking worst case scenario into calculation and assuming the force will drop by 10% in two years, the door would stay fully open for more than 4 years. That is the WORST CASE SCENARIO. If the strut looses about 5% per two years then we’re looking at about 9 years before replacement is needed. **

** – this is just a theoretical calculation! You can’t hold me to it if your strut needs replacement after the two year warranty period. During the first two years the strut will be replaced free of charge if it fails.

Greetings from Poland!
Tom Niemczewski
Vin 6149 plus 2418, 3633, 5030, 16473, 17086
Google earth: 52°25'17.66"N, 21° 1'58.40"E
www.deloreana.com

From: mailto:dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2014 3:52 PM

To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: Re: [DML] Re: New door struts

Tom, thank you for staying on this project. My suggestion would be that you evaluate a sample strut from each manufacturer and choose the one that you evaluate to be the best without considering price---unless there is little quality and performance difference between the two top choices. If there is not much difference and the number two choice is $20 to $35 each cheaper I would prefer the cheaper set.

My bottom line is I need a set of struts and will not buy them until you have them or notify us that you have given up on the effort.

Thanks,

Rod
Sent from my iPad

On Aug 7, 2014, at 6:14 AM, "'Tom' dmctom@xxxxxxxxx [dmcnews]" <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi everyone!

My quest for finding a reliable manufacturer is continuing... I have
narrowed down the field to four companies from three countries. One of those
manufacturers is Stabilus, the OEM for the DeLorean factory. It wasn't easy
to get Stabilus on board because... now, get this... bad experience with a
DeLorean parts supplier a few years ago. For obvious reasons they will not
give me any details but word is that Stabilus lost a lot of money on that
deal and decided not to produce any parts for the DeLorean in the future.
So, when I gave them the original part number for the door strut I received
a very quick answer "This part number will not be produced EVER". I got them
to assign a new part number and convinced them that this is a different
project and different people involved. The struts can be produced but only
if I do not sell them to some certain people. This will be a gentleman
agreement with no signatures but I will most definitely stick with it.
At this time I have received technical drawings for the new struts along
with the new part number and all technical details like force, speed,
damping, etc. I have also received a quote and the prices are fairly high in
my opinion. For a large quantity order the price will be €66 each. That's
$88 US or $176 for a set of 2 plus shipping. What do you guys think?

The other three manufacturers offer better, lower prices. I have received
samples from one of them. They look nice...

With those manufacturers I will be able to keep the prices I've posted
before. $35 each for those who are on my pre-order list and $45 each for all
new orders with free shipping. In other words, Stabilus is twice the price.
The remaining two manufacturers are working on test samples and I should be
receiving them soon. I will post as soon as I have some info...

Warranty information is pretty much the same for all four manufacturers - 2
years or 30.000 cycles whichever comes first. The strut needs to be mounted
with piston rod down and operated at least a few times a month when not in
use.

The question for now is: Is anyone interested in getting Stabilus struts at
about $185 - $190 per set (shipping included)?

Greetings from Poland!
Tom Niemczewski
Vin 6149 plus 2418, 3633, 5030, 16473, 17086
Google earth: 52°25'17.66"N, 21° 1'58.40"E
www.deloreana.com