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Running Swift springs with helper springs on a 997.1 GT3 and having trouble with the inner diameter of the spring rubbing the damper. Springs are 550lbs and 7" long with Tarett upper mount and spring adapter. See images
Has anyone experienced this problem before and what was the solution if so?
looks like a 100 spring with a low rate tender (not sure if helper?)
that's going to be about 560 lbs/in - which is absolutely at the limit, and maybe over, for the stock damper valving. I run a 616 (110 swift) on the front with the TTX dampers, you can run up to about 1000 lbs/in with these shocks. WAY too stiff for street (r comp) tires.
They have a nice chart that converts metric and standard rates:
What spring rates did you choose, is there a noticeable improvement with the OEM PASM shocks?
Did you have to change the top hat to run the aftermarket spring as well?
Spring rates are 392 front/550 rear with 45lb helpers and yes the stock dampers in the stiffest mode don't provide enough damping. I'm going to install the DSC module and give that a try.
The setup you see is two pieces from Tarett. One is the upper mount and the other is the adapter. I'd like to run a top hat like in the front but haven't done the research to see if you can. Maybe Tom has the solution in his thread.
Spring rates are 392 front/550 rear with 45lb helpers and yes the stock dampers in the stiffest mode don't provide enough damping. I'm going to install the DSC module and give that a try.
The setup you see is two pieces from Tarett. One is the upper mount and the other is the adapter. I'd like to run a top hat like in the front but haven't done the research to see if you can. Maybe Tom has the solution in his thread.
Despite being over sprung is the performance on track any better with a stiffer spring? OEM is 228/600 so it looks like you've increased the front dramatically and reduced the rear rate a bit. How does the car drive?
Despite being over sprung is the performance on track any better with a stiffer spring? OEM is 228/600 so it looks like you've increased the front dramatically and reduced the rear rate a bit. How does the car drive?
I did more than just the springs so its hard to separate the contribution they had to the whole setup. I think the biggest improvement was the seutp Joey Seely did from Emotion Engineering and all the suggestions he made that keep me within budget.
I would say balance is very good with the new spring rates and the front has more authority now with his setup. It just moves around too much because of the lack of damping. I'll see what the DSC box does here soon. Tarett has also been really helpful in solving this problem and we are going to try a couple of things.
Surprised the swift did that, I thought they were supposed to be less prone to deflection than others...or maybe that's just their barrel shaped springs? Normally when you get rub it's where the helper and the main spring come together because of flexing that can happen there. I had to flip my current helper /main setup to keep the junction away from the body.
My shock guy machines thin, clear plastic sleeves to go around the bodies on the shocks where this otherwise can't be avoided. might be the best bet here. You don't want it rubbing through on the very top where it'll make the shock separate.
Surprised the swift did that, I thought they were supposed to be less prone to deflection than others...or maybe that's just their barrel shaped springs? Normally when you get rub it's where the helper and the main spring come together because of flexing that can happen there. I had to flip my current helper /main setup to keep the junction away from the body.
My shock guy machines thin, clear plastic sleeves to go around the bodies on the shocks where this otherwise can't be avoided. might be the best bet here. You don't want it rubbing through on the very top where it'll make the shock separate.
I thought about machining something just like that out of Delrin to protect the damper and was worried about wearing through the damper too the point I had catastrophic failure. Ive parked the car until I have a fix. Any wear in my book is a complete design failure and unacceptable. I will try shorter springs then a top hat like what TPC sells.
I will try shorter springs then a top hat like what TPC sells.
Shorter springs may reduce the side movement but be advised that shorter springs of the same stiffness rate will not ride the same. On dual purpose street/track cars we use as long a springs as we can, the longer length of spring wire manages the movements better. Also be advised that the rear shocks do not just move straight up and down, they move at a fulcrum motion so it is ideal to have articulation range at the upper bearing to cover the range of the fulcrum motion that doesn't involve the spring in order to reduce lateral spring movement.
Looks like from your original photo the top plate(with ball bearing) is already there. I suggest replacing the "adapter" with "hat" to allow the ball bearing to articulate. Tarett is good peoples, they may have springs hats that you can buy. Here's a photo of different spring hats, despite of the different colors, and slightly different dimensions, they all have same function. With spring hats you should be using 8" tall main spring+ helper spring.
Looks like from your original photo the top plate(with ball bearing) is already there. I suggest replacing the "adapter" with "hat" to allow the ball bearing to articulate. Tarett is good peoples, they may have springs hats that you can buy. Here's a photo of different spring hats, despite of the different colors, and slightly different dimensions, they all have same function. With spring hats you should be using 8" tall main spring+ helper spring.
Tom,
Tarett does not offer hats and in my opinion it would fix the problem. Do you sell them separately at TPC? You can PM me too.
Your problem is the solid red upper mount. Like Tom said, you need a bearing in the upper mount that will allow some movement thus keeping the mount square with the shock throughout its comptession arc. The solid mount is causing the spring to bow slightly as it compresses thus making contact with the shock.
05-03-2017, 12:58 AM
Swift spring rubbing stock damper
