How Do I Tell What My Spring Rates Are?

[Dan_J]

Coil OD = 60/60 mm

Wire OD = 10 mm

# of Coils = 7.5 turns

a lil ruff but best i cud do at the time

thanks

[Sydneykid]

Coil OD = 60/60 mm

Wire OD = 10 mm

# of Coils = 7.5 turns

a lil ruff but best i cud do at the time

thanks

60 mm OD = 40 mm ID, I have never seen a spring that small.

If you meant 60 mm ID, then;

Spring rate = 290 lbs/inch (5 kg/mm)

Cheers

Gary

[Dan_J]

yep my bad ment ID

looks like i need harder springs, still better then the stockies tho

Edited April 30, 2008 by Dan_J

[Sydneykid]

yep my bad ment ID

looks like i need harder springs, still better then the stockies tho

OK front rate for road tyres, a bit under done for R type tyres though.

Cheers

Gary

[def_jamz112]

Hey Gary looks like your the man for this sort of stuff

could you have a go at these coilovers??

Rear:

lower coil OD: 95

upper coil OD: 110

wOD: 13.5

no. of turns: 7

front:

lower coil OD: 100

upper coil OD: 120

wOD: 15

no. of turns: 6.25

cheers

[Sydneykid]

Hey Gary looks like your the man for this sort of stuff

could you have a go at these coilovers??

Rear:

lower coil OD: 95

upper coil OD: 110

wOD: 13.5

no. of turns: 7

Spring rate = 350 lbs/inch (6 kg/mm)

front:

lower coil OD: 100

upper coil OD: 120

wOD: 15

no. of turns: 6.25

Spring rate = 500 lbs/inch (8.7 kg/mm)

cheers

OK spring rates for slicks, too high for everything else.

Cheers

Gary

[_Scotty_]

Front:

Coil ID = 104/90 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.8 turns

Spring rate =

Rear:

Coil ID = 99/71 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.4 turns

Spring rate =

I believe they're Nismo low springs, not sure though...

Cheers.

Edited May 24, 2008 by _Scotty_

[Rolls]

Coil ID = 146mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 5 turns

Spring rate = ?

Esplier springs apparently.

[Sydneykid]

Front:

Coil ID = 104/90 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.8 turns

Spring rate = 120 lbs/inch (2 kg/mm)

From that low spring rate I assume that they are progressive. To get the actual (in use) spring rate you need to look at the coils, there should be some very closely wound together. They are sacrificial coils, they collapse onto each other as soon as the weight of the car is applied. Those coils need to be left out of the calculation.

Otherwise check the wire diameter.

Rear:

Coil ID = 99/71 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.4 turns

Spring rate = Spring rate = 170 lbs/inch (3 kg/mm)

These may be progressive as well.

I believe they're Nismo low springs, not sure though...

Cheers.

[Sydneykid]

Coil ID = 146mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 5 turns

Spring rate = Spring rate = 95 lbs/inch (1.7 kg/mm)

Esplier springs apparently.

Is that a parrallel coil, ie; 146 mm all the way?

Cheers

Gary

[Rolls]

Is that a parrallel coil, ie; 146 mm all the way?

Cheers

Gary

Yeah it is but they are definitely stiffer then standard. Maybe I wrote down the measurements wrong, Ill double check.

[beersandwich]

coil od/id 88/60

wire OD 12mm

# of coils - 7.5

[Sydneykid]

coil od/id 88/60

wire OD 12mm

# of coils - 7.5

Spring rate = 550 lbs/inch (10 kg/mm)

Cheers

Gary

[_Scotty_]

Front:

Coil ID = 104/90 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.8 turns

Spring rate = 120 lbs/inch (2 kg/mm)

From that low spring rate I assume that they are progressive. To get the actual (in use) spring rate you need to look at the coils, there should be some very closely wound together. They are sacrificial coils, they collapse onto each other as soon as the weight of the car is applied. Those coils need to be left out of the calculation.

Otherwise check the wire diameter.

Rear:

Coil ID = 99/71 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 9.4 turns

Spring rate = Spring rate = 170 lbs/inch (3 kg/mm)

These may be progressive as well.

