Hello AMC community! About an hour ago I got off the phone with Al, the general manager at Control Freak Suspensions, and I have some exciting news! There is a bolt-in front suspension coilover conversion kit available for AMC Eagles. Please read everything to follow!
Here is the cliffnotes of our conversation about the kit itself:
Bolt-in
Includes NEW tubular adjustable upper control arms, allowing for better camber adjustment in particular. Comes with upper ball joints and bushings pre-installed.
Includes NEW double-adjustable coilover shocks with springs
Includes NEW hardware for install
Re-use all other stock components, including lower control arm and knuckle
Kit is $1799
Part No. CO-1330 (continue reading, important related details to follow)
While the coilover conversion kit (CO-1330) itself was not listed on Control Freak Suspensions’ website as of the moment of my phone call with Al (7/19/23, roughly 10AM Pacific Time) he stated that he would be listing it on the website ASAP in preparation for interest from the community, and it IS AVAILABLE under Part No. CO-1330. As a small company whose business is largely driven by word of mouth, they are a little slow to update things on their website. If it isn’t listed on their website by the time this post is live, you may call or email them with inquiries! Their details are below:
Control Freak Suspension’s website is HERE:
https://www.freakride.com/If you wish to contact them, you may utilize any of the resources listed HERE:
https://www.freakride.com/contact-us/PLEASE prioritize E-Mail contact, as when I called, Al himself picked up the phone! Any significant volume of phone calls would likely mean he’d be swamped, he’s only one guy.
I’d like to note that I am not sponsored in any way by Control Freak Suspensions. I am simply an enthusiastic AMC community member, with particular focus on Eagles. Not only that, but this is my first ever attempt at a shout-out like this! I can’t even afford this kit, not for a while, but when I can I will certainly be purchasing it. If anyone does purchase it, PLEASE be sure to update the community on your experience.
IMPORTANT: Those of you familiar with Eagles might recognize the value in a new lower control arm that utilizes common ball joints. I spoke to Al about this as well, and here is what was discussed:
Part-way through development of CO-1330, Control Freak Suspensions decided against introducing a new Lower Control Arm (LCA) due to an LCA design change that occurred mid-year with Eagles, which could complicate parts compatibility and returns when shipped with CO-1330 as a kit. HOWEVER, during our discussion, he sounded very open to developing an LCA, sold SEPARATELY from CO-1330, which would utilize a Spicer ball joint, Part # 40133, reducing our ball joint replacement cost from $180 to roughly $22! I have no doubt that Control Freak would develop this LCA to be bolt-in, and like the rest of the kit, superior to stock. HOWEVER, projected price is currently unknown, and he stated that release of this new LCA would likely not be until next year given their current developmental pace and schedule. If you, like me, are highly interested in seeing AMC Eagles having a strong aftermarket LCA with cheap and plentiful ball joints, PLEASE make it known either in this thread, or by sending Control Freak Suspensions an E-Mail or inquiry via their website.
On a different note, some of you might have seen a coilover conversion kit for Eagles listed HERE:
http://www.amclives.com/products/coil-over-conversion-system-front-1980-88-amc-eagle DO NOT PURCHASE THROUGH AMCLIVES.COM AT THIS TIME. While they had knowledge of Control Freak Suspensions developing a coilover kit for Eagles, amclives preemptively posted the product for sale on their website with misleading and incorrect information, before the real product even finished development. The images alone are clear evidence of this, as the knuckles feature 2wd spindles, and there are LCA’s present in the images. This is NOT a representation of the real product, which is not only a 4x4 knuckle, but lacks LCA’s at this time! While I’m sure amclives has good intentions, they have NOT corrected their listing or removed this product from their website DESPITE Control Freak Suspensions requesting them to do so multiple times. While it might be possible to purchase this from amclives in the future, do not do so at this time.
If you feel there are any details I missed, or any questions you may have, please let me know, and I can call them, and will gladly update this post. If any of you happen to learn any useful information I haven’t covered here, PLEASE make it known in a reply so I can update this post as well! I will be cross-posting this on several platforms, and I’ll do my best to update all of them with any new or corrected information. I’ve done my very best to present all the information at my disposal as accurately and truthfully as possible, with every attempt to avoid misrepresentation of any of the facts. Again, if I have made any mistakes or missed anything, I would be more than happy to follow up.
Lastly, Control Freak Suspensions has dealt with AMC for nearly a decade and a half at this point, and Al (the general manager) in particular seemed enthusiastic and knowledgeable about AMC. At this time I believe they deserve our business.