Springs

[Brown_Muscle]

Ok I think I've look over all the stickies for this information, and don't think i could find a straigh answer, so it if exists please send me the link. Heres my question. My car is begining to sag on ones side. I want to keep the stock ride height, not lower it, or raise it in the front or back. I have the LTD-S which has the police suspension parts, and I was wondering if there were inexpensive, but good springs i could buy that would be heavier duty than the stock, (isnt the front like 500 LB springs?) but still keep the same height. Also, would a car leaning to one side, mind you it isnt really a huge lean but it is noticable. Be bad for the car in any way? Sorry for the long post, hope you guys can help me out and point me in the right direction. Thanks in advanced

[mrltd]

It's possible that it is not the springs. Measure the frame hieght in the same spots on both sides. The bodymounts go bad on these cars adn can lead to issues.

Any of the springs other than stock or stock HD replacements will raise or lower the car. Newer PI springs are longer, and you could just cut them to get back to your ride hieght.

[Brown_Muscle]

Ok ive decided to go with stock HD, It is definitly leaning to the passenger side, i havnt measured it yet but i would say by one or two inches, do bodymounts fail due to rust? Or something else? There is almost no rust on the frame or body. I have no looked at the body mounts very well at all though.

Also i heard cutting springs can result in adverse affects aka bad handling and what not.

I looked at rockauto, and they say what different cars the springs are for, and the front say they are heavy duty, but i cant find the lbs/in specs anywhere for t he springs....

[Brown_Muscle]

Ok ive decided to go with stock HD, It is definitly leaning to the passenger side, i havnt measured it yet but i would say by one or two inches, do bodymounts fail due to rust? Or something else? There is almost no rust on the frame or body. I have no looked at the body mounts very well at all though.

Also i heard cutting springs can result in adverse affects aka bad handling and what not.

I looked at rockauto, and they say what different cars the springs are for, and the front say they are heavy duty, but i cant find the lbs/in specs anywhere for the springs....

[mrltd]

Cutting springs does not hurt anything when it is done correctly.

Bodymounts fail because they are rubber and rubber deteriorates over time.

[1987cp]

I looked at rockauto, and they say what different cars the springs are for, and the front say they are heavy duty, but i cant find the lbs/in specs anywhere for the springs....

Might be best to draw your part numbers from Mike's suspension sticky. That way you'll know with reasonable certainty just what you're ordering.

[mrltd]

if the sprigns are a generic PN, then the stuff i have listed in the stickies might help you figure out the spring rate.

[Brown_Muscle]

hmm, ok the amount of lean is not as much as i said, its under a 1/2 inch in the back, and around an 1/8 in the front or so. It is still noticable by looking at it, what should I look for with the body mounts if I take a look under the car? I'm going to check out the springs in sticky now, the lbs/in seemed a little wacky though? I'll take another look

[Brown_Muscle]

So if I understand correctly I should get this rear spring, and it will give me stock height and performance.
Part Number CC817

And this for the front?

Part Number 8656

What is the standard measurement for the springs resistence? The load in pounds, or the lbs per inch? The previous post says

Front Springs:

Base: 374lb/in
Wagon: 443lb/in
HPP: 540 lb/in
P71: 700 lb/in





Rear Springs
Base rear coils: 107 lb/in
Wagon rear coils: 182lb/in
P71 rear coils 160 lb/in
HPP bags ~110 lb/in nominal

which was what was confusing me, due to a different measurement.



And also, is there a definite way to tell weather its the springs, or the body mounts?

Thanks for you information and patience guys.

[P72Ford]

My car used to lean, my '88 P72 leaned, and my old man's P71 leans. They all sit low on the driver's side rear. I swapped out the springs in the rear of mine, and the problem was solved. However, somtimes the way that you park may make the lean more prevalent...

[Brown_Muscle]

hmmm, I am in a flat driveway, but it was parked on the side of the road for like ten years, which has a slight grade on it, wondering if that affected the car.

[mrltd]

Measure the body to frame spacing in different lcoations to see how bad the body mounts are. And no matter what, if it's a box panther, the mounts are bad. And since you already measured the frame to ground, measure the body to ground. That will show you where the issues are.

Measurement? LOL Spring rate is lb/in which means POUNDS PER INCH. Which is how many pounds it takes to compress the spring an inch.

[Brown_Muscle]

I know this, I have no other way to express what i'm saying, in the specs for springs you gave there is no pounds per inch to compare them with, simply the load in pounds, so I have no way to tell if they are the springs I want. That is what I ment

[mrltd]

the normal measurement is lbs/in. If they don't have that listed, you will need to find that info somewhere else.

If they have the generic moog PN system, which I listed, you might be able to cross reference the spring. I hate rockauto's website. It sucks big time. Partsamerica is where I got the info for the FAQ.

[Brown_Muscle]

ahhh ok thanks i'll try there. And it appears as though my rear has a 1/4 difference, while the front is less than an 1/8, so it's possible I may just try replacing the rear springs first, it'd be a lot cheaper and a lot less work than the front any way.