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@yahoo.com>
To: <6pack@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 increase the front ride height?.
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