Spring rate calculators

[crispy'86]

Where is an easy to follow online link to working out suspension coil spring rates? I want to do some research to stiffen up the front of my fx and try to avoid getting custom made units if i can pay less to upgrade my current setup.
\Thanks in advance

[atmosports]

Spring rate calculators, do you want to work out the rate of the springs you've got going off the wire diameter,no of active coils etc or are you trying to work out what the spring rate should be for the car, if it's this later one to do it properly is quite involved. From memory Eibach used to have the information on working out both the above in it's catalogues & pretty sure it was on the site might be worth checking again. Else I can probably look through all my stuff here & find one or the other.

[strx7]

start of by putting a larger front sway bar into your car and then go from there. too many people think hard front springs are what keep a car flat thru a corner, yes and no, a big front bar with softer springs give you nice flat corner wilst maintaining some 'comfort', hard front springs & a big front bar = gotta have race tyres to make use of it

[crispy'86]

atmo, it's what i want just can't find anything on the net yet, want to work out my springs i have and maybe go from there,
strx7, bigger front bar would mean having to go bigger adjustable rear bar to eliminate understeer. Trust me been there done that when i started out doing sprints and clamped another swaybar onto my original. In that case 2 sway bars and probably link bush kit etc to make the most of what i have,

[suberimakuri]

I still haven't liked going up on swaybars compared to standard.. always preferring more rate in the springs.
guess track stuff only though.

[strx7]

on some cars, simply putting in a larger front sway bar can make it handle like its on rail, ie: suzuki baleno/cultus cresent

[crispy'86]

i guess it depends on the setup of the chassis from factory but with my factory swap bars front and rear it was an understeery pig, doubt bigger one would make it handle like it's on rails.

Karl: spring rate would be the key having a stiffer setup and running on race tyres/ slicks to get more adhesion to the track wouldn't it?

[KinLoud]

I made an excel spreadsheet Spring Rate Calculator
How do I post it up here? Or will I just have to email it as an attachment?

Ken
Ham
021 408 863

[2LTR Rona]

I made an excel spreadsheet Spring Rate Calculator
How do I post it up here? Or will I just have to email it as an attachment?

Ken
Ham
021 408 863

Ken - you would have to find someone who is willing to host that file on their server & allow it to be accessed OR find an online hosting site that allows .xls files to be stored.

Or yes you could have people send you their details & then you email.

[atmosports]

We run an absolutely huge front bar on the v8 tourer, couldn't give you a rate first hand, but compared to what we used to run on them it'd be doubled maybe more in rate. Even rear bars are getting bigger. With this spring rates are going down. Springs will provide you traction, softer springs more traction/more grip in theory, but you still need them hard enough to resist roll, but if you go too hard then you get no grip & no roll. You'll need to find a compromise between soft/stiff springs & a small/large bar for both front/rear. To work out where you should be takes heaps of measurements to do it properly, else the next best thing si some track testing or try & get some idea of what similar cars are running & work from there. Make huge changes one at a time to the spring rate,ride height, front/rear bars & see which way you end up going, once your in the ball park then you can do small changes.

[neo]

I made an excel spreadsheet Spring Rate Calculator
How do I post it up here? Or will I just have to email it as an attachment?

Send it to me and I'll make a web page out of it eventally =)

gonzo at tappsville . com

[crispy'86]

that gives me an idea where i need to be heading with my setup , thanks atmosports.

I'll have to try different setups guess.
A couple of people i know are running slicks at ruapuna, they run no rear swaybar and have reasonably stiff trd springs. Maybe that's to do with the type of tyre they use? They're both rwd oriented cars

[strx7]

bet they both try to pick up the inside front wheel coming outta the corners under power too??

I've generally found, front swaybar effects car going into corner, rear sway bar effect car coming out.

You need to have a look at set ups on cars similar if not the same as yours