G Link Spring install HELP

[glr0212]

I realize a few others have had this issue but there seems to be varying info out there about the spring length and how easy they should go onto the shock.

My spring is 12" (12-200 pn) the shock length fully extended is 16.5" or so.

The spring was extremely difficult to get on and once the spring and shock were installed the ride height in the rear was over 3" too tall. Keep in mind this is with it adjusted all the way down.

I know the car will come down some with weight added but not 3" and that would still leave me with zero downward adjustability. Seems something isn't right.

Any help would be appreciated.

[glr0212]

would i get more help in a different section?

Anybody seen frank from prodigy customs?

[dhutton]

200 lb/inch is the right rate. Where is the shock in its travel? It should be slightly above the middle of its travel for an unfinished car. Is the shock in the lowest mount? I think there are a couple of mount heights. Maybe post a pic of the shock.

[exwestracer]

The spring length is giving you too much preload for that length shock. If the shock is sitting topped out with vehicle weight on it, you need a shorter spring...period. I agree that the rate is in the ballpark, you are just having to put too many inches of squeeze on the spring (lb/in, right?).

Normally we try to keep the spring perch collar 1" above the bottom of the threads. If you have a good idea what the rear axle weight will be, you can figure out what length spring you need by assembling the coilover without the spring (collar 1" up the threads), and setting the shock length to match your shock mounts at ride height. This should put the shock in about 1/3 to 1/2 travel (about 1 3/8"-2 1/2"). Measure the distance between the perches. This is your desired spring installed height.

Let's say it's 8", and the RAW (sprung weight) is 1200lb. That's 600 lb per side. You know you want about 200 lb/in rate, so that spring would compress 3" to hold the RAW. To get 3" compression at 8" installed hieght, you would start with an 11" spring. I know this is pretty close to what you have...IT'S ONLY AN EXAMPLE!

Hope this helps.

[exwestracer]

PS, if the shock is NOT between 1/3-1/2 compressed at ride height, you have a design problem with your mounts.

[TheJDMan]

I had the exact same problem with my G-link and springs. The kit came with 12-200 springs and they were a pain to install on the shocks. Once installed the shocks were fully extended with the weight of the car on them. Way too much pre-load. With the shocks in the lowest mount location the car was about 3" above what I wanted. I found a set of 8-200 springs at Speedway Motors for $35ea on closeout so I purchased a pair. They have the same rate but I have some adjustability now with the lower seat about 2.5" up from the bottom and the shocks are a little more than 1/3 compressed. The problem with the short springs is when I jack up the body and unload the shocks the springs go loose on the shock. When you put the weight back on the wheels the springs do not always seat. I'm thinking a 10-200 spring might be better and based on what Ray said about the seat 1" from the bottom I think 10" is about right. I'm also thinking I may need some sort of suspension limit strap to control the extension of the shocks.

Ray,
Do you have any thoughts on a limit strap to control the coil shock extension?

[dhutton]

I had the exact same problem with my G-link and springs. The kit came with 12-200 springs and they were a pain to install on the shocks. Once installed the shocks were fully extended with the weight of the car on them. Way too much pre-load. With the shocks in the lowest mount location the car was about 3" above what I wanted. I found a set of 8-200 springs at Speedway Motors for $35ea on closeout so I purchased a pair. They have the same rate but I have some adjustability now with the lower seat about 2.5" up from the bottom and the shocks are a little more than 1/3 compressed. The problem with the short springs is when I jack up the body and unload the shocks the springs go loose on the shock. When you put the weight back on the wheels the springs do not always seat. I'm thinking a 10-200 spring might be better and based on what Ray said about the seat 1" from the bottom I think 10" is about right. I'm also thinking I may need some sort of suspension limit strap to control the extension of the shocks.

Ray,
Do you have any thoughts on a limit strap to control the coil shock extension?

You can buy small helper springs with a very low rate to take up the slack. Eibach and others sell them. You also need a collar to go with them.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EIB-HELPER250/

[exwestracer]

JD,
If you are only worried about the shock topping out when you jack the car up, I wouldn't bother with a limiter. Are you seeing a lot of droop travel under normal use (I can't think of why...)?

