Do I have the correct front springs

[67 twins]

I bought new springs for the wife's truck over a year ago from POL These were supposed to be stock replacement springs. When I finally pull the old springs out & compare with the new springs the new are about an inch shorter with a thicker wire and one more coil than the ones I pulled out. Opinions anyone?

[geunther]

There should be a painted part number on the new spring. If so, double check it. However, different materials allow the spring to be initially shorter. So while it seems odd at first, it could still be correct.

[67 twins]

Originally Posted by geunther

There should be a painted part number on the new spring. If so, double check it. However, different materials allow the spring to be initially shorter. So while it seems odd at first, it could still be correct.

I I don't see a part number on them any where

[GASoline71]

You're comparing an aftermarket spring to a 45+ year old stock spring. Of course there will be some differences. With the thicker coil and more turns, I'd install them an not worry about it myself.

Gary

[Caddylackn]

The shorter spring of thicker diameter and more coils will definitely have a higher spring rate (stiffer ride). You won't know about the ride height unfortunately until it is installed and fully loaded.

Comparing it to the old coils is hard, since the old coil has probably relaxed and bottoms out easily, so just replacing it with a new coil of the same stock spring rate will seem like a harsher ride and the front end may ride higher. GM made coil springs with the same spring rate that would cover a whole range of vehicles and many different years. If you can find the spring rate of the new coil on their website, you could compare it to the stock specs.

I just replaced my stock worn and relaxed 61 year old front coil springs in my Cadillac with newer springs that were shorter and stiffer. The comparison looked very similar to yours. Once installed, the front raised up 1-1/2" but the car looks level now. The old relaxed springs made it look lowered in the front.

When I researched the new coil springs I bought to see what cars it would fit, they covered a range from about 1960 to the late 80s.

[Jim Boy]

Not to change the subject but I ran into something the same with my cab mounts. I was installing the upper side trim on my 68 which never had on it before. I had no holes to go by so the cab and fenders had to be inline with each other or there would be problems later. I took the old mounts out and they were the same height as the new ones. I thought what the heck am I changing them for. As it turns out the old ones would compress more than the new ones about 3/4 of an inch. I put the new ones in and everything lined up perfectly. So my point in all this is that I don't think you can compare springs sitting on the floor with no load on them. Thick wire or thinner wire, extra coils, all equate to a particular manufacturer's specs. Have a good one eh!