[6pack] Ride height question

[Greg Dito]

Michael,

Spring rates, which contribute to the stiffness of the ride, depend pretty 
much on number of coils, overall height of the spring, thickness of the 
spring wire, and whether the coils are progressive (different spacing 
between coils at either end versus the center).  So the 1/2 inch difference 
is likely not the only reason the ride is so different.

If the stock springs are the originals they probably are tired and have do 
not have their original stiffness when once new, albeit still less than the 
Goodparts springs.  Also, tired springs will be compress more readily over 
time so what we end up thinking is the stock height is often lower than what 
it was when the vehicle was new.  But in its free height (no compression 
force) there may be no difference whatsoever between a tired spring and a 
new one of the same configuration.  That's why you often see newly restored 
TRs that appear to be sitting higher than they should - the weight of the 
car has less effect on the compressing the new springs to a height that we 
have been accustomed to think of as stock.  Over time the springs will 
settle in and lower the car.

I do not believe the factory clearance height ever changed for the life of 
the TR6 and the trailing arms never changed in any significant manner to the 
best of my knowledge.

One more consideration is the rear trailing arm bracket setup.  Sometimes a 
previous owner will remove the brackets to replace the bushings and not 
realize that there are differences among brackets (the number of slots along 
the top edge) that greatly affect camber.  Not putting the brackets back in 
their original locations will definitely cause a visible difference in how 
the rear sits.

My .02

Greg Dito
CD6250L

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "michael lunsford" <mblunsfordsr at yahoo.com>
To: <6pack at autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 12:31 PM
Subject: [6pack] Ride height question

 ...This brings up two questions, one is why was the effect of the Goodparts 
springs so great? and secondly, what caused the increase in height between 
the early 6s and the later sixes?  I know the increased height was due to 
government mandates. Was this increased heightr accomplished by a change in 
the configuration of the trailing arms? If so could replacing the late model 
trailing arms with those from an earlier ones reduce the ride height?  Also, 
how did they&nbsp;increase the front ride height?.