Hard to Answer Question

[ck5566]

I have seen & read many of Threads asking for sizes of front & rear Coil Springs. How Tall/Long they are and I haven't seen a answer to the question. Doesn't any body here know that answer? From Catalog people they all have a different length's on their springs they sell. Is there a Motor Manuel or any other same kind of book out there that has the answers?? thanks

[ck5566]

Can somebody come to the defense of this Thread or will it get the same treatment as all the others that have asked for the same answers? So far I am getting to think that there is nobody here that can answer it, just what I see from the NO response here I guess another Dead Horse bites the dust. This is sad guys & gals.

[Acorn]

You might get more response if your title was a little more specific.
Also, what are you working on? And what do you want?
1/2 ton? 3/4? 1 ton???
Six banger? Small block v8? Big block v8?
Standard springs? Variable rate? Heavy duty? Lowering?

5 second google search.. http://fme-cat.com/docs/2001.pdf

[snipescastle2]

I can't say I have ever seen a chart showing original specs for spring heights except for valve springs. One thing you might check for at your local GM dealer parts counter is a GM parts Catalog for the year or years of trucks your looking for. I called a small town Chevy Dealer here in Missouri (been about 20 years ago) but most dealership parts counters now have computers, but a savvy parts counter person who knows the wealth of knowledge these catalogs contain, might have stored them in the back room for use one day. I got one for 1953 to 1990 Corvettes a long time ago, but they only charged me $50 including shipping to send me one. you might get lucky finding one of these at a dealership, or you can get them off Ebay.
here's a few pictures to show what I am talking about: the catalogs show items by groups, I.E. Chassis/electrical/engine/etc...and most of these catalogs have illustrations, exploded diagrams, original part numbers, some super-ceded numbers, some discontinued numbers

I didn't know it at the time, but Classic industries, once was only classic Camaro/Firebird out of Huntington beach, used to have every part they sold in their catalog was an actual GM part number! I guess they caught onto that shortly after I was made aware of it, because they re-numbered all their stock as to make it harder for the competition to find the GM stock they had listed.....go figure. so, try the catalogs and see if the info you are looking for is there, otherwise, I doubt it's out there, GM didn't keep records after so many years, and today, after ten years, they take a "Data Dump" in other words, trash the info rather than spend loads of money to store it..... I needed a "Vats" (vehicle anti-Theft) key code for my '99 Camaro convertible, seems GM canned all the codes after ten years, I ended up having to replace the lock cylinder assembly with a whole new key just for this reason.....
Hope you have good luck finding your information,.
Ben Smith

[Grumpy old man]

if your asking is there a general length of a (example) 2 inch drop spring that would be the same from one manufacturer to the next being as how they use different tensile strength steel one may be 20" and the next 21" yet still allow for the same amount of drop given the same amount of weight being applied .I don't believe there is a "standard" length between different suppliers.

[Gromit]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=655292


This isn't a magic answer but I thought the pdf document that Zable49 posted in the above thread from the archives was pretty helpful.

For example, just knowing that the NAPA part numbers are a pretty good first approximation of what is actually available out there and what the effect of those springs will be.

I think I recall seeing other threads on this topic where folks are swapping in springs from C-20's into C-10's and vice-versa.

One thing I would like to know is how to tell if a stock spring is actually "worn out" - but that is a topic for another thread..

[TBONE1964]

"Doesn't any body here know that answer?" Obviously, no one that has read your post.

If you are looking for the information from an OE spring, you will not find the answer in any book or literature unless you were to find the records from the OE spring vendor. The best you could do on an OE is find an NOS spring and do the measurements.

The information below is from Autozone and the two main measurement that effect ride height is compressed length and bar size and like Acorn mentioned, it depends on your specific truck and engine.



Bar Size (in): 0.8
Coil End Type (1): Pigtail
Coil End Type (2): Pigtail
Item Grade: OEM Standard
Package Contents: 2 Springs
Package Quantity: 2
Spring Maximum Compressed Diameter (in): 3.7
Spring Maximum Compressed Length (in): 10
Spring Rate Type: Constant Rate
Spring Uncompressed Diameter (in): 3.7
Spring Uncompressed Length (in): 12.6

Hope this helps,
Tom

[midniteblues]

I no longer have the pic but somewhere on this site i posted a pic with 3 differnt front coil springs and a ruler in them.
just too show the lenght differance.

The thickness of the coil wire plays a big part as well.

[67ChevyRedneck]

The reason is that because it's damn near pointless to know the height of the spring.

Two coil springs that are the exact same height could have completely different ride heights because of the spring rates.

If you call ECE and tell them you think you have the wrong coil springs, they won't ask for the spring length, they'll ask you what the installed length is from the center of the hub to the top of the fender opening.

I installed a set of stiffer "GT" springs in my 65 Mustang, they were almost 2" shorter than the factory springs I pulled out, but only dropped the car 1/2".

[ck5566]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

The reason is that because it's damn near pointless to know the height of the spring.

Two coil springs that are the exact same height could have completely different ride heights because of the spring rates.

If you call ECE and tell them you think you have the wrong coil springs, they won't ask for the spring length, they'll ask you what the installed length is from the center of the hub to the top of the fender opening.

I installed a set of stiffer "GT" springs in my 65 Mustang, they were almost 2" shorter than the factory springs I pulled out, but only dropped the car 1/2".

I am just now figuring out about the "spring rates" deal. I called POL and they set me straight on that matter.

[raggedjim]

Search RockAuto to find the MOOG part numbers for the original springs for your truck. Then either click the more info icon for the springs or find the Moog number in this pdf. http://fme-cat.com/docs/2001.pdf This is the same pdf Acorn posted.

On rockauto it will look like this for the constant rate rear spring http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....jsn=__GIX__3__

Easy, Rg