Correct, they are progressive, so how about:

Front:

Coil ID = 104/90 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 5.5 turns

Spring rate =

Rear:

Coil ID = 99/71 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 7.4 turns

Spring rate =

Any idea if these are in fact Nismo springs?

Cheers Gary.

[Sydneykid]

Correct, they are progressive, so how about:

Front:

Coil ID = 104/90 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 5.5 turns

Spring rate = 250 lbs/inch (4.4 kg/mm)

Rear:

Coil ID = 99/71 mm

Wire OD = 12 mm

# of Coils = 7.4 turns

Spring rate = 230 lbs/inch (4.1 kg/mm)

Any idea if these are in fact Nismo springs?

Cheers Gary.

They are fairly sensible rates, which Nimso do occasionally.

Cheers

Gary

[vespa]

Hey SK, springs in my old tanabe coilovers which I am thinking of putting back in measure like this:

Front:

ID: 62mm

Wire OD: 11.5mm

# Turns: 6.9 (2 sacrificial coils i think)

Rear:

ID: 61mm

Wire OD: 11mm

# Turns: 7.8 (2 sacrificial coils i think)

Some measurements seem odd but with digital callipers its difficult to get an repetitive reading, it seems that with the fronts they were thicker in the middle then the top and bottom but only by .5 mm so I just ignored it. Also the top and bottom of the coil are manipulated flat (2 sacrificial coils i think) so I don’t know if that affects anything but I would say most coilover springs are like that. They also have the little helper spring but as mentioned earlier that holds the main spring in and doesn’t affect the spring rate?

Do you know anything about the tanabe coilover shocks? They are height adjustable but not damper adjustable and are from the sus tec pro range (many years old).

Thanks in advance!

Edited June 30, 2008 by vespa

[Sydneykid]

Hey SK, springs in my old tanabe coilovers which I am thinking of putting back in measure like this:

Front:

ID: 62mm

Wire OD: 11.5mm

# Turns: 6.9 (2 sacrificial coils i think)

490 lbs/inch (8.7kg/mm)

Rear:

ID: 61mm

Wire OD: 11mm

# Turns: 7.8 (2 sacrificial coils i think)

370 lbs/inch (6.7kg/mm)

Some measurements seem odd but with digital callipers its difficult to get an repetitive reading, it seems that with the fronts they were thicker in the middle then the top and bottom but only by .5 mm so I just ignored it. Also the top and bottom of the coil are manipulated flat (2 sacrificial coils i think) so I don’t know if that affects anything but I would say most coilover springs are like that. They also have the little helper spring but as mentioned earlier that holds the main spring in and doesn’t affect the spring rate?

Do you know anything about the tanabe coilover shocks? They are height adjustable but not damper adjustable and are from the sus tec pro range (many years old).

Thanks in advance!

Spring rate is obviously way too high for road work, even too high for track work unless you are using slicks. The best (cost effective) recommendation I can give is to stick the rear springs in the front and buy a set of rear springs around 225/250 lbs/inch (4 to 4.5 kg/mm). Tanabe shocks are OK in a typical Japanese way, not good but OK. Try the spring swap and see how you like it.

Cheers

Gary

[Crossie]

rear coil:

top 100

bottom 80

wire 10

turns 9

thanks

[Sydneykid]

rear coil:

top 100

bottom 80

wire 10

turns 9

thanks

Are the top and bottom measurements the inside diameter? If so 80 lbs/inch (1.4kg/mm), which is very low.

Are they progressive coils? A number of coils that collapse onto one another as soon as the weight of the car is applied to them? Hence reducing the number of effective coils.

Usually around 4 coils, in which case the rate would be 180 lbs/inch (3.2 kg/mm)

Cheers

Gary

[lidz]

Can you knock these out for me, measurements may be off a touch as did them with shocks still on car & there was minimum room...

Note: springs are progressive, top 5 coils are wound tight, others are normal.

Fronts

Lower O.D. = 89.3mm

Upper O.D. = 89.3mm

Wire thickness = 12mm

No. Coils = 11.125

Rears

Lower O.D. = 85.6mm

Upper O.D. = 87mm

Wire thickness = 11mm

No. Coils = 11.125

thanks heaps!