herman maire

Rennlister's ,

I just received the Eibach springs that so many of us bought here, I remember reading that some cut one coil off to get the ride hight lower.

Does anybody have a pic of the stock Eibach springs installed VS Eibach with the 1 coil cut?

Any other tips.

Thanks

SeanR

The Eibachs that you got (from Mark I assume) will already lower the car. Do not cut them.

jeff spahn

Yep, I can attest to that. Put them on and my car is lower with the same position on the coil adjustments.
Gonna have to raise mine for these Iowa Roads

herman maire

Thanks for the reply.

Yes they are from Mark, I thought the front still had a 2inch gap but I have not seen a car with Marks Eibach's installed.

NoVector

When I put Eibach springs and Koni reds on the '84, I had to max out the adjusters on the front just to get it to the WSM recommended ride-height. You shouldn't have any trouble putting it in the weeds.

herman maire

Thanks guys,

If you want, go to this post https://rennlist.com/forums/7380992-post117.html
also on the ( EIBACH SPRING SALE ) TREAD page 8 post # 120, 121, 122, 123 they talk about cutting the springs. From what I understand, it increases the spring rate.

Would really like some feed back if its worthwhile doing.

Thanks again for the replys.

IcemanG17

for a street car I would not cut the springs.......I cut -1.5 coils off the springs on the Lemons racer to increase the spring rate....then I had to RAISE the car to keep it from bottoming out...& the higher I raise it the better it handles since the suspension works better!!

herman maire

brian,

thanks for the reply. I will take your advise as the others have mentioned and not cut them. I still wonder though, was there a large difference in spring rate when you cut them VS uncut? Something you actually notice?

herman maire

Another question,

Does cutting that 1.5 coil remove the progressive section of the spring? Thanks

JWise

Here's a shot of how low my car came back from the shop after my Bilstein/Eibach installation a couple of years ago. I didn't measure the height, but it couldn't have been over 140mm, probably less. I know I couldn't put my fist between the ground and the front spoiler, and I don't have large hands. I was afraid I'd scrape or hit something (I raised it to 155mm immediately afterward). So as you can see, even without cutting off a coil they can go pretty low.

dr bob

Digging into my foggy memory, more than a few folks who bought Eibachs in the past have said that the car is an inch or more lower with the adjusters at the same position.

My position on having the cars too low is well-documented. Get it up to where the steering has a chance, the shocks are somewhere near where they can effectively dampen progressively, and you'll likely see a handling improvement as Brian has. MK has his on the bump stops on the hard turns, same as "no suspension" where I come from, but says it handles better there for him. In my limited experience, poeple too often mistake 'stiff' for 'good handling' when they are perhaps loosely related. Stiff helps keep you off the bump stops, hitting the bump stops is bad.

Back to the springs question: The Eibach springs are progressive rate springs. A coil spring is a torsion bar wound on a cicular form to make it compact. The size of the wire used in the spring consistent, while the spacing between the coils (really the 'coils per inch' number) determines how many pounds of load result in how many inches of coil compression. It really translates to how much force is needed to twist that torsion bar a certain amount. So coils closer together take less force for an inch of compression, since there is a longer section of wire available to take up the displacement/twist. Move the coils apart and it takes more force, more twisting in a given section to get it compressed. Make a spring that has coils both closely spaced and further apart, and find that the initial displacement with a given force is higher, with mvement most apparent at the section where the coil spacing is less. As total load increases, total displacement also increases, but it takes more pounds per inch of total displacement when you get more seriously into the section with wider oil spacing.

So, if you decide to cut your Eibachs, take wire length out at the closely-spaced end and you'll have a higher load per inch faster than if you take out wire length from the wider-spaced end.

If you decide you want to do the Kibort-method experiment, remember that on a continuous-pitch coil, taking 10% of the wire length out will increase the rate about that same 10%. If you are serious about wanting to tune the suspension with different spring rates, do yourself a favor and get one of Carl's packages that lets you use a smaller-diameter standard race spring. They are easier in and out, and are closer to a commodity when you get to costs of the springs themselves.

Good luck!

dr bob

Following up a little, part way through the Eibach spring install on my '89. I''l start another dedicated thread for those following this path, but did want to mention that the rear perch setting with the Eibachs is about the same for same ride height, compared with my 20+ year old factory springs. I'm also replacing the shocks at the same time with Sachs standards. The rear springs are enough shorter at free length that I didn't need to use the compressor to get it all assembled again. Points to a pretty significant increase in spring rate, at least at the rears.

The fronts needed the compressor to reassemble, but are still somewhat shorter free length already. Again, points to higher spring rates for the Eibachs. I still have one front side to do and the car is still up in the air, so no height info yet. More tomorrow when I can get back on the project, get it on the road and some miles to get ride height adjusted and settled out with final numbers.