Front Coil Spring Clearance Problem

[samert111]

I had a similar problem when I installed 2" lowering springs on my 68 C10.

What I found out is that if you look at the OEM springs the upper and lower tails of the springs are aligned with each other and every aftermarket lowering spring I looked at the upper and lower tails were 180 degrees apart.

Now if you look at the top coil on the springs it forms a "D" shape and in the upper spring pocket the spring seat also has a "D" shape in the center that centers the spring in the pocket and if you clock the flat part of the last coil opposite the flat in the upper spring pocket it will pull the spring off center and cause it to rub the edge of the upper spring pocket.

I suspect most people clock the spring based in the lower control arm pocket with the lower coil end in the pocket up against the stop. Since the spring ends are not clocked in line with each other this rotates the upper coil "D" shape 180 degrees off and subsequently pulls the top of the spring off center.

In my case I was looking for another 1" of drop so I cut 1/2 coil off the bottom coil which brought both of the coil ends in-line and now both ends of the spring fit correctly into their respective pockets and the spring was centered correctly and no more spring rubbing noise.

I suspect if you were to make sure the upper spring coil is clocked correctly in the upper pocket your noise will disappear.