[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by johnsongrass1

I advise you look into Balck Magic Springs. Their rates are far more consistent than AFCO.

I couldn't find a website for them -

[johnsongrass1]

I get them from SouthWestSpeed.com

[bentwings]

My 41 Willys weighs a little bit more than your 32 but not a lot. ( 1480#)I have 375 springs on the Must II QA-1 coil overs. These are about perfect as far as stifness goes. I have single adjustable shocks that I had to have re-valved as they were too harsh. Even with that done I still only have them set on '1'. this controls rebound.

Since I see an anti roll bar there I think you probably could use the 350 springs maybe even 325. If you are getting too much bounce you may have to have the shocks re-valved as I did. By bounce I mean do the old climb up on the frame and bounce up and down and see how the car behaves when you jump off. If the car does more than immediately settle back the shocks are too loose and need rework.

[staleg]

The lower A arms total length divided with the distance from the A arms inner pivot point to the lower shock mount - will wary from different IFS setups. This number affect the needed spring stiffness.
For correct spring stifness on a TCI IFS you should try to find out what other TCI IFS users have. Even if they have it on another car than yours.

[Irelands child]

Johnsongrass - I'll take a look there.

Bentwings - thanks. Yours is probably a couple hundred more pounds total. As I do more lurking/searching on other sites, find that the heavier springs are the norm in the front.

Staleg - my first post, last statement asked if other '28-'32 builder/owners would contribute. As far as 'A' arm length(lever arm length), most on the smaller bodied cars are pretty close and probably within an inch or less.

Dave W

[slow4dr]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

That's exactly what I'm going to do IF (?) I can ever get TCI to confirm for sure EXACTLY what the spring 'as manufactured' dimensions are. TCI is not the most forth coming for information. If I continue with the roadblock, then I'll do the disassembly measurements, but don't want to do that first unless I have to. My first choice is AFCO

I'll eventually post how I end up!!!

Dave W

250# springs are standard on the front of your application, 200# is waaaay too soft. As you can tell by the fact that the ring is run so far up the shock just to hold the front end up. When you compress that 200# spring 2" it is now essentially a 400# spring. What this does is makes the stored energy so high that every time the suspension unloads it is trying to force the front end even farther up and in a hurry. This is good for drag racing but bad for street manners. The rear should have 200# springs unless you have north of 1600#'s on the back axle(highly doubtful).

The billet front and steel rear shocks are not interchangeable but the springs are. The rear steel shocks are made in house by TCI the billet fronts are made outside of TCI.

There have been some changes to the spring dimensions in recent months so just let me know what measurements you need(past or present).

-J

[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by slow4dr

250# springs are standard on the front of your application, 200# is waaaay too soft. As you can tell by the fact that the ring is run so far up the shock just to hold the front end up. When you compress that 200# spring 2" it is now essentially a 400# spring. What this does is makes the stored energy so high that every time the suspension unloads it is trying to force the front end even farther up and in a hurry. This is good for drag racing but bad for street manners. The rear should have 200# springs unless you have north of 1600#'s on the back axle(highly doubtful).

The billet front and steel rear shocks are not interchangeable but the springs are. The rear steel shocks are made in house by TCI the billet fronts are made outside of TCI.

There have been some changes to the spring dimensions in recent months so just let me know what measurements you need(past or present).

-J

Sounds like you might have a more 'intimate' knowledge of TCI then most.

Like stated above - the shocks and springs are TCI "OEM" for that particular chrome and stainless stage 3 chassis. or at least that was what was supplied.

As far as the rear shocks - they too are the billet, not steel.

Just for the heluvit and $100, I think that I'll try a set of 350's as at a .93/.94 correction factor for the 13* shock inclination, they will then become 325 -330 lb/in springs. Of course, after I talk to TCI later today

The rears:




Dave W

[aosborn]

Originally Posted by slow4dr

250# springs are standard on the front of your application, 200# is waaaay too soft. As you can tell by the fact that the ring is run so far up the shock just to hold the front end up. When you compress that 200# spring 2" it is now essentially a 400# spring. What this does is makes the stored energy so high that every time the suspension unloads it is trying to force the front end even farther up and in a hurry. This is good for drag racing but bad for street manners. The rear should have 200# springs unless you have north of 1600#'s on the back axle(highly doubtful). -J

I have to disagree with your analysis of the front springs. A 200# spring compressed 2" is still a 200# spring, it is just supporting 400#'s. A 250# spring will only need to be compressed 1.6" to support the same 400# load. The energy stored in the spring is the same. A major benefit of running the a spring on the lighter side with more pre-load is that it is more sensitive to smaller bump inputs. For example if you hit a bump that transfered a 200# load to the spring, it would have a full inch to absorb amd dampen the impact, (even if the spring is already compressed 2", it still takes only 200 more pounds to compress it another inch). If it was a 400# spring would only have 1/2 that distance to dissipate the same impact in the same time period leading to more of the bump being felt in the chassis and your backside. With all else considered, run the lightest spring you can, adjust the shock dampening accordingly and install an effective anti-roll bar.

