RE: spring question

[Chris Jung <palace_master@yahoo.com>]

Thanks for the information Aaron.  It challenges my
limited physics knowledge from physics 100, I think it
was.  Anyhow, from what I recall, when I cut a coil or
two from my Mustang springs, it did stiffen the
suspension a little bit, because the coils are wound
looser at the top and bottom of the spring.  The inner
coils are wound tighter, so they are the stiffer part
of the spring.  In other words, the rate of
springiness is variable.

Chris J.
'83 Scirocco GT Wolfsburg Ed.

--- Aaron Ness <aaron@makuta.com> wrote:
> How does a spring get stiffer if you cut it shorter?
>  F=k*x, where F is the
> force exerted on the spring, k is the spring
> constant, and x is the
> displacement, or the amount it compresses under the
> given load F.  The
> spring constant is a function of the metal and its
> heat treat and geometry.
> By cutting a coil you aren't altering the heat treat
> (hopefully), and you
> aren't altering the geometry in a manner that
> affects the spring constant,
> AFAIK.  This means that a given force will result in
> the same displacement
> as it did before.
> 
> A stiffer spring is represented by a higher value
> for k, which means the
> same input force would result in less displacement
> than before.
> 
> Or is there a problem in my reasoning?
> 
> Aaron
> '87 528e
> '82 Scirocco
> '70 Beetle
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> > [mailto:owner-scirocco-l@scirocco.org]On Behalf Of
> Dan Bubb
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 1:26 PM
> > To: Chris Jung
> > Cc: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> > Subject: Re: spring question
> >
> >
> > Cutting the coils will stiffen the spring. On my
> 84 I cut
> > both front and
> > rear coils, but the front a little more to get rid
> of the power boat
> > nose up attitude. As a result the fronts got MORE
> stiffer than the
> > rears, the car understeered like a pig  and I
> needed to
> > install a larger
> > rear sway bar to rebalance the handling.
> > Dan
> >
> > Chris Jung wrote:
> > >
> > > I would like to lower my '83 Scirocco Wolfsburg
> after
> > > I put on some 15" wheels and am wondering what
> my
> > > options are.  I've noticed that most people buy
> > > lowered springs for their VW products.  What
> happens
> > > if you cut a coil or two from the stock springs?
>  Does
> > > the suspension get too soft or too stiff?  I was
> a
> > > Mustang 5 litre driver at one point in time, and
> I got
> > > a reasonable result from cutting the coils and
> I'm
> > > wondering if the same can be done for a 'rocco.
> > >
> > > Chris J.
> > > '83 Scirocco GT Wolfsburg Ed.
> > >
> > >
>
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