I am wondering if anyone in the club has a spring rate tester that I could borrow for an afternoon (or come use)? I have a set of 5 1/2 x 13 springs that are 300lb/in and I was going to cut them to make them 400 lb/in so I thought I would put this out there.
Let me know, thanks
Andy

It's easy. You need to cut 1/3 of the active coils off of them. Pretty tough to do and maintain ride height or travel, though.

WTF do you want 400 lb-in coils for?

front springs

for what car?

my 242, I have 200lb/in in the rear and i've heard that 400 lb/in for the front is a good number

Don't waste the time... I've done it front/back with every different stock and non-Volvo spring and every different shock/strut combo known to man, and it never turns out satisfactory. B+G lowering kit for your car is 189.99 and is really well balanced regarding spring rates and travel. Dampeners are not so cheap but even with stock hydraulics the B+G's are far and above any cut/custom combo. Plus there are many added benefits which I'll let you discover youreself if you go that route....

Brad

more info then on it?

info on what was the best f/r cut procedure for stock mods, or info on lowering kits and dampeners?

http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~amh110/T ... ndling.htm

that is a golden resource

also;

http://personal.linkline.com/dbarton/Sp ... #bilsteins

Dave bartons page above has the Gr-A/R-sport dampener specs, very useful

IMHO I think lowering coils and the right dampeners can satisfy most enthusiasts' need/wants - mine certainly. I have Sam/Eurosport coils, R-sport competition dampeners, all poly, 25/25 bars, upper/lower braces, adj. panhard rod and adj. endlinks. I can get close to 2deg neg camber and it handles like a dream on rails. I did have to cut 1.5 coils off the rear progressive coils after getting the panhard but no difference noticeable in spring rate, bound or rebound. Just wanted to lower the back end a little which is not advisable without adjusting panhard.
Let me know if I can help out with anything else there!

Brad

reading that just makes me want to put my stock springs back in and start again...

You never rode in my car last summer but with stock springs, stock front shocks, Koni adjustable rears set on hard and a 28mm front/25mm rear bar setup, my car handled like it was on rails. It was really quite ridiculous how fast I could take corners.

Many will argue that a set of stiff springs and matched shocks will do as much, maybe more, for your handling as any stiff swaybar will. I think that's why Brad has the kind of handling he does. Now...find youself some shocks valved to match those stiff springs and you'll likely be pleased with the results...

I just need to put up a new set of springs for the front, seems like 13 inches is the minimum length I can put before strut length problems. I'm not sure, I guess I should put those ones on and see what they are like and go from there huh?