I would definitely go with the longer 200 springs to move the leverage point down closer to the bottom of the shock body. The helpers are fine, too; but they will run coil-bound in most circumstances, so there isn't much use for them in your application. We normally see the helpers used on high-downforce cars to give some compliance at low speeds.

[dhutton]

JD,
If you are only worried about the shock topping out when you jack the car up, I wouldn't bother with a limiter. Are you seeing a lot of droop travel under normal use (I can't think of why...)?

I would definitely go with the longer 200 springs to move the leverage point down closer to the bottom of the shock body. The helpers are fine, too; but they will run coil-bound in most circumstances, so there isn't much use for them in your application. We normally see the helpers used on high-downforce cars to give some compliance at low speeds.

The Eibach helpers are completely compressed under normal conditions. They are made of flat stock and the compressed height is roughly 1/2 inch. They only expand when the main spring is completely unloaded to keep it from falling off. I used them in the exact scenario described above with good results.

[exwestracer]

The Eibach helpers are completely compressed under normal conditions. They are made of flat stock and the compressed height is roughly 1/2 inch. They only expand when the main spring is completely unloaded to keep it from falling off. I used them in the exact scenario described above with good results.

Not arguing the point one bit, Don. I was only pointing out that since he thought the adjusters were too high up on the shock as well, the longer main springs would be a better choice.

[dhutton]

I am not an expert but I am not sure the longer spring will help since it sounds like he has less than zero preload (in other words at full shock extension the adjuster is not snugged up to the spring) on the spring to achieve his desired ride height. In my similar experience the only solutions I identified were a lower spring rate or the helper springs. I went with the helpers because I wanted that spring rate.

Anyway, just sharing my experience with a similar issue. By no means am I claiming to be an expert or even experienced.

[exwestracer]

Don,
I made an assumption that the shocks were compressed a LOT more than 1/3 at ride height, but I don't know how long JDs shocks ARE... If he has 200lb/in springs, we should expect to see at close to 3" of spring compression on a typical street car (1000-1200lb rear sprung weight). That being the case, he is over 1/2 way for a 5" shock, or just under 1/2 way for a 7"...etc. If the shock and spring lengths are correctly matched, compression at ride height should equal or just exceed shock up travel, so the main spring should stay loaded to some extent all the way up.

I didn't mention that the shock eye to eye installed length at ride height would also have to be increased for the longer springs to perform as I indicated.

I sometimes take these things for granted; and being a teacher, I should know to be clearer...

[dhutton]

OK, back to the OP. I justed looked at that picture of your shock and spring again. That spring is too long for that shock asssuming that it is fully extended in the picture. Looks like maybe the G-Link uses a shorter shock than my G-Bar did. For my G-Bar the 12 inch spring only had to be compressed a half inch or so to fit on the shock.

[glr0212]

good information. Thanks men.

I'm not going to have a chance to get pics of everything for a few days cause we've moved on to sand blasting the underside.



If I remember right when the spring and shock were installed the shock was topped out. the bottom collar was all the way down. That would be too much preload, correct?

I will see if i can get the guys at prodigy to switch it out for a 10" spring once i double check all the measurements. I'll try and come back and post an update.


How do you like your Glink DHUTTON? Does it work well?

[dhutton]

How do you like your Glink DHUTTON? Does it work well?

I had a G-Bar, not the G-Link. It was OK but presumably the G-Link is better. It did take me a while to get the spring rate dialed in. This was partly my fault and partly because it was shipped with springs with too low rate.

[Rybar]

Interesting thread, I had a similar issue with my G-link and trying to aquire the stance I wanted. I do not know exactly what length spring I ended up as the shop doing the install ordered them and installed them.

[exwestracer]

OK, Chassisworks website says the shocks for the G-link are 5.15" travel (16.1 - 10.95) and their recommended ride height is 13.53. That is (roughly) 2.5" compressed or 1/2 way, which is ok so far.



Looking at the picture of the Varishock, you are going to lose about 4 1/2" of the eye to eye length at ride height to the perches; so the 12" spring should be in the ballpark on length...HMMM.