front coilover specs?

[gpchris]

Hey im using the overkill camber plates/tophats with my factory knuckle. Im wondering what size spring should i use? 10"/2.5" or 12"/2.5"? Im wanting to lower the car atleast 2". Ive heard people say using a 10" spring is better for the front.

 

And what about the spring weight? Id like something very tight but streetable. I have 300lb springs in the rear.

[kuntzie]

550s up front, 10" spring.

[CSI_MuNkY]

I have 350s up front, will be going to 400s when I move them from the GTP to the cutlass

[gpchris]

550 seems like it would be a little rough. Yet 350 seems wayy too loose. Im not really sure what any of these spring rates will feel like so i ended up getting 500's.

[BXX]

Man, I should have posted sooner in this thread.

 

Im running the OEM front mounts. Ive had them on for around 5000miles. They wont be on much longer. These are not really streetable at all. At times, Im still hesistant aboutt hittting a hard enough pothole and the mount plate actually breaking.

 

They are very rough and also kinda noisy which is expected with the design. Also, dontt plan on goin uber low. On my CS I have about 1/2"-1" of wheelgap and I only have 2-3" of sttrut travel left. With 12" long 325lb springs, I bottom out easily.

 

Mark made mine wrong, he ended up making them for a Gen 2 sttrutt diameter. I ended up getting different inserts that work (from an older VW)

 

Unless you plan on running Koni inserts that are double adjustable, dont plan on running 500lb springs without the risk of possible damage to the mount since there is more force being exerted on them (or I may just be overly worried) and if you wanna run softer springs like 300lb range so you arent breaking your back as much, dontt plan on lowering too much.

 

Needless to say these mounts would work fine off the streets, or with proper double adjustable strut inserts with properly setup spring rate.

 

Also, since the mounts are solid, expect to notice alot of slop in other suspension components like OE control arm bushings and subframe bushings. The effects of mine being OE (although in good shape) were exaserbated when I put on the OEM mounts.

[jman093]

This has made me curious. Does anyone know what the factory spring rates are? Years ago (maybe on the old homepage), there use to be a list floating around of the different spring codes and their respective spring rate, but I can't find it.

[Crazy K]

WHERE HAS THE OLD SITE spring-codes.html page GONE?

[CSI_MuNkY]

Stock spring rate is in the neighborhood of 200-250lb, this spec was given to me by both Held and FFP back in the day

[jman093]

WHERE HAS THE OLD SITE spring-codes.html page GONE?

 

Thank God for Web-Archive.com!

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20060531151546/www.w-body.com/spring-codes.html

 

That is the list I was thinking of. It doesn't give the spring rate like I thought it did, though.

[gpchris]

Alls i know if springs are one of the most important part of suspension. I remember people complaining about polyurethane dogbones because they were too harsh. But on my 6spd gtp i have 4 lower poly mounts supporting the engine/trans and a poly dogbone and i absolutely love the feel. When you start the engine you can really feel it but i like it. As far as suspension 500lb springs and solid strut mounts may be a little rough. But if i dont like it ill put some 425lb springs in and add isolators.

[dohc v6]

You will be fine with the 550 rate springs. The mounts should not be loud at all, if they are something is wrong. I have had mine on for a good while and I am running 600 up front and 550 out back on koni race shocks.

 

Chris, I am actually machining your mounts right now. They will be shipping tomorrow morning.

 

Mark-OEM

[xtremerevolution]

Out of curiosity, why such a stiff rear spring? Isn't the weight distribution on our cars close to 70:30, at least for the 2 doors? I know the 2nd gens are 65:35.

 

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk

[dohc v6]

For my car, I want it as stiff as I can get it, plus I have a cage going in and a couple other things in the trunk.

 

Mark

[gpchris]

Well I just put my 300lb rear springs on and they made a little noise. I was able to get rid of that with isolators. The ride is still pretty stiff. 500lb springs for the front shouldn't be real bad. Mark, can I use isolators with the bearings?

[BXX]

300lb in the rear is a bit soft IMHO but good to deal witth on the rough roads I live around.. I need to get 375 to 400 out back to really do itt up, but I have issues wiht my frontt coilovers though.

 

 

Mark, quick question, the top hats you have/make, how tall are they??

[dohc v6]

It depends, are they gold or bare aluminum?

 

Chris, shoot me a pic of what you did?

 

Mark

[gpchris]

300lb in the rear is a bit soft IMHO but good to deal witth on the rough roads I live around.. I need to get 375 to 400 out back to really do itt up, but I have issues wiht my frontt coilovers though.

 

 

Mark, quick question, the top hats you have/make, how tall are they??

 

Pardon my language but what the Fuck!!?? Lol 300lbs Is reallllyyy stiff! I'm think about going to 250lb because it's getting overwhelming when driving on really uneven bumpy ground. My springs are too tight and my struts are too loose. If I had koni struts it would be one thing but the kybs bounce too much with the 300lb springs.

[gpchris]

It depends, are they gold or bare aluminum?

 

Chris, shoot me a pic of what you did?

 

Mark

 

What do you mean?

[gpchris]

It depends, are they gold or bare aluminum?

 

Chris, shoot me a pic of what you did?

 

Mark

 

What do you mean?

[jman093]

Pardon my language but what the Fuck!!?? Lol 300lbs Is reallllyyy stiff! I'm think about going to 250lb because it's getting overwhelming when driving on really uneven bumpy ground. My springs are too tight and my struts are too loose. If I had koni struts it would be one thing but the kybs bounce too much with the 300lb springs.

 

x2. Mine rides like a lumber cart with 275's in the back and I too have ricer bounce with the kyb's.

 

 

What do you mean?

 

He wants to know the color.

[dohc v6]

x2. Mine rides like a lumber cart with 275's in the back and I too have ricer bounce with the kyb's.

 

 

 

 

He wants to know the color.

 

 

 

Thats because you cant use kyb's to go lower than 1". Kyb are factory replacement struts, not meant for excessive lowering. YOu need to get some Konis, or bilsteins or something in there to handle the drop or your car will ride like trash. If your car is bouncing, your set-up is trash.

 

Mark

[BXX]

Me using stock VW front inserts is the only reason I can go so low up front without bouncing or the like. The just dont have quite enough dampening for me to use the spring rate I want.

 

Like mark said. If you wantt to run a stiff spring (which the cars need for ttheir wieght to give great handling) you will need to use adjustable inserts such as Koni. THen you can go low, run a stiiff spring, and still maintain good ride quality.

 

And I dunno what to say aboutt the rear. I have the 300lb springs like I said with KYBs and no ricer bounce.

[xtremerevolution]

Me using stock VW front inserts is the only reason I can go so low up front without bouncing or the like. The just dont have quite enough dampening for me to use the spring rate I want.

 

Like mark said. If you wantt to run a stiff spring (which the cars need for ttheir wieght to give great handling) you will need to use adjustable inserts such as Koni. THen you can go low, run a stiiff spring, and still maintain good ride quality.

 

And I dunno what to say aboutt the rear. I have the 300lb springs like I said with KYBs and no ricer bounce.

 

What did you end up getting for my car in the rear? And what car did you get the front inserts from?

[BXX]

you have stock kybs all the way around and i got 400lb springs for the rear iirc.

[xtremerevolution]

you have stock kybs all the way around and i got 400lb springs for the rear iirc.

 

Right, and the KYB's are pretty recent so they should perform well for some time to come. I hope that by going with 400lb springs in the rear that I won't have any "ricer bounce." That's my only conern.