Spring length

[andygtt]

So lots has been said about spring rates, but what about spring length.

Let's say on my car I run 9inch 600lb springs but could also run the same ride height with 7inch 600lb springs.

What are the advantages assuming if I run my shocks on a soft setting the 9inch springs can bottom out on the body under braking and the shorter ones still allow the same suspension range on bump but are say 1kg a coil lighter?

[stevieturbo]

andygtt said:

So lots has been said about spring rates, but what about spring length.

Let's say on my car I run 9inch 600lb springs but could also run the same ride height with 7inch 600lb springs.

What are the advantages assuming if I run my shocks on a soft setting the 9inch springs can bottom out on the body under braking and the shorter ones still allow the same suspension range on bump but are say 1kg a coil lighter?

You really need to call someone like Faulkners and discuss it with them.

You need to factor in not just the open height, but the compressed height at ride height, as this will tell you the current rate of the springs at that time, and as they compress further.

Also the shorter springs may need helper springs so they dont sit loose at full droop.

And it's surprising what happens with you then combine two springs, at least until the point where the helper spring is fully compressed.

When I was looking for front springs, I discussed and they actually fitted my desired springs into a test rig, to tell me what rate they were at a given compression, and went through a few before finally deciding which ones would work best.