Understanding Coil Springs: A Technician's Guide - Strutmasters

Table of Contents

• Coil Springs: Overview
  • Advantages of Coil Springs
• Types of Coil Springs
  • Constant Rate Coil Springs
  • Variable Rate Coil Springs
• How To Choose the Right Coil Springs for Your Customers
  • Factors That Affect Spring Quality
  • What Is Spring Rate and Why Does It Matter?
• Help Your Customers With Strutmasters Coil Springs

With the right coil springs, you can offer your customers a lifeline by saving them thousands on air suspension repairs. At a time when money is tight for almost everyone, being able to fix a customer’s suspension at an affordable price can make a big difference — and earn you the kind of goodwill that keeps people coming back and recommending your shop.

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In this guide, we go over everything you and the others in your shop need to know about coil springs. We cover the basics about coil springs and the advantages they offer, the different types of coils, and how to find the right coils for your customers’ needs. 

Coil Springs: Overview

Coil springs are used in passive suspension systems to provide cushioning and damping support for the vehicle. Fitted over steel struts, they are designed to give the ideal amount of resistance for the vehicle they’re attached to. Well-made coils can provide an incredibly smooth driving experience and long-lasting performance.

Advantages of Coil Springs

Some customers may be understandably wary of switching from an active suspension to a passive one. But when you lay out all the upsides of coil springs, it may make the decision to convert much easier for them.

Some of the key advantages of coil springs include:

1. Affordability: Coil conversion kits typically cost a fraction of what it would cost to replace all of the electronic suspension components in a vehicle while offering similar results. This is typically the most important benefit, but it isn’t the only one.
2. Durability: For some of your customers, this likely isn’t the first trip to the shop related to their active suspension. Coil springs are both simple and robust, with very little that can go wrong, even after years of use.
3. Ease of installation: We don’t have to tell you that working on active suspensions can be an ordeal. Our coil spring conversions are designed to be quick and easy to install, making it a simple job for your shop and a smaller labor bill for your customers.
4. Performance: Our engineers do everything they can to make sure our coils and struts provide a fit and performance that rivals the original active suspension. Your customers will probably notice a small difference, but many people who install our kits say they love the slightly sportier feel they get from brand new coils.

Types of Coil Springs

Not all coil springs are the same. There are two main types of coils that offer different advantages for different applications.

Constant Rate Coil Springs

Constant rate coils feature a uniform design in which the layers of the coil springs are evenly spaced out. This creates a consistent level of compression throughout the spring. Constant rate springs are ideally suited for heavy-duty uses where they can provide sturdy support and reduce the chance of body roll.

Variable Rate Coil Springs

Variable rate springs are also known as progressive springs. The space between layers of the spring varies, allowing it to provide different levels of resistance. 

More tightly-wound sections of the spring provide more support for the vehicle, keeping it from sinking down. The more widely-space sections of the spring have more vertical “give,” which allows them to dampen impact from the road and deliver a gentle ride for the driver.

How To Choose the Right Coil Springs for Your Customers

Like any other car part, there is a wide range of quality when it comes to coil springs. High-quality springs like the ones we offer at Strutmasters can provide an affordable, long-lasting suspension fix for your customers. Cheaper coils from less-reputable suppliers can create a number of problems and may not last for long.  In this section, we go over some of the main things you should consider when picking out coils for your customers.

Factors That Affect Spring Quality

There are a few things that make some coil springs better than others. These include:

• Fitment: Some coil providers cut corners by selling coil springs designed for one car as replacements for an entirely different vehicle if they’re close enough. This can lead to poor performance, an unpleasant driving experience, or even further damage to your customers’ vehicles. At Strutmasters, we test and refine our coils until we know it provides an exact fit for the vehicle it’s intended for.

• Materials: Cheaper alloys can wear out quickly and leave your customer in the same place they are now without a working suspension. After more than two decades of experience, we know how important it is to make our coil springs from materials that will stand up to heavy use and the test of time.

• Design: Slight variations in spring design can have huge impacts. The diameter, compression ratio, and thickness of the coil itself all contribute to how a coil spring performs, with different vehicles requiring different things. We ensure that the design we use in our coils is the ideal design for each vehicle.

What Is Spring Rate and Why Does It Matter?

The spring rate of a coil is essentially its strength, or the amount of resistance it provides. Spring rate is affected by the size of the spring and various elements of its design. 

When replacing the coils on a car or truck, spring rate is incredibly important. Every vehicle has different resistance needs. Larger trucks and SUVs obviously need more support than sedans and other small vehicles. But even different trim levels of the same make, model, and year of vehicle may require slightly different spring rates for optimal performance.

At Strutmasters, we pay close attention to spring rate so that we can provide drivers with the best possible suspension solution. Our engineers carefully match the spring rate of our coils to the specific needs of each vehicle they’re going to be installed on for an ideal ride.

The company is the world’s best automotive coil springs supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

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Help Your Customers With Strutmasters Coil Springs

The parts you put on your customers’ vehicles say a lot about your shop. Using Strutmasters coil springs to provide an affordable and reliable fix all but guarantees your customers will be happy with their decision to come to you. Not only have you saved them money, you’ve given them a fix that will last into the foreseeable future.

Our standard shipping option typically takes between five and seven business days. If you need coil springs faster than that, we offer two-day and overnight shipping options to most parts of the country. 

1. Determine your desired spring rate.

2. Go to Moog's online spring database. Sort by spring rate.

3. Pick a few options with the right rate and installation height you desire.

4. Search for the Moog P/N in Rockauto

5. Click on the P/N for list of all vehicles with that spring. Rinse and repeat until you have a super common junkyard vehicle, like this one:

6. Search your favorite junkyard for those vehicles.

In my case, I desire a 200 lbs/in spring for the Rice Rod's rear suspension. I am limited by installed height and don't care much about travel, so shorter is better. I arrived at Moog , which is only 11 inches free height and 195 lbs/in. In Rockauto, is a replacement for Jeep Liberty -. There are 10 of those at my local junkyard.

Keep in mind, the Moog replacements aren't necessarily the same spring rate as the OEM ones. Some of them (especially ones starting with CC in the part number) are a little stiffer. The good news is, even brand new, the Moog springs are dirt cheap.

Good point. Another watch-out, there could be several P/N's for each vehicle depending on options, trim level, 4WD, etc. In my case, is for 2WD Liberty Sport. The other option for rear is about an inch taller, probably for 4WD or other trims.

In my case, that's okay because I haven't build the spring perches yet.

rslifkin wrote: Keep in mind, the Moog replacements aren't necessarily the same spring rate as the OEM ones. Some of them (especially ones starting with CC in the part number) are a little stiffer. The good news is, even brand new, the Moog springs are dirt cheap.

I bought some Ford Escort Wagon springs because they had the length, diameter, and RATE that I wanted in the catalog. (PAPER catalog, much nicer to flip through than an online catalog, got as a freebie when NAPA was pitching old books)

The springs in the box, however, were the correct free length and diameter, but the rate was significantly higher. IIRC it was like 160-170lb when I was expecting 120lb.

Oooh, handy! You can also use it in reverse to get an idea of a car's stock spring rate - find Moog replacement springs for the car on Rockauto and put the part number into the Moog database.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

I've found sometimes the "info" button in Rockauto will give you the spring rate, but if that fails, the Moog database should do it. That frustration led me to this method.

Want more information on heavy duty tension springs? Feel free to contact us.