Springs, rates, drop etc

[LowStandards]

Right, I know dash all about springs, but I'm wanting to drop my Commer a good 2 inches at the front. I'd be happy enough to cut them, but as I want all my mods reversible (she's in near mint nick) I'd be best just buying some new springs!

Now obviously you cant get a lowering kit for the ode PB1500, so I'm gonna have to figure out spring rates and thickness etc, here's where you lot come in


Explain...

[rysz]

Get the dimensions of the current spring in its free state off the car.

The dimensions that you need are:

Free Length (End to End)
Inside diameter / Outside diameter
Wire diameter
Number of coils

Then, how low do you want to go? How much do you want the stiffness uprated by?

[Adam]

Best thing is to ring a custom spring manufacturer. 9/10 times they'll know roughly what you're looking for out of experience (as long as you choose an experienced one).

You tell them I have a commer camper, i want to drop it 2 inches while keeping some ride comfort, what do you recommend?

[LowStandards]

I've ordered 2inch lowering blocks for the rear, so i'm wanting to go 2inches att he front!

There's a place local to me that does kitcar stuff, but it appears to be run by a bunch of retards, so i could do with asking for exactly what i need!

[Seth]

I thought all these Commers had the rear axle under the springs and therefore lowering blocks are not going to work.... I don't know if there's enough arch to the leaves to get them reset lower by a couple of inches

As rysz said, unless you find someone familiar with Commer coil springs you'll need to measure yours to sort out the drop on the front.

[LowStandards]

seth said:

I thought all these Commers had the rear axle under the springs and therefore lowering blocks are not going to work....

Dammit, I guess i should really of looked at that hey... Best get in the Garage to find out!

There's plenty of arch gap in there, i've already lowered her about 3 inches by binning the commercial tyres and fitting some low profile ones (no pics i'm afraid) This makes her look a lot better, but still doesn't change the relation of wheel-to-arch gapage...

[SeventyNine]

if the axle is below the leaf spring, then you can usually put the axle above the leaf to drop it the width of the axle casing.

or get the leafs decambered.

[LowStandards]

That would be another good 3inch drop, might have diff to body clearance issues... I guess i best get under her with the ode tape measure...

[slater]

Dez did it

[xbo11ox]

Yeah, he put the axle above the leafs and notched the chassis. Not a 2-minute job I'm sure. Its all documented in readers rides if you have a dig.

[LowStandards]

Yeah, i've seen that, wanted a simplier way to be honest

[LowStandards]

Right, just found some info on a Commer related site. The front is nice and easy, a coil lopped off drops about 2inches. The rear can be dropped very easily by removing leafs from the spring pack (I think there's 7 in all)

This is where the info gets a little sketchy, its says that some of the leafs do the height and some do the bounce (if you know what i mean) But doesn't say which do what.

Does anyone have much experiance of leaf spring packs that could steer me into the right direction, i'll reward your efforts with pics of my hardslammed vanage in the new year