Rearend sagging, Coil Spring Boosters?

fast_monte · Post by **fast_monte** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 11:32 pm

I do a lot of hauling With my Vibe and the rear end always sags a bit. Has anyone put in the little blocks to help stiffen the rear springs? The springs are so tiny, the valve springs on my racecar are bigger! Will the standard spring boosters even fit?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:05 am

I don't believe anyone has done that. If you had the $$ you could invest in an airbag system to manually even out the ride when hauling stuff.

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:23 am

I was going to say you could try the AWD lowering springs.. but then you would also have to lower the whole car... I have the AWD springs and they are stiffer in the rear, and don't sag as much... if I put a couple of bodies in the back it will even it out... but you might still have the sagging issue in the future with a bunch of extra weight of a trailer all the time...hmm, are the blocks expensive? you could always try them, and if they don't work, if not too expensive you're not out $$$.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:27 am

Quote, originally posted by Kamikaze »... if I put a couple of bodies in the back it will even it out... ( Are you working PT at the funeral home again???

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:31 am

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Are you working PT at the funeral home again??? how else do you think I can buy mods for the bike and car?

fast_monte · Post by **fast_monte** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:20 pm

I haven't had time to try the spring blocks yet and lowering the car is not an option. I have actually thought of jacking up the car to increase the off road capibility. I do a lot of whitewater kayaking and the parking is not always nice.

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:02 am

I wonder if you could buy stock AWD springs... I wonder if that would:1. rasie up the car a little more (1")2. stiffer spring rate in the rear so not as much sag?It's a thought...and you might be able to buy off someone's AWD stock springs they have lying around after lowering their car...

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:43 am

Quote, originally posted by Kamikaze »I wonder if you could buy stock AWD springs... I wonder if that would:1. rasie up the car a little more (1")2. stiffer spring rate in the rear so not as much sag?It's a thought...and you might be able to buy off someone's AWD stock springs they have lying around after lowering their car...Good Idea! AWD springs will raise your front up 1/2"-1" and you rear 1"+.

satur9 · Post by **satur9** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:18 am

ive tried the spring blocks. they fell out of my progress springs.? then i tried the ones that look like tiny spring compressors.they worked a little better. but then i just got hotckiss springs.a spacer(the kind that go on the perch)will work better with out screwing up your spring rate.) but if you dont mind. you can try one of the above.btw. im just assuming my blocks fell out because of the soft progress springs or mabey put in the wrong part of the coil.

fast_monte · Post by **fast_monte** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:46 am

I did a search for "AWD spring" and found this thread http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=32315 on how to change the srings out. I am too lazy to do it. I think I have spring blocks on a shelf in the shop that I could try.

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:25 am

At least you admit it... it took me about 1 1/2 hours to install all 4 of my lowering springs, it's pretty easy to do, and would work better than the blocks, if anything I would suggest trying the blocks you got in the shop first, if that doesn't work, then go the AWD stock spring way...

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 10:52 pm

bringing back up an old thread, but I just put spring blocks in the rear of my 05. I trimmed the length of them about 4" as I figured I didn't want it to overlap as much. Maybe I made a mistake with that. I haven't hooked the trailer back up yet. So far there hasn't been any noticeable ride sacrifice. The blocks were about $10 each. At first I thought how in the heck am i going to get them in there. After some silicone spray and elbow grease, in they went.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 10:55 pm

Quote, originally posted by nittanydoug »bringing back up an old thread, but I just put spring blocks in the rear of my 05. I trimmed the length of them about 4" as I figured I didn't want it to overlap as much. Maybe I made a mistake with that. I haven't hooked the trailer back up yet. So far there hasn't been any noticeable ride sacrifice. The blocks were about $10 each. At first I thought how in the heck am i going to get them in there. After some silicone spray and elbow grease, in they went.Pics, please!

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:30 am

Here you go. I trimmed a little off each so the rubber didn't overlap. Not sure if I should have or I should have let it over lap. At first I thought there was no way it was going in.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:51 am

Quote, originally posted by nittanydoug »Here you go. I trimmed a little off each so the rubber didn't overlap. Not sure if I should have or I should have let it over lap. At first I thought there was no way it was going in.Nice where did you buy them?Did you have to jack up the car to, release some compression get them on?This might enable me to get the CM springs for my AWD and use them without the rear sagging.Does your rear sit up a little higher than before?

