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Front springs lower than SSL?

JSTCOZ

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Hey Guys,

Wanting to know if King Springs go any lower than SSL at the FRONT for VT commo v6? Really needing the front lower on my car but can't seem to find any lower than SSL.
If they don't exist, what do people know about getting springs professionally "compressed'' ?

Thanks in advance :)
 

Loaded Dice

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ephect

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As U mentioned U can get them compressed or there are a few joints that will make a spring to suit ur height and weight of the car. Can't remember the mob but they were priced around $90 a pair
 

JSTCOZ

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U want it lower then SSL....The F..k?

What size rims/tyres you using?

Very delayed reply!!

I'm
Running rims are 20x8.5" and tyres are 225/35/20.


I tried that eBay mob but they said I'd have to do more than just spring change to lower mine and have it safe too :(
 

yxyx64

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to understand their answer you have to realise that when you install lower springs you do not actually change the amount of suspension travel that your car has to any great extent. For the sake of a simple discussion what you are really doing is installing a really soft spring that compresses down really low by using up all its soft part. But because it has compressed down so far at its normal ride height (and is now almost out of travel that you need when you hit a bump) the last little bit of the spring is manufactured to be really hard (so rougher and potentially more dangerous when hitting bumps).

Even lower with std arms and mounting points is dumb. This is not a fun-police issue but an engineering issue.
 
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Big-Al

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why not just take the springs out? it would have the same effect on handling!
 

Not_An_Abba_Fan

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You could fit coil overs, you will get full spring travel without affect ride quality and get it pretty low.
 

Immortality

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to understand their answer you have to realise that when you install lower springs you do not actually change the amount of suspension travel that your car has to any great extent. For the sake of a simple discussion what you are really doing is installing a really soft spring that compresses down really low by using up all its soft part. But because it has compressed down so far at its normal ride height (and is now almost out of travel that you need when you hit a bump) the last little bit of the spring is manufactured to be really hard (so rougher and potentially more dangerous when hitting bumps).

Even lower with std arms and mounting points is dumb. This is not a fun-police issue but an engineering issue.

Unfortunately this is not correct. A lowered spring i.e SSL compared to a standard spring is not a softer spring that compresses more.

Put a standard spring next to a lowered spring and you will see the lowered spring is shorter, hence the reason for requiring shorter shocks (which also have different/firmer bump/rebound characteristics) to make sure the spring stays captured at max suspension travel.

A lowered spring has to be stiffer because it has to control the same amount of (vehicle) weight but has less suspension travel to do so.

More modern lowered springs sometimes have smaller (and thinner coils) at the top, these progressive rate coils are designed to have a free length much like a stock spring, but the overall spring rate is still harder than a standard spring.

I run SSL springs in my VH with Bilstein shocks all round. at 50km/h it is extremely firm/hard ride but at 200km/h is soaks up the bumps real nice. I wouldn't recommend it for road use really. In my daily I run SL springs with shortened shocks and it's firm enough and low enough to sometimes cause issues on our lovely high quality roads here in NZ :(
 

yxyx64

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I say what I mean and mean what I say......You gotta read the whole thing. Soft at the beginning then hard at the end.

Meant simple for the crowd...so I use words like 'for the sake of the arguement' so that all can understand.

Free length discussions just confuses some people.
Standard, low and superlow for commodore are all about the same free length - manufacturer dependent. Ultras free-length is really not a lot different anyway.

Remember that the exact same spring may be a sold as a low on one model commodore but sold as a superlow on a later heavier model (or same model in a V8).

A superlow spring sits down lower because the initial spring rate is low - so it compresses heaps. The soft part is done either by more coils or smaller cross section wire - or both. The spring rate at the end of compression though is very high, so it hardens up. This is called progressive as you say. More to it of course with considerations like bind etc.

But rest assured that one end of a superlow spring is much softer than the soft end of a standard spring.

What else just to confuse everyone... some king replacement springs that are used to raise up the vehicle are actually shorter than the OEM spring. But car ends up higher.

Some king standard replacement springs are shorter than OEM standard spring. Yet the car ends up at the same height after installing shorter springs.

Sometimes the answers are complicated.....

anyhow....back to the destitute.
 
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