86's back ordered

[Infamouz]

Well yesterday I attempted to buy the gm 86 springs, and just rifht now I recieved an email that ther also back ordered. so no I guess 89's or find somthing else.

[navigator]

It might be worth checking with a few other vendors.

[Infamouz]

Ya im going to have to.

[bartonmd]

Sounds like about time for somebody to get a wad of custom springs made in the '87-'88 range...

Mike

[Trail X]

Yeah... I need to get on that.

If we get enough donations to the site, we could easily use that to supplement the tooling cost that the spring supplier will require.

First step I need to undertake is determining proper spring dimensions, then actually creating the spring in 3D and making a fully dimensioned drawing.

Not sure what they'd ultimately end up costing though, due to the small quantities we'd be dealing with.

[fishsticks]

Yeah... I need to get on that.

If we get enough donations to the site, we could easily use that to supplement the tooling cost that the spring supplier will require.

First step I need to undertake is determining proper spring dimensions, then actually creating the spring in 3D and making a fully dimensioned drawing.

Not sure what they'd ultimately end up costing though, due to the small quantities we'd be dealing with.

Springs are springs. As long as the diameter/length/rate are correct they'll work. I've made mention of places that will wind springs to whatever length/rate needed. No tooling costs necessary.

[navigator]

If the custom springs were the right length, you could get them and not need a lift.
I mean if you think about roughly $200 for a lift up front and $200 for a set of 88's that is $400 right there.

[bartonmd]

Yeah, and they would have a longer life-span from having more coils, so being less stressed, if I remember my springs correctly...

Mike

[DirtyBacon04]

wouldnt the longer springs then require longer shocks, too?

[navigator]

I wouldn't expect a spring that gives 3 inches of lift would be any different than a spacer that gives 3 inches of lift.

[Trail X]

Springs are not just springs. There's a lot of 'voodoo' that goes into them. And by voodoo i mean engineering.

It's all got to start with a drawing at some point anyways. Might as well make my own drawing/model.
If the company isn't charging for tooling, then you might end up with a higher cost. Might make more sense price wise to make small batch orders to spread out the tooling/setup charge.

Mike, more coils would also reduce the spring rate. Bacon has a good point though, if you did a lift through springs-only, you'd run into the issues of not enough down-motion of the suspension.

[94 eg]

I dont know much about springs but moog does sale replace spring for the tb. I bought a pair and they seem to work well (PN 81114)
The one I got are for a 4wd EXT, I firgure they would be stiffer than the ones my tb calls for (PN 81110). I wish I knew which factory spring they would be equal to.

[navigator]

I know it is a bit late in the game and I'm sure Mark thought of this in his design and a reason why not to do it but I'll ask anyway.
I've not seen any spacer(except the RC) up close but I expect they are all similar.
When making the spacer the top of the strut bolt is pretty much the top of the spacer.
What if the part the strut mounted to was recessed down maybe an inch, that would effectively make the shock an inch longer.
I know we can't allow the shock to have too much droop or we'll bind the CV but I would think there is an ideal amount of droop that could be built into the spacer.

I know that doesn't help the spring conversation on the surface but by that same token I would think a new top mount could be made that gave virtually no lift but would allow the stock mounting point to be recessed into the spring area.

I made a rough paint job of what I am talking about.

[bartonmd]

Mike, more coils would also reduce the spring rate. Bacon has a good point though, if you did a lift through springs-only, you'd run into the issues of not enough down-motion of the suspension.

I'm talking for a given spring rate, not a given wire size. I know as you go longer for the same spring rate, the wire size goes up.

It is something that would have to be run through a spring program, like we had where I used to work... Give it a rate, a free length, a compressed length, and a cycle life (or number of coils, IIRC), and it goes to town... A regular coil spring like this could be calculated manually, but we used it for some of the rather... uh... interesting springs inside door locks...

Mike

[navigator]

I just remembered it would be a real pain to get an allen wrench in the top of the strut so you could tighten the nut.
Also if the bolt got rusty it could be a pain to remove.

I know for strength purposes you would also need to maximize the thickness in the side of the shock mount area which means the well where you get the nut/socket in would be tight.

Other than those issues what else have I missed?

[Trail X]

Chris, I know my BDS lift does offset the shock mounting plate from the top mounting plate. I supplemented this offset with the "washer mod".

Mike, for the most part this spring is simple, except for the bottom coil. That's where the spring program might be a bit helpful. We have a program I could play with some. Might be even better to do a 89 spring rate with the loaded height of the 87 spring. Lots of different options once you begin making your own coils.

[bartonmd]

The 87 springs are about right for me, without the winch, but with the winch on the front, I'd like something a little heavier, off road...

Mike

[Ominub856]

Just a fyi tried to order some 85 springs they are backordered as well. Then tried to order 89 and same thing, backordered with no eta.(edit nevermind i misunderstood the "attention needed" it just needs shipped to the warehouse, eta is march 6th)

[Trail X]

Wow, so we have used up the entire GM stock of 85-88 springs...!? Buy the 89s while you can!!!

[djthumper]

Who has a contact at LQK? Maybe they can start holding and selling the front Springs from EXTs. Aren't they already at least an 85?