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:51 am

Cool!!!Let us know how it handles the trailer!

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 10:25 am

It doesn't sit up noticeably higher. I'm not sure if our springs are a progressive rate or a single rate spring. I tried to put both blocks in similar spots. I bought them at advance auto parts. I jacked the car up to rotate the tires. I made sure my jack point allowed the hub assembly to pivot down to take the load off the spring. I should know by the weekend how the trailer works. Suprisingly the car handled the trailer really well aside from the rear end "sit" If I pick up an inch or so that will be huge. The store called them coil spring boosters. These shouldn't just pop out as they were not super easy at first to get in. Once I had a system down on the left side, the right went on in about 5 minutes.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 10:34 am

Thanks for the info!

06pvibe · Post by **06pvibe** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:16 pm

Quote, originally posted by nittanydoug »Here you go. I trimmed a little off each so the rubber didn't overlap. Not sure if I should have or I should have let it over lap. At first I thought there was no way it was going in.These have been around since the '60's... perhaps before that? I fear you will not be happy with the long-term results. By blocking those coils, you are not allowing the weight of the car to be spread out over the entire length of the spring and are adding additional stress to the remaining coils. The end result is a spring that will sag pretty quickly.A guy tried this on his Mazda3 HB. He had the back loaded down w/stereo equipment and needed a way to support it all. It worked for about 2 yrs, then the rear sagged. He removed the blocks only to discover that the rear end sagged even worse than before.I knew several "kids" back in the day to try these as a cheap way to jack up the back end. Same results.As a very temporary fix, these will work. But I wouldn't leave them in for long.A better solution is to have custom coils wound at a spring shop. Or short of that, have the spring lands repositioned.

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:23 pm

I don't have the "load" on them all that often. I might tow the trailer a dozen times a year at about 45 minutes each way. With the miles I drive every year, close to 40,000, I'll probably be looking for new struts in two years. If the springs are shot then, I don't have an issue replacing them. Seems to be quite a few cracked up vibes around where I should be able to get a set of rears reasonably. The closest spring shop that I know of is in Flint, which was fine when I was working up that way. Now it's about a 90 minute drive each way to the shop if they are even open. I can see how having it loaded all of the time would just postpone the issue.

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:26 pm

It would be nice to see someone with an air bag solution but I don't see one of those would work without some major fabrication work. And I'm not a fabrication guy.

beemerphile1 · Post by **beemerphile1** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:48 pm

Do those spacers make the ride harsher? I would think that since you are now using only part of the spring rather than all of the spring, it would ride rough.I would like to have some sort of a booster spring that would only take affect when the trailer compresses the OEM spring. My car rides rough enough now. I don't want anything that will make the ride rougher, but some assist when towing would be good. I haven't looked into possibilities yet, I've only towed 2,000 miles so far.

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:55 pm

I haven't noticed it being rougher. Our roads are crap so it's not that different. It would be great to have a progressive rate spring that the further it compressed the stiffer it became. But now were back to talking about having custom springs made and I don't have a clue about the cost of that.

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:49 pm

Found an airbag system for the rear. without the compressor/controllers it's $300. Plus installation. The controller/compressor is another $400. Hmm....lets see, new struts and springs for the rear every 3 years. Even if I have to replace the current set next year in 2011 (car will be 6 and have probably 110-120k) then another set in 2014 and car is 9 and will have 240k on it....wait, I'll sell it when it gets that age and let them deal with it. I sold my P5 with 247k on the clock and I had it a little over 4 years and got it with 80k. So I hooked up the trailer. I was at 13 5/8" to top of ball mount without the trailer and 11" with the trailer on it. That's considerable better than it was before.

nittanydoug · Post by **nittanydoug** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 2:50 am

Took the boat and trailer to the river yesterday. Worked great. No dragging of the exhaust tip when I pull out of my driveway, no dragging of the safety chains.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:14 am

Good to hear that it worked for ya.

Rearend sagging, Coil Spring Boosters?

Rearend sagging, Coil Spring Boosters?

Re: Rearend sagging, Spring Blocks? (fast_monte)

Re: Rearend sagging, Spring Blocks? (BlueCrush)

Re: Rearend sagging, Spring Blocks? (Kamikaze)

Re: Rearend sagging, Spring Blocks? (BlueCrush)

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