LS Coil Spring Rate: OEM Tanabe H&R
05-01-15, 08:13 AM
#1
LS Coil Spring Rate: OEM Tanabe H&R
Hi all,
It's been a while since I've been on the forum. In large part because these cars are so damn reliable. Anyways,
I put some used Tanabes on my car about 4 years ago. My front left shock was blown at that time and I figured I would roll it like that to see if I liked the Tanabes and do a little experiment to see how long the other OEM shocks could last w/o blowing. Well 4 years and 40,000mi and all the other 3 are still sealed. Surely they are worn out though. So that along with needing to identify if I have a slightly bad ball-joint that can't be diagnosed I need to remove the suspension.
I really liked the Tanabes at the time, but as I've gotten used to them I decided I should try out some H&Rs. They're cheap and I'm going to have all the car apart anyway....
In my decision making process I reviewed a lot of old threads and got really frustrated with the lack of knowledge about what spring is what. "Tanabe is just like OEM but lower... " NO. That's not good enough. "Why not just get coil-overs instead of new springs and shocks?" NO. So it's time to bring some resources to bear on the LS400 community.
I have access to two universal testing machines at work. I'm going to compare my OEM springs to 4 year old Tanabe to brand new H&R springs in the load frame. From this we will finally be able to compare spring rates with coil-overs advertised rates to help people decide just how "Stiff" they want to be. It's not perfect, but it's something.
This will all be going down in a few weeks. I wanted to see if anyone else wanted something tested while I'm doing this. I'm going to make a fixture that will hold the coil/shock assembly. So I could test peoples coil-overs... if you're interested. If someone had stuff laying around.... I won't pay for shipping though... so...
It'll be a few weeks before this thread is more than talk, but it should be fun.
Cheers,
Matt
It's been a while since I've been on the forum. In large part because these cars are so damn reliable. Anyways,
I put some used Tanabes on my car about 4 years ago. My front left shock was blown at that time and I figured I would roll it like that to see if I liked the Tanabes and do a little experiment to see how long the other OEM shocks could last w/o blowing. Well 4 years and 40,000mi and all the other 3 are still sealed. Surely they are worn out though. So that along with needing to identify if I have a slightly bad ball-joint that can't be diagnosed I need to remove the suspension.
I really liked the Tanabes at the time, but as I've gotten used to them I decided I should try out some H&Rs. They're cheap and I'm going to have all the car apart anyway....
In my decision making process I reviewed a lot of old threads and got really frustrated with the lack of knowledge about what spring is what. "Tanabe is just like OEM but lower... " NO. That's not good enough. "Why not just get coil-overs instead of new springs and shocks?" NO. So it's time to bring some resources to bear on the LS400 community.
I have access to two universal testing machines at work. I'm going to compare my OEM springs to 4 year old Tanabe to brand new H&R springs in the load frame. From this we will finally be able to compare spring rates with coil-overs advertised rates to help people decide just how "Stiff" they want to be. It's not perfect, but it's something.
This will all be going down in a few weeks. I wanted to see if anyone else wanted something tested while I'm doing this. I'm going to make a fixture that will hold the coil/shock assembly. So I could test peoples coil-overs... if you're interested. If someone had stuff laying around.... I won't pay for shipping though... so...
It'll be a few weeks before this thread is more than talk, but it should be fun.
Cheers,
Matt
05-01-15, 11:21 AM
#3
way cool man! recently there was another member who mentioned getting H&Rs as well to which i replied that H&R tends to drop the car unevenly, in a raked fashion front being lower than the rear. it's just something else to consider outside of spring rate testing.
i have brand new standard rate BC racing coilover springs that i would love to contribute to the testing. i can certainly ship them to you to increase the variety!
i have brand new standard rate BC racing coilover springs that i would love to contribute to the testing. i can certainly ship them to you to increase the variety!
05-01-15, 12:43 PM
#5
Right on. So let me get my fixture built and run what I've got before I get to serious about other people.
I think to the raked point. We'll be able to see the preload on different springs and should be able to identify which will be more raked or less raked (Tanabe vs H&R).
I think to the raked point. We'll be able to see the preload on different springs and should be able to identify which will be more raked or less raked (Tanabe vs H&R).
Eibach, H&R, etc, don't readily tell buyers. 
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05-02-15, 01:29 PM
#8
Lead Lap
just something to consider considering, but i believe the H&R's are progressive rate springs so would this machine be able to factor that in?
05-02-15, 03:30 PM
#9
What we'll end up with is a plot of load versus displacement for each spring. I expect to see progressive behavior out of all three. The most important spring rate is at ride height. So I'll report that along with the graphs. Preload will also be reported along with shock extension at ride load. This should help determining exactly how much more drop tanabe have over HnR.
05-05-15, 05:43 AM
#10
Could someone help me with a coil/spring assembly cap or top hat? It would help me keep my car on the road while I'm making the fixture. I looked, but didn't see any on ebay. Front and rear? Someone who's made the switch to coil-overs... I could send it back if you didn't want to sell it. I'll pay shipping... whatever works...
Thanks. PM to discuss.
Thanks. PM to discuss.
05-18-15, 01:50 PM
#15
I just made the top-hat fixture. The Bilstein shocks I'm using were available from O'Reily's, but not anymore. Autozone has them on order... I should know tomorrow if they can get them.
When I receive the shocks I can make the lower fixture. After that I'll be removing the front first and testing that. Then I'll replacing the fronts along with any loose parts. After that I'll be doing the same things for the rear.
This is my top priority now, so it should start coming together pretty fast... if my shocks show up.
When I receive the shocks I can make the lower fixture. After that I'll be removing the front first and testing that. Then I'll replacing the fronts along with any loose parts. After that I'll be doing the same things for the rear.
This is my top priority now, so it should start coming together pretty fast... if my shocks show up.