upgrading to a taller coil

first off. this is gonna be a bit long and I'm not the best at explaining but try to keep up lol.

I'm trying to figure out this coilover thing and get my truck riding the way i want. currently I'm running the fox 2.0s with the factory 14in coils. it rode great and i had planned on just cranking them up a little bit when i went to 285s and i got my dakars installed. then i installed a bumper and it brought the front end down a good bit. i then decided I'm going to upgrade to a heavier coil. from 600 to 700 to get a little bit more height out of it and counteract the bumper. now i have my tires and dakars are coming soon. could i go from a 14in coil to a 16in coil of the same rate (600#) and back off on the adjuster and have a better ride than going to a stiffer coil?

 

someones gotta know. i need to order coils

 

No, a 600lb coil is a 600lb coil no matter if it is 10" or 20" it is still the same spring rate. You would have to pre load the 16" coil just as much because it is still only a 600lb coil...make sense ? Do you have a bumper and a winch or just a bumper ? 700lb coils are really stiff you prob only want a 650.

 

Just a bumper at the moment

 

I don't think a 14" 600lb coil will give you the same ride height as a 16" 600lb coil.
the taller coil will give you more height if the amount of pre load is the same. I'm in a similar situation looking at 884s and 885s. Same spring rate coils but different lengths and different ride heights.

 

Spring rate is spring rate regardless of coil height...that's like saying there is a difference in weight between a guy 5'10" / 175 lbs and a guy 6'-2" / 175lbs...same shit different wrapper.

 

I think you could go to the 16" 600lb coil and gain some ride height. I know the more you pre load a coil to gain ride height the harsher it gets. Thats where I get a little confused though because the spring rate is not directly relative to ride quality once pre loading is involved and adding weight is another variable.

 

I agree spring rate is spring rate but he is trying to gain height and a taller coil of the same rate will gain height

 

I thought the rate of spring was per inch like the springs hold 600lbs per inch so if I'm running a taller coil then it would hold that weight higher up. I know it's that way with mountain bikes

 

Bro...I don't mean to be rude but there is no "think" or opinions with this. Spring rate is spring rate regardless of the length of the spring and taller spring is not going to require less pre load or hold up more weight. If you don't believe me post that question on the LT thread for the experts to answer for you / verify. Or you can just google it probably too... A ton of people get bad advice like that and waste their money on longer springs only to discover they need to buy higher rate springs not longer springs.

Op - call Down South Motorsports on Monday and ask them, I believe what they will tell you is that all you need to do is jump up 50lbs of rate for every approx 150lbs you add to the front end.

 

So you are saying that if you took off 884s, didn't do anything else then put on 885s. you would have the same ride height?

 

op i think you're right but definetly call downsouth. Those guys know their stuff for sure. Yota dan at wheelers is a good phone call too.

 

100% correct. Spring rate is defined by the amount of weight the spring is designed to carry at a certain height. If a spring is overloaded then a taller spring will still be overloaded although it may raise height it will lower the ride quality by preloading the spring.

 

I'm going to but the only thing I think would be an issue with a taller coil is bottoming out the coils on each other. I know there's a term for it but I can't remember

 

If I were trying to gain height I would prefer having the correct spring rate as opposed to having preload on a taller spring.

 

No that is exactly what I am NOT saying. 884's and 885's although different in length are different in spring rate so no they are two different weight coils so they will not do the same thing.

It is real simple guys spring rate determines how much weight a spring will hold, spring length is only a consideration in regard to how much travel you have or need. Most coil manufacturers will list what the compressed height and extended height of a coil spring is so if you have a custom application you can make the proper decision. IE: If you have a stock Toyota Tacoma that only needs a 600lb coil 12" in length because stock shock stroke is only 5.5". In that same scenario if you added a bumper but made no suspension changes you would simply buy a heavier spring such as a 650 lb spring to compensate for the weight and maintain the same ride height. The only time a longer spring will gain you ride height is if you pre load that longer spring vs not pre loading the shorter spring but that is an ass backwards way of accomplishing it...make sense ? If you add weight you up the coil rate simple.

 

Dude I whole heartedly do not mean to be rude but you should not be dishing out advice when you are not 100% educated on a topic. What if he followed your advice and spent a lot of money on new parts that were incorrect based on your advice ?

 

884s and 885s are the same spring rate

 

yes , as are 887's

 

I didn't realize a bumper was an overload for a 600lb coil either