Drop coil springs help!!

[degree01]

Hello, can anyone tell me what the difference is between drop coil springs? Here is my situation, i have a 66 Chevy c10 SWB but I replaced the front suspension from an 82 chevy c10 and was wondering should i buy the Coil springs for an 82 Chevy or for a 66 Chevy? not sure if it goes by the weight of the truck or by the diameter size of the coils springs. If someone could help me out here i would really appreciate it.

Thank you all in advance.

[markeb01]

I replaced the stock suspension in my 1960 with the crossmember and suspension from a 1975. I ordered 1" lowering springs for a 1975. The springs need to be designed to fit the crossmember and control arms used in the installation. I don’t know if these dimensions are the same for a 66 and 82. How the springs are made does usually consider a variety of elements including weight of the vehicle, engine, and if stock or performance suspension. That’s before considering lowered ride height. I must admit my spring purchase was a disappointment. They didn't drop the nose at all when new, and after 10 years the drivers side sagged about an inch.

Back in the day the trick to jacking up your ride was to get station wagon springs from the same series car as they would generally raise the chassis an in or two, since they had a much higher spring rate.

The rear of my truck rode like a buckboard with the stock springs and I didn’t want it lowered. So I had custom springs wound for it. The manufacturer measured the wire diameter and unloaded height of the springs, and the compression capacity of the stock setup. They built a set with the same extended height, but with only 400 lb load capacity. It has to do with wire diameter, but also temper of the spring. The truck sits at the same height, but now rides like a Buick.

With lowering springs they’re generally one size fits the application, which may or may not consider how heavy your engine is, whether long or short bed, etc., or the springs may be part of a kit where all the components are designed to work with each other. Best suggestion is to ask people what brand they bought an how happy they are with the results.

[Tx Firefighter]

Front springs interchange for 63-87 model years. Some different vendors categorize them separately but they are the same. As an example, I tend to use Ground Force springs since I get them from Summit real cheap. They are cataloged as 63-87. I used the same pair on my truck as original 63 then reused them when I swapped to 84 model front suspension.

[degree01]

Thanks A lot. I will take that in to consideration.

[lonestarluck]

If you have a set of coils that came with your updated crossmember you should use those and get some dropped spindles it will make for a much beter ride if you have fab skills just take some height out of the crossmember that's what I'm doing

[degree01]

Lonestar truck, do you have pic's of your Crossmember?

[lonestarluck]

I'm not finished with it yet but when its done I'll post it