Which springs lower the least?

[tsyGT]

tintnet, there are many things about New England I miss, but the weather is not one of them!

 

Maybe you should consider raising your LGT an inch or two for the winter!

[tintinet]

Odd winter here so far, though. Little snow (currently bare ground locally), and the warmest Jan. on record, I think.

 

Nonetheless, often the biggest snowstorms are often late season in Maine (March, April).

 

The amount of lowering I'll get with the Ions (~1.25" in front and ~1/2" rear with double spring seats) would most likely be of little consequence (I hope!).

[SBT]

Odd winter here so far, though. Little snow (currently bare ground locally), and the warmest Jan. on record, I think.

 

Nonetheless, often the biggest snowstorms are often late season in Maine (March, April).

 

The amount of lowering I'll get with the Ions (~1.25" in front and ~1/2" rear with double spring seats) would most likely be of little consequence (I hope!).

 

Yeah - I remember a completely unexpected 41" No'easter snowfall on April 7th (all between 12AM and 7AM). This was Downeast (Winter Harbor). I had just put the summer tires on the day before and driven into Ellsworth to pick up a new battery for my motorcycle. I left the car outside since it was so nice and couldn't even see it the next morning. My car at the time was a 76 Fiat 128 wagon, and the only way that you would even know that there was a car under all that snow was to look for the radio antenna which was just barely sticking out.

 

BOT - With that much drop in the front, you might be plowing a little too much snow when/if the weather doesn't cooperate. But, if you're running dedicated winter boots, you shouldn't have too much problem.

 

SBT

[Scooter]

Anyone know if the fronts have a similar spring seat that you could double up on just like some people have done on the rear?? I imagine the geometry is a bit different, but I haven't looked for myself yet.

[colatkitty]

Sorry about the hijack , but I have a set of JDM specB revA springs for sale for $100 if anyone is interested. Minimal lowering and around 30% increase in spring rates.

[BoxerGT2.5]

H-techs... or S-techs? I have heard S-techs drop about 1.5" while the H-techs are only 1" drop....

 

The more I research..... the more confused I get.

 

 

H-Techs, put them on two cars......thought we were gonna have to run out and by some Rancho's for Larry's car.

[schwinn]

One thing to note - LOWERING a car, by itself, doesn't affect strut life assuming the spring is the same rate (ie, a cut linear-rate spring). Of course, cutting springs is the wrong thing to do anyway, and properly lowering a car usually means a stiffer spring is needed to prevent hitting the bump stops.

 

The point is that a stiffer spring is what affects strut life. In other words, a same-length but stiffer spring will affect strut life as much as a shorter one of the same stiffness.

 

What's the engineering answer?

 

Simply put, I found this explanation to be quite simple:

From: http://www.tomorrowstechnician.com/tt/tt30452.htm

If the spring is stiffer than stock, the springs could "overpower" the dampening forces of the stock shock. Shocks dampen the motion of the springs. If a vehicle has a stock spring rate of 225 lbs. and the owner upgrades to a spring that has a rate of 450 lbs. (severe example) this could mean that the strut or shock has to work twice as hard to dampen the spring.

 

This is why a stiffer spring on a stock strut will shorten its life. Simply put, it's not matched to handle the load of a stiffer spring. You'd be better off putting in a stiffer strut on a stock spring, though this won't give you much of a performance enhancement... but at least you won't damage anything.

[melayout]

Thanks. I googled a few times but never got a direct answer.

[heydutchie]

Colakitty:

I PMed you yesterday about your available springs - and I'm local so could do a cash pick-up.

Please get back to me when you can

Dutch