Rear susp helper springs
Discussion
Just had my Nitrons rebuilt and it appears that on the rear, I have helper springs.
the helper springs are 380lb and the main springs are 270lb.
What's the point of the helper springs and surely the main springs should be stiffer than them?
They would have been fitted by the previous owner and I know the car was set up by Steve Guglielmi...
the helper springs are 380lb and the main springs are 270lb.
What's the point of the helper springs and surely the main springs should be stiffer than them?
They would have been fitted by the previous owner and I know the car was set up by Steve Guglielmi...
Wiser people will be along soon but I think the idea is you have fairly normal spring rates for the main ones so when you are burbling to the pub, or perhaps more importantly going in a straight line on a nice smooth track you have the compliance and grip of a softer set-up. When however you dive into a corner and lean on them or for that matter hit a big bump on that nice smooth track the helpers keep things under control . One thing I have never really understood with a helper spring or variable rate spring set up is now you chose the damper settings. I guess you set them to damp the “normal” part of the spring as that is where you will be most of the time.
Spend, Agree, that's what made me curious but yes, I have the rates correct and verified.
Steve, I hadn't thought about it that way, but that would make sense and i really like the idea of having a set up that suits both situations. Would be good if anyone else has heard of this logic.
Steve, I hadn't thought about it that way, but that would make sense and i really like the idea of having a set up that suits both situations. Would be good if anyone else has heard of this logic.
i think i have just seen your refurbed dampers at TH works?
my griff has just had different shocks put on the rear but your dampers look great
i have to wait till sept to fit new set up with tom and countless other jobs
hope to see you about as there are quite a lot of tvrs in the locality
mark (red griff 500)
Barns Green
my griff has just had different shocks put on the rear but your dampers look great
i have to wait till sept to fit new set up with tom and countless other jobs
hope to see you about as there are quite a lot of tvrs in the locality
mark (red griff 500)
Barns Green
What dimensions and make are the two (main & helper) springs?
Have you got front helpers too, or just rears?
What strength front spring have been fitted?
The most important question is how happy are you with the ride and handling of this setup? If you think it’s an improvement over single springs, then why not?
I was considering something similar on here a couple of months ago. The general wisdom, both here and the spring manufacture I called, was that this was more for off road racing use.
The state of disrepair of the roads near here is pretty close to dirt racing anyway. There are so many small bumps that hard springs cause problems. At speed the shaking is enough to blur the vision. There are roads around here that would be good for far more, if I only I could see; but I hate driving blind.
Soft springs bottom out on the big dips so are no better. Also when fully laden, the car grounds out on speed humps.
These sounded like the solution. But I was advised that finding the right combination of two springs, their relative length and strength, plus front/rear is a lot of trial and error.
Steve Guglielmi is well respected for setting up TVR’s. If I were you, I would talk to him and find out what he thinks of the setup. If he set it up that way, he must have had good reason.
Let us know what he says. If it would solve my problems I will have a go at them too.
Have you got front helpers too, or just rears?
What strength front spring have been fitted?
The most important question is how happy are you with the ride and handling of this setup? If you think it’s an improvement over single springs, then why not?
I was considering something similar on here a couple of months ago. The general wisdom, both here and the spring manufacture I called, was that this was more for off road racing use.
The state of disrepair of the roads near here is pretty close to dirt racing anyway. There are so many small bumps that hard springs cause problems. At speed the shaking is enough to blur the vision. There are roads around here that would be good for far more, if I only I could see; but I hate driving blind.
Soft springs bottom out on the big dips so are no better. Also when fully laden, the car grounds out on speed humps.
These sounded like the solution. But I was advised that finding the right combination of two springs, their relative length and strength, plus front/rear is a lot of trial and error.
Steve Guglielmi is well respected for setting up TVR’s. If I were you, I would talk to him and find out what he thinks of the setup. If he set it up that way, he must have had good reason.
Let us know what he says. If it would solve my problems I will have a go at them too.
It sounds as if you have a helper spring on there. These are very stiff springs in series with the main road springs, shaped so that they go coil bound under moderate load. Two springs in series are much softer than either of them on their own, so even adding a very stiff spring makes the overall effect much softer. The idea is that you can get a rising rate effect so that the suspension is stiff in bump and soft in droop. Being stiff in bump lets you run relatively low without hitting the bump stops; being soft in droop means you can run quite high spring rates and still have a reasonable droop travel without unloading the wheels.
There's another type of spring called a tender spring which looks similar but works completely differently. These are very soft springs which are simply there to stop the road springs from coming off the spring seats at full droop; they only need a few lb to completely collapse them so they don't contribute to the handling/ride but just let you get away with dampers that have more droop travel than your road spring preload.
There's another type of spring called a tender spring which looks similar but works completely differently. These are very soft springs which are simply there to stop the road springs from coming off the spring seats at full droop; they only need a few lb to completely collapse them so they don't contribute to the handling/ride but just let you get away with dampers that have more droop travel than your road spring preload.
Thanks all, that's very interesting.
I can't compare the set up with single springs as all of this was done prior to me owning the car.
It's due to go to Austec today for a full geo check, now that the Nitrons have been rebuilt. i'll call Steve G to find out if he has records showing what exactly was done.
I can't compare the set up with single springs as all of this was done prior to me owning the car.
It's due to go to Austec today for a full geo check, now that the Nitrons have been rebuilt. i'll call Steve G to find out if he has records showing what exactly was done.
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