XJ-Wagon Posted December 30, 2014 Report Posted December 30, 2014 Newb here, just posted in new member intros. I have a 93 Cutlass Supreme S 2 door and thanks to GOT 2B GM all ready have a RSTB & some ST front Springs, so I was planning on getting a new Flex-A Form rear spring. Thinking of a 180 - 200 lb spring rate? Does that seem about right? I was also reading up and it seems that Birchmount has better reviews? Are they Noisy? How much heavier are they? Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks. Quote
XJ-Wagon Posted December 30, 2014 Author Report Posted December 30, 2014 http://www.flex-form.com/ http://www.birchmountspring.ca/en/ plus all of the searching and reading here on those springs I have all ready done, my best guess is for a 200 lb rear spring rate for the flex-form to match the front ST springs. Quote
rich_e777 Posted December 31, 2014 Report Posted December 31, 2014 Might as well do a rear coil over conversion. I haven't seen anyone mention a lowering leaf spring on hear in a long time, a rear coil over conversion has always been the desired route. I`m hoping to do one myself one of these days but I don't have the parts for the front just yet. 200lbs might be a little too soft IIRC. Quote
XJ-Wagon Posted December 31, 2014 Author Report Posted December 31, 2014 I'll do some searching and read up on the rear coil conversion today. It sounds like a lot more work? Quote
rich_e777 Posted December 31, 2014 Report Posted December 31, 2014 Check out the locked thread titled "How to lower a W-body" at the top of the suspension section for a start off point, there are also several other conversion threads out there as well. Quote
XJ-Wagon Posted January 1, 2015 Author Report Posted January 1, 2015 Ok, I will. That's where I found the info about the flex-form & birchmount springs. I'll keep reading & researching until I pull the trigger & buy something. Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted January 8, 2015 Report Posted January 8, 2015 My Flex-A-Form rear spring is a perfect height match for the ST front springs. Spring rate is 185-lb. I've had it for over 8-years now, no problems whatsoever, no noise. Quote
XJ-Wagon Posted January 8, 2015 Author Report Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) I called flex-form, he was helpful but not sure about spring rates and with a 2 month wait time I decided to call Birchmount. Tony Vidinovski at Birchmount fed-ex'd me a spring for a 2" drop the next day. Very easy, fast, great service. Edited January 8, 2015 by XJ-Wagon Quote
pitzel Posted January 11, 2015 Report Posted January 11, 2015 Just out of interest -- can you buy these after-market springs in a "stock" form, height, etc.? Without lowering? Is it just a matter of specifying such, or is there something that inherently makes the after-market steel springs more suited to lowering applications? Quote
Garrett Powered Posted January 11, 2015 Report Posted January 11, 2015 (edited) Just out of interest -- can you buy these after-market springs in a "stock" form, height, etc.? Without lowering? Is it just a matter of specifying such, or is there something that inherently makes the after-market steel springs more suited to lowering applications? I would use one of the two flex-a-form springs I got for my lowered tgp, but I have a sub in the trunk and always haul groceries in it for work. like stuff the car with tons of weight. so that could be bad on a performance lowering spring unless it was steel which of course is heavier. I unfortunately, use the car more like a truck so I cant use them. I use the red tgp with the stock spring and load it down all the time and it takes it so far. unless I try to drive it with 5 people inside which is always dumb. Edited January 11, 2015 by Garrett Powered Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted January 11, 2015 Report Posted January 11, 2015 Just out of interest -- can you buy these after-market springs in a "stock" form, height, etc.? Without lowering? Is it just a matter of specifying such, or is there something that inherently makes the after-market steel springs more suited to lowering applications? The Flex-A-Form 300lb spring was about stock height on my car, though my car was pretty high before, like a 4x4. The earlier W's had a higher stock height. Although if you're looking for stock height, a junkyard spring would be considerably cheaper. If you're concerned about sag, the earlier FE3 springs (88-89) never seemed to sag. Quote
XJ-Wagon Posted January 11, 2015 Author Report Posted January 11, 2015 Yes you can purchase an after-market spring in stock form. You would just have to specify that when ordering. I just made the purchase from Birchmount for a steel spring, because they are very familiar with the set up on the older w-body lateral spring and new exactly what I wanted. It seemed like more guess work with flex-form. The steel spring is going to be maybe 30 lbs.? heavier. Quote
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