I purchased a Bilstein Escort setup from LR and it came with 9 inch 250lbs springs. The car is now too low in the front even at the highest possible settings on the strut thread. This is an on 89 S2.
As per Dave at LR, 9inch is the longest spring Hypercoil makes. Something is not making sense.
Any advise would be helpful.
Raj

 

I would expect to need 10" springs at low spring rates. The 250s and 300s that I have used on front struts were 10" x 2.5" ID.

 

I agree and that is what I thought as well. What is confusing is that LR kit uses a 2.25 in ID spring, which is only available in max of 9 inch length. That is how the lower perch came on the Bilsteins, it is setup for 2.25 inch ID springs. To make it more confusing, the same Bilstein Escort Cup setup sold by Paragon uses 2.5 inch ID springs, which as you say would come in 10 inch length.
Something is just not right.
Raj

 

250 springs seem way too soft for escort cups. Paragon only goes as low as 300 for the front springs. If it is for street use you have the wrong shocks. If it for track, you have the wrong springs. That is why you can't get it to work. As a bandaid fix you could add bottom mount camber plates to lift the front a bit.

 

This was something spec'ed by a friend and I am helping him install it. It is definitely for a street car. The fronts are actually Firehawk, not Escort, so correction on my part. What still remains is the fact that 250lb springs only come in 9 inch length from Hypercoil in 2.25 I.D.
Needless to say, I will be calling LR for higher strength springs that are atleast 10.5-11 inches long. This would mean bumping them to atleast 300lbs.
Raj

 

I'm running Bilstein Escort Cups with 2.25" ID x 9" long front springs and 2.25" ID x 8" long rear springs, 425# front and 600# rear. Either 2.25" or 60mm ID springs will work.

A spring rate of 250# is very low, even for a street car. I drive mine on the street with no trouble, and it's fantastic on the track.

If you're looking to raise your rates, I have 400# front / 550# rear and 500# front / 650# rear on my shelf, will sell for $75 per pair (purchased for $67 each). All near-new, two of the pair are Hypercoil, the other two are Ground Control.

 

As mentioned in my last post, these are Firehawk struts, which are valved for a lot less. 250lb, 9inch 2.25 ID is definitely not working.
Unfortunately, the spring rate was something spec'ed by my friend. If things dont work out, I might take you up on the spring offer.
Raj

 

IIRC from past research, my 924S came stock with 180lb springs, 944's and 944 Turbo was 200lb, and Turbo S MO30 was 250lb. I believe that 250lb spring carried over to 968 as stock or MO30 also, so I can't imagine putting 250lb springs on a Bilstein setup would be much of a change from stock besides the new shocks. I have a set of cup shocks (intended for 500-600lb from what I've read), and I'm contemplating a trade or re-valving to match firehawk so I can use something in the 300-400lb range for street/track use.

Edit: 250lb springs are technically "correct" for firehawk valved Bilsteins because that was a stock class, and 250lb was a stock option. My spring rate target is right in-between firehawk and cup spring rates, so I'm really not sure what valving I should use.

 

Stock spring rates for the 944 N/A, S, and Turbo were only 125 lb/in. The Turbo S M030 springs are approx 160 lb/in. 944S2 and 968s were about 140 lb/in.

The old 200 and 250 lb/in weltmeister springs were a noticeable upgrade over stock suspension.

 

Interesting, thanks for the correction. I put 250 Hypercoils with Paragon coil-over collars on my 924S along with new Bilstein cartridges and remember thinking they weren't much of an upgrade from a "seat of the pants" feel. I guess my expectations were too high... And I had MO30 sway bars too. Still had plenty of body roll as you can see in my sig below.