Help, lowering spring

[silversupe]

Hi, i have just installed a set of Fensport uprated and lowered springs and find that the springs are coil bound i.e. the coils are resting on one another, surely this cant be right. Because of this the ride is very bouncy. I really cant face taking them off again in the bloody rain. The springs clearly had MA70 written on them. Any one else had this prob.
cheers

Jon

[Nick@TC]

You mean the springs are fully compressed with just the weight of the vehicle??

[silversupe]

No, i should have made it clearer, it looks like the top 3 coils on the back and the bottom 3 on the front or vice versa, cant remember.

cheers

[Nick@TC]

Are you confident you've got them in correctly??

[silversupe]

Cheers Nick, Yeah, i think so as the fronts only go one way due to the taper at one end. I suppose the rears could in upside down, but i dont think that would stop them binding on 3-4 coils. I have seen lowered springs on my bothers Skyline and they are not like this, there is a failrly equal space between the coils as you would expect them to be.

[Nick@TC]

Certainly sounds like something's wrong, hard to say without seeing them, give Fensport a ring on Monday as never heard of any probs with their stuff.

[silversupe]

May post some pics tomorrow, but will definately speak to Fensport on Monday. Thanks for your time Nick

Jon

[Delphius]

Hi, i have just installed a set of Fensport uprated and lowered springs and find that the springs are coil bound i.e. the coils are resting on one another, surely this cant be right. Because of this the ride is very bouncy. I really cant face taking them off again in the bloody rain. The springs clearly had MA70 written on them. Any one else had this prob.
cheers

Jon

If the coils are actually resting on one another, then that definately isn't right. Make sure there's absolutely no gap between the coils.

The Fensport springs are progressive wound ones. Progressive springs start off with normal coil spacing, but then the coils get tighter towards the other end. Check out this link to seee Spax's progressive springs:
http://www.spax.co.uk/SPAX_SSX_page.html The gap between the coils is bigger at the bottom and smaller at the top.

The other type of spring, where the coil spacing is the same all along the length of the spring is a linear spring. The characteristics of the spring stay constant at light and heavy loads.

Progressive springs, as their name suggests are supposed to be more "progressive" in the way they work, offering a softer spring at light loads, but then becoming stiffer as the coils compress.
The bad news is that some shock absorbers work horribly with these type of springs because the damping rates are set for linear springs.

You may just be noticing the different spring rates at work, or they may not work so well with your shock absorbers.

Progressive springs work well in motorcycle forks, where nearly all aftermarket springs are of this type because there's a greater weight shift when you brake. So a light load is okay when you're running flat along a road, but when you jam on the brakes, a progressive spring helps prevent the nose diving too much.

Mark.

[silversupe]

Thanks for all the info, and it certainly does look like they are correct. Another mate i know who does loads of suspension stuff popped by and said they were right. I have never seen pregressive springs before and i am just not used to it this low. :)

cheers every one