front spring dilemma.

[Petros]

when you chop the spring it also makes them even more stiff. Remember the spring discussion thread, the spring rate is a function of the wire dia, the coil dia, and the number of coils (more coils means softer spring). heating them to bring them down will not change the stiffness, only their height. You want to have the at-rest height at about half way along the stroke of the strut or you cold damage the top seal.

Too stiff a spring is as detrimental to handling as too soft of one. The springs need to be matched to the weight of the car, the size of the impacts (either based on size of bump or "input", and/or speed). That is the reason faster cars should have stiffer springs, or cars that hit larger bumps, as in rough or off road driving. If you plan on hitting large bumps fast, you need really stiff springs, and the car would not be very useful for any other type of driving.

[PrescottAZ]

Yeah I know. The free length was much longer than the tercel. I have always felt the stock setup is a bit soft.

If I heat the bottom coil it will pull some of the preload out as I still had to compress it a bit to get it into the strut. It will also bring the ride height down to counteract topping out.

I also have a thought of trashing this set of cartridges and then cutting off the tops of the shafts, drilling and taping them to make 2-3" extensions for a new set of KYB's. This would work well with the ~3" cradle drop I am planning as well as having less need for the sway bar since it has a higher rate and less body roll. I am just going one piece at a time. I am sure it would be a bit better if I found some 4cyl cherokee front spings but free is free. So far I like the ride better but I know I am going to kill these strut inserts at some point. Would also feel better if I had healthy rear shocks as well...

I will post pictures once I get the wheels and tires on.