Well, here I am 2 yrs. later still working on getting these front shocks to work the way I want them to. I think I'm asking for too much.
What front rate are you guys running ? how do you like it? ...the rest of this is just dribble/venting

Here's what I'm up against...15" travel shocks with 450/450 springs, they compress about 3.5" at rest. To preload them at full extension I need to use about 2.5" of thread which leaves only 3.5" of extension (droop) and 11.5" compression, and raises the ride hgt. too much... If I don't preload (run the nut to the top of the threads) I get 6" (3.5+2.5=6") of ext. and 9 comp. (much better) and the ride hgt. is fine, but at full ext. the fawking coils are flopping around, getting caught on the bottom of the tube, hanging up and releasing, scratchin at at the rod ect ...
OK you say, get some lighter coils it's WAY over sprung... And it IS over sprung, but it handles so well and rides great, and I still manage to kiss the bumpstops on occassion , which are set to the compressed length (less a little fudge room).
I'd hate to have it so soft I can't bonzi and I really like the way it corners as is... hmmm. In rough numbers I'd say I have about 800lbs. on each corner 450/2=225 x 3.5" compressed = 787 lb... So, what should I do, put up with it ? or change rates ? What rate works well for others ? How does your shiat handle ? ...I don't want to mess with a sway bar...

GOAT 1 you around???

Here's what I'm thinking I Could do..

Glue the springs to the bottom perch and the stack spacer so they stay together at full droop (I have done this in the past), and make a hokey sleeve (pvc pipe or something) to guide them along the body so they slip onto the adjusting nut shoulder without catching... ( I havn't tried this yet)

This all sounds rather cobbled to me.

if you have a 225lb/in effective rate why not get a single coil of that rate and ditch the dual setup? when you first heard about your problems that seemed like a solution to me

Here's what I did...I have a droop coil (third spring) that's an 80lb x 6" spring. It's totally compressed at rest, and allows proper tension adjustment w/o having the springs dropping out. Sure I loose about 2.75" if up travel, but it's worth it not having the coil drop out...

O'yea, the shocks are 2.5" x 14" Kings...400 x 320 x 80

--D

I happened to ask Avalanche about "tender coils" a few weeks ago. They said they were getting some coils made then and should be available very soon. They'd be something like 150lb(?) 6" springs. They'd typically be squashed at the top, but hold the other springs in place at full extension. Then you'd also need another plastic dohicky between the coils and you're set.

Thanks Guys...
I hate to give-up any travel after all the work I put into getting shit to tuck in so tightly on compression. When I set it up I planned on 7.5" ext. and 7.5" comp. and a really low ride hgt. .When I first put the coilovers on I knew it was too tall, but I was late for tellico so we used it, and loved it, except for the ride hgt.
I'm gonna try again to talk with Mr Doetsch and see wtf he had in mind.
After looking at the sway a way site, I see the reason for the dual spring rates...Once the tender spring coil binds or stops, you jump to the to the heaver main spring rate (which would allow for some bonzi action.) ,but Doetsch trys to keep the rates within 25-50 lbs. of each other in a stacked set...hmmmm
I just don't want to start swaying in the turns, and I want to be able to hammer on it.

50/50 ride hgt.
firm ride
bonzi proof

Is that too much to ask ?

>btw my acf would be a 1

I also would suggest using a pick up spring. I know that they make some really small ones. They have about a 50 lb rating or less and are onl 3 to 4 inches long. The compress to almost nothing when the vehicle is sitting and they'll keep your springs from banging around in full extension. You said yourself that you like how it handles with the setup you have and when you have it set to the ride height you like the only problem is that the springs flop around so the pick up spring would take care of this and really wouldn't effect the overall spring rate much.

Originally posted by Marmot
I happened to ask Avalanche about "tender coils" a few weeks ago.Yep.

Are these for you or ??? I heard you "enhanced" your setup some.

Since your happy with you current set-up, you just need to get a tender coil on the top so the springs do not unload at full droop. Your situation is common with these long travel suspensions, in order to get a decent ride frequency, the coils end up being too stiff to keep from unloading at full droop. Eibach makes some tender coils that are very soft and compress real short. You can get your ride height down by using coils that are shorter by the amount you want to lower it but you have to be carefull to watch the coil travel so they dont coil-bind before the suspension hits full bump.

Ok!
Thanks all...I'm gonna get some real good measurements this weekend and get some springs on order...I'm gonna go ahead and get a shorter spring along with the tenders.
I'll get this bit*h dialed in.

Originally posted by Belly Dragger
Are these for you or ??? I heard you "enhanced" your setup some.
No, those wouldn't be for me, but while I was talking to Avalanche I asked about them for Corbin. He's needed to get tender coils for a long time.

Yeah, I've been experimenting with new spring and shock rates for my SAW coil-overs. Still would like to tweak the shock rate again. Ugh. Now I have an extra pair of SAW 650 ppi coils lying around. I assume the only people that would be interested in that stiff of a spring rate would have the coil-overs angled inward like you do in the rear, Micheal.
Jeff

Things are not looking good for a helper coil working.
I've run every combination I can think of and I can't get the numbers to come together and keep the 225lb. rate.
By the time I add-in the helper springs block length, and factor in the reduced load on the main springs, I seem to end up at the same height (or higher) that I get when I preload the springs I have.

What helper coil did you get, is it made of round wire or rectangulare wire? You need to get the ones with the rectangular wire, eibach p/n "HELPER 250", it is 3" free length and 1/2" solid heigth, and it's rate doesn't affect the total rate because it is so light you can collapse it by hand. You can call me at work at Sway-a-way on Monday and I can help you out. I won't be in tomorrow, we are testing with Bob Gordon:)

Hmmm, The guy at eibach didn't mention that one, but I just found it on their site... 11.5 lb rate, 2.95" free lgth. , .35" collasped... thx ... Have fun tomorrow