Andy

[aosborn]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

The rears:

Those look like variable rate springs on the rear...

[slow4dr]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

Sounds like you might have a more 'intimate' knowledge of TCI then most.

Like stated above - the shocks and springs are TCI "OEM" for that particular chrome and stainless stage 3 chassis. or at least that was what was supplied.

As far as the rear shocks - they too are the billet, not steel.

Just for the heluvit and $100, I think that I'll try a set of 350's as at a .93/.94 correction factor for the 13* shock inclination, they will then become 325 -330 lb/in springs. Of course, after I talk to TCI later today

The rears:




Dave W

Your fronts and rears can be interchanged if you swap out the bushings and spherical bearings but the rear shock is an inch longer.

How much weight is on your front axle? Talk to Evan when you call TCI. That front end should NEVER need a spring a heavier than 300#'s, with 250# being a little more like it depending on the weight. The variable rate springs(pictured) were tough to get just right so they are no longer used.

Originally Posted by aosborn

I have to disagree with your analysis of the front springs. A 200# spring compressed 2" is still a 200# spring, it is just supporting 400#'s. A 250# spring will only need to be compressed 1.6" to support the same 400# load. The energy stored in the spring is the same. A major benefit of running the a spring on the lighter side with more pre-load is that it is more sensitive to smaller bump inputs. For example if you hit a bump that transfered a 200# load to the spring, it would have a full inch to absorb amd dampen the impact, (even if the spring is already compressed 2", it still takes only 200 more pounds to compress it another inch). If it was a 400# spring would only have 1/2 that distance to dissipate the same impact in the same time period leading to more of the bump being felt in the chassis and your backside. With all else considered, run the lightest spring you can, adjust the shock dampening accordingly and install an effective anti-roll bar.

Andy

Don't get me wrong, the spring doesn't change rate as it compresses(albeit not a multi rate spring like what is pictured above). That is why I said "essentially" as it took 400 lbs of pressure to get it compressed 2".

-J

[Irelands child]

I ordered new 325in lb AFCO front springs to replace what was supposed to have been 200's. Pulled them today - and they are 160's !!!!! Wonder why it wallowed???

I had set adjusters about at the end of their travel just to get the 'A' arms to their recommended level.

The 325's set at the 13-14 degree angle becomes 300# when you factor in a .94 correction factor. Might be too stiff but that's AFCO's recommendation for this car and weights - so, possibly some additional "playing" coming up. Next is the rear, and they are progressives, and probably 250/540s, but that's for another day

I did look at the others that folks recommended, but chose Speedway for their ease of return with no problems.

More coming I'm sure

Dave W

[johnsongrass1]

Glad it working for you!

Watch the ride height, AFCO's are terrible about settling. Once they stop changing it should be okay though.

[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by johnsongrass1

Glad it working for you!

Watch the ride height, AFCO's are terrible about settling. Once they stop changing it should be okay though.

I do have Southwest Speed book marked. Interesting on line catalog to poke through. Then there are the rear springs I need to consider as well, so maybe........

Dave W

[S10xGN]

Dave,

If those 160's are the same size, you might consider swapping them to the rear. That rate would be about right for your car...

BTW, where in NY are you? I grew up in Cobleskill, moved south in '75...

Russ

[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by S10xGN

Dave,

If those 160's are the same size, you might consider swapping them to the rear. That rate would be about right for your car...

BTW, where in NY are you? I grew up in Cobleskill, moved south in '75...

Russ

Russ - those springs have been "carefully" put away just for that consideration.

I'm about 45-50 miles away from Cobleskill just North of Clifton Park/Ballston Lake area.

If my wife can ever find the 'just right' house in South Eastern VA, we will be out of here ---- fast !!! We have a daughter in San Antonio who is campaigning for us to move there, but it's too hot too long in the summer

Dave W