Eibach Spring Rates Revealed!

Originally posted by mfuller+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (mfuller)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Just a simple FYI for everyone, since Eibach doesn't like to divulge their "proprietary" spring rates.

So for the Alero, Eibach Pro-Kit rates:

Front: Progressive; 171#-234#

Rear: Progressive; 87#-143#

Thanks to Paul at Koni North America for this information.[/b]

sorry matt, but does the mean? please explain what those numbers are tell me.

Must remember all i know 90-10 shocks all the way .......LOL

How does those numbers compare to the others????

Originally posted by 3.4Alero+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3.4Alero)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>The spring rate is the amount of weight in pounds that it takes to compress the spring one inch. In the case of the progressive front springs that Eibach makes, it only takes about 171 pounds to compress the spring the first inch, but they get stiffer as they get more compressed. At the stiffest point, it will take 234 pounds to compress one inch. The rears have lower spring rates because there is not as much weight on the back.

Basically, the lower the spring rate, the softer the ride.

Did I miss anything Matt?[/b]

If your spring rate is too low, you'll bottom out.

If your spring rate is too high, its like your wheels are directly connected to your car, and way too much shock is absorbed by parts that aren't meant to absorb shock.

Excellent explanation, 3.4 Alero.

Yes, you could go with a higher-rate spring in back to dial out the understeer, but it'd come at the expense of ride quality.....Eibach prides themselves in creating a better handling suspension system with a minimal effect on ride quality - I think they did a pretty good job, but I'm really excited to find out how well they mate with Koni shocks.

<!--QuoteBegin-sound_xtreme@
My coilovers:
i have flat 200#'s in the front and back and it rides like a dump truck. i found a place nearby that carries all sorts of springs. i'm gonna try some variable 100/200#ers for my rear coilovers and see how the ride is and if it will bottom out with them(most likely will, probably have to go 130/250). and i might try 175/350's for the front, just gonna play around with em.


Oh, and koni does not make struts(we dont have shocks) for our cars. Matt had his custom made.[/quote]
<!--QuoteBegin-mfuller
Joel is absolutely correct, I did have a custom set of Koni coilovers before, but I found the ride to be too stiff for my aging backside (the handling was nothing short of glorious though). I was running linear-rate Eibach Race Springs, 300# front and 200# rear with a free length of 8" front and rear. The coilovers have since been sold and now are in a new happy home.
New setup will be Eibach Pro-Kit springs with a new set of one-off Koni struts (only rebound adjustable this time, but built in house at Koni North America).
Oh, and Mantapart's Bilstein coilovers come standard with linear rate 500#F/300#R springs....talk about a back-busting ride. You can request different rates, but they probably won't be able to tell you if the car will ride right and not bottom out all the time (I don't know what the free length was that they were running)....same goes for progressive (variable) rate springs.[/quote]

Originally posted by Final-Reality+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Final-Reality)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>How much did it cost you to make your own coil-overs matt?[/b]

Originally posted by mfuller@
Parts and labor, including the cost of a set of core struts......a tad over $3,000.00US.

<!--QuoteBegin-mfuller
I posted Intrax spring rates some time ago somewhere around here.......IIRC, the max rate is very close, but my subjective butt says the Eibachs "ramp up" much quicker. I do know for a fact that Eibach spring steel is noticeably (visually) more heavy-duty than Intrax spring steel.

I still haven't been able to pry spring rate info out of H&R, but if I recall, they are very similar to Eibachs - but they dropped rather unevenly when I had mine (the front dropped ~2" while I only got ~.5" out back, and the driver's side of the car sat a good .25" lower than the passenger side, so the car looked lop-sided).[/quote]