Suspension Repairs/spring modifications.

[Michael Donovan]

Hi all,
Has anyone here had any experience of getting their front and rear suspension
springs swapped around to level the car. Mine having had them swapped (I
think) at some time. (i.e. front rides low ,rear high- every bump a teeth
rattler )
Any pointers to reputable repair shops would be appreciated as would any
indications of price...I live and work out in west auckland.

Thanks
Mike

[Dave & Judy Kerr]

My Beast is the same. I have just put new struts all the way around and
nobody even mentioned that that could of been the problem. Is it OK to swap
them around?

Dave.

[Fletch]

The front and rear springs are considerably different, and cannot just be
swapped because you feel one end has sagged...


But, there was a case on this list only a few months ago, where someone had
bought their MX-5 and the springs were already swapped... and through the
help of this list, we managed to diagnose the problem...

You need to count the number of coils, front and rear, to see if the springs
are in the right place... Sorry, I dont remember the correct counts...

Fletch.

[MC]

This comes up quite often,
the FRONT springs have approx 6 coils, and the REAR springs have approx 8
coils, the auto's are a tad longer, if you can find the colour spots the 1.6
have:
RED(auto's white)dots on the front, and
BLUE (auto's orange) dots on the rear.
Glenn at Rotary Power in Glenfield (443-5762) has i believe done a few club
members cars that have been incorrectly assembled, with a same day turn
around.
MC

[jeff]

google strikes again...
http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&ie ... h+earthnet

the King Springs have the same initial rate, but become progressively stiffer. Also, Advanced Imports in Glenfield,Akl has a special on Trust GRex springs for $400 installed.

Michael, what's your measurement from the center of the wheel hub to the bottom of the fender arch? It's normal to have a ~20-30mm greater height in the back than the rear.

Jeff
Mr miata-trivia
MC <glottis@value.net.nz> wrote: This comes up quite often,
the FRONT springs have approx 6 coils, and the REAR springs have approx 8
coils, the auto's are a tad longer, if you can find the colour spots the 1.6
have:
RED(auto's white)dots on the front, and
BLUE (auto's orange) dots on the rear.
Glenn at Rotary Power in Glenfield (443-5762) has i believe done a few club
members cars that have been incorrectly assembled, with a same day turn
around.
MC

[zorruno]

ALSO... springs can be different between years. Aftermarket springs are
therefore going to give slightly different results on various models. A
list of spring rates, coil numbers, spring lengths, colour markings for US
models are here:
http://www.earthnet.net/~pk2pkmc/springs.html
Hopefully roadsters are the sameish

H

[clive.granger]

My King springs were installed back to front by Tyre Power in New Lynn. When
checked for LVV certification recently there was virtually no travel in the
front suspension. I was riding on the bump stops. King springs have a code
stamped onto them. Part of the code is "F" for front and "R" for rear.
Clive

Quoting Michael Donovan <MikeDonovan@xtra.co.nz>:

[...]

[Dave & Judy Kerr]

For all those that have the same problem i had, ass up in the air and nose
hitting the ground, below is the solution. Change your springs around, it
takes about 4 hours with the right gear. Thanks MC

Dave

[Michael Donovan]

What gear was did you require?
Thanks Mike

[MC]

Hi,
i also hope you remembered to have a wheel alignment done, front and back
afterwards, could probably be miles out
MC