coilover spring questions

87_bigbadzuk · Mar 26, 2014

It seems there is no real answer when read and read and read. What length springs do I need to put on a 12" stroke foa coilover. I have some 14" long coils and I read another thread that says I need 12". I'm confused. These will be dual rate. On a fiberglass body cj5 with 454bbc on propane th400 np208 stretched 110wb and tons. Typical build so also curious if someone could suggest what rate coils to run front and back. I know need to weight it per corner but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I have 225# and 250# springs and 10" length I have 175# which is probably too light. Any help is appreciated. Helping a buddy build his first rig andi have no experience with coilovers and I have read a lot but nothing seems right.

SomewhiteGuy · Mar 26, 2014

14" lowers and 10" uppers would be what I would run.

Elliott · Mar 26, 2014

There is a lot of variables to this, its not just a one size fits all. Its going to depend on your weight and ride height.If you can get some kind of spacer made out of aluminum pipe or something like that and just throw that on there till your done building. Ive got some really heavy springs that I use while im builing and setting up a buggy, I just run the spanners all the way down on the spring and that holds it just fine.
EOR or Wide OPen can probably get you close but no sense spending the cheese on them right now if its not ready to ride yet anyways.

87_bigbadzuk · Mar 26, 2014

I was under the impression 14" and 10". That's why I had these springs for my zuk when I switch from air shocks to coilovers. I'll prolly throw on what I have for now and see what it does.

Elliott · Mar 26, 2014

The lighter the spring the more it will compress. Say you had two 14" springs one was a 100 lb. one was a 300 lb. the 100 would compress more so you might need a longer one to be able to set your ride height where you want.

TacomaJD · Mar 26, 2014

Elliott said:
The lighter the spring the more it will compress. Say you had two 14" springs one was a 100 lb. one was a 300 lb. the 100 would compress more so you might need a longer one to be able to set your ride height where you want.

That's how I think mine will be. Should know how they work in the next week or two. 14" Fox coilovers with 16" lower 200# spring and 14" upper 100# spring. May not work wortha ****, may be spot on with little to no tuning....time will tell.

I think it's safe to say you should always run a lower spring that is 2" longer than shock travel, though....then adjust top spring length accordingly? Least that seems to be what I've read from what sounds like the most knowledgable people on here and pirate on this sort of stuff. Plus Jimmy from EOR set up my shocks and that's the way he sent em.