LS swap spring rate?

[Johnny Blaze]

Oka,y I was just thinking. A lot of guys here have gone to the ls engines. Which weigh less than a small block (how much?). With this lighter weight, wouldn't your front springs then be a little too stiff? The springs are generally designed with x amount of front end weight.

I would also think this would decrease the amount of lowering the springs gice you. Then what? If you cut the spring, it will give you an even higher spring rate, right?

So are the ls guys just running a stiffer than most front end?

[Norm Peterson]

The LSx engines are 100 lbs or a bit more lighter than the traditional SBC (perhaps 150# lighter than an all-iron-including-the-intake SBC), but that's still a fairly small percentage of the front sprung weight. Stated another way, the difference in front ride frequency would be about the same as riding around with a 200# front seat passenger vs without him.

Yes, the lighter engine will result in a slightly greater ride height, but again, that will be fairly small. I'd guess the change would be by 3/8" or less with any front spring having PT/GMachine application. It would take a rather small amount of trimming to lose 3/8" of ride height, and you'd never notice that small of an increase in spring rate (perhaps 2% stiffer, or about what the spring mfr's tolerance might be).

Norm

[sinned]

With this lighter weight, wouldn't your front springs then be a little too stiff? The springs are generally designed with x amount of front end weight.

Since 90% of the PT cars out there are under sprung anyways, going to an LS series engine helps the handling.