I have never ever seen this talked about. here is the question

how much is too much extension on coils? i'm running 11" 275lb springs front and rear, ride height sets them @ 8". I flexed the rig and extended them 15" but didn't want to go anymore as I was afraid of the spring overextending and breaking.

those that have springs, whats your specs (ride height measurement, extended measurement, lb of spring)

thanks, Tristan

I don't remember where or what I saw it on, but I seen a coil stretched about 2 1/2 feet. I wouldn't stretch it more than 150% uncompressed (11" uncompressed, right?? Would be around 20.5".) I'm sure there's a better way to determine it.

how heavy are you're axles? if not excessive you can probably hang 'em all you want. I feel certain they wouldn't break. maybe you'd exceed the elasticity of it and move into the plasticity of it. in other words, permanently stretch it. but I doubt it. just put a limiting strap so you don't overextend your driveshaft or brakelines.

I have "heard" no more than 50% over free length.

In other words, if the coil is 20" long laying on the shop floor, you shouldnt push it beyond 30".

I have no idea if this good advice, accurate, or even bound inside the realm of anything to do with fact. So i guess what im saying is i really dont know. :p

I don't remember where or what I saw it on, but I seen a coil stretched about 2 1/2 feet. I wouldn't stretch it more than 150% uncompressed (11" uncompressed, right?? Would be around 20.5".) I'm sure there's a better way to determine it.

thanks Bass Man, I hope I can stretch it that much, time will tell.

how heavy are you're axles? if not excessive you can probably hang 'em all you want. I feel certain they wouldn't break. maybe you'd exceed the elasticity of it and move into the plasticity of it. in other words, permanently stretch it. but I doubt it. just put a limiting strap so you don't overextend your driveshaft or brakelines.

I think the rear FFD60 is around 350 and the front D44hd is around 450

yeah I'll strap it around 18" for now.

I know people do it all the time, and this is going to be a "real world trumps theory" situation, but as far as I know, coils that are meant to take load in compression should not actually be stretched beyond their free length. There are limits on compression as well, some are made to be compressed to block height (usually in the ballpark of half the free length), others are not, and should be bump'd before this happens.

That said, I'm not aware of any rule for how far they can be stretched in the real world, but it would probably vary for each spring, depending on coil (wire) diameter, and overall wind/spring diameter, rate, and the material itself. Trial and error I guess...

I know people do it all the time, and this is going to be a "real world trumps theory" situation, but as far as I know, coils that are meant to take load in compression should not actually be stretched beyond their free length. There are limits on compression as well, some are made to be compressed to block height (usually in the ballpark of half the free length), others are not, and should be bump'd before this happens.

That said, I'm not aware of any rule for how far they can be stretched in the real world, but it would probably vary for each spring, depending on coil (wire) diameter, and overall wind/spring diameter, rate, and the material itself. Trial and error I guess...

that's good info right there. thanks, I got all the 4 coils for free so if one or more ends of f'd up then I'll report back on mine and tell the story. I know my coils were built for compression only (used in a coilover) so i'm probably going beyond the stretching limits. i'll strap it to 18" and see how it goes. the free standing length of the coils is 11"

thanks Philj

That'll probably work out for ya. Lots of people use coilover-coils in a stand-alone application, since they're easy to find in a variety of rates, compact, and reasonably priced. I've seen many applications of 12-14" coils, usually running 14" shocks. Assuming these coils have 6-7" compression travel from free length, that means they're being stretched 7-8" beyond that length. Reported problems are pretty infrequent. So either it's working fine, or people just aren't piping up about it.

Depending on your take on the situation (and depending on the $$ you sink into your shocks), you could probably run a 12" shock, and as long as the mounts were set up to bottom the shock near your main bumpstops, they should limit droop to right around your 18" desired total spring length (your springs are probably good for 5-6" up travel before block height...eibach has a nice table for dimensions, rates, block heights and loads...since you're running CO springs, they should be comparable) which would leave you 6-7" down, plus your 11" free length gets you to 17-18" at full droop, and 12" of vertical travel. Still pretty good for a solid axle crawler. 12" of travel might not sound like a ton compared to all the articulation numbers people are always throwing around, but considering that's clean vertical travel, and with the width of your axles, that should give you all the flex you need.

Of course, if you don't want to run your shocks as limit straps, none of this matters :P I personally don't mind, especially for crawling duty. If you really use this as a dual purpose rig and start picking up the pace/getting off the ground, they might not appreciate holding up that D60...:p

Good luck :D

I wouldn't stretch it more than 150% uncompressed (11" uncompressed, right?? Would be around 20.5".)


New math? :p

thanks Dude.

I appreciate you knowledge.

I was thinking this was a tad over the limit, but ran it for a year or so with no problem. its 14" coil with 33" tires. rolled the shock forward so the spring would really stretch. :smokin:

4 years with qa1's, 175 front and 150 rears with no proplems.
PS. I beat the snot out of it.

4 years with qa1's, 175 front and 150 rears with no proplems.

Looks good...

How long are they uncompressed though???

thanks guys, keep the knowledge comin.

most of you are on Toy's which is a tad lighter than my dana's but since my springs were free I might just test how far I can stretch them without strapping them. i've probably got 150 pounds more in axle weight so that is why I was alittle more concerned.

Looks good...

How long are they uncompressed though???


14's