But would make it possible to coil bind. 300lb spring will still hit the bump stop in the rear on the street just from hitting a big bump hard.

 

Well... unless it ended up not stopping things before the sleeve hit the mount? Or something?


I don't know. I don't Miata. He did everything just barely different from mine, and i wasn't there for any of it.

 

I'm pretty sure 5.5" springs are going to be the issue. Measure the block height and then measure how much bump travel he's got.

 

Possibru, but that's 0.5" longer than the blue springs everyone else is using without issue.

Source: I sourced the setup he has for him, and compared against the blue springs sitting on my counter.

 

Well, everything is going to be idle speculation until someone pulls out a tape measure and sees what's actually destroying circlips.

 

The circlip is designed to be fully captive in the recess machined into the perch. I still find it interesting that so many are using that clip in a way that it wasn't designed for and are not having issues.
I think if I go this route one day, I'll machine a proper perch...

 

So my $30 kit just came in. 7.25" 350 lb/in springs all around, so I'll be looking for ~500 lb fronts. Don't suppose anyone has a pair to spare?

 

5.5" is way too short for a 300lb spring. It is probably binding. 7" would be what you need.

 

Please explain the success stories in this thread of people running the 325lb 5" blue spring in the rear.

I'm not questioning it, just wondering why it's ok in some situations, but not this one, bearing in mind that i haven't had a chance to look at the car myself yet.

He has purchased bump stops and new clips, though.

 

It depends on ride height and which bump stops you have. If you have a car with an inch of shock travel before the stops (slammed) you are fine, but if you have 2.5 to 3 inches of travel you are going to have a bad day with 5 inch springs.

 

Well.... he had no bump stops at all, so that's a fail.

Car was pretty low on the Ricelands, but not the worst i've seen by far. I don't think he went so far this time around.


I'll rummage around and see what i've got. For some reason i think i have a pair of 350lb 6" Eibachs around we could throw on and see what we get.

 

you can buy one, there are plenty that have the circlip in a recess.


I agree 300 lb 5" springs is generally too short depending on your ride height & shock. A lot of the shorter shock bodies are probably fine with 5" springs, but if you are on billies, its going to be tough.

 

Yup. My MSM rears have 5" of stroke. 5" springs aren't going to have more than a couple inches of stroke. My 7" springs only have 3" of stroke.

 

Spoon feeding time...

I have bilstein HDs with MSM springs + 36/46 FCM bumpstops already.

I want something stiffer.

Sleeves

The honda ones fit?

+
7" 350/250 QA1 springs
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-7-350/overview/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hal-7-250/overview/

+
Thrust bearings x2

Correct?

Has anyone blown the C-clip on 7in springs?

I want to maintain a stockish ridehight at 12.5-13in. My bumper already scrapes too much as it is.

 

My springs are 7" and I had one of my circlips pop off while I was adjusting the shock. The others (as well as the rotoclip that replaced the busted circlip) have been holding up just fine. I'd recommend getting the free "sample" (100 clips) from rotoclip as part of your initial order so that if it happens you're good to go.

 

These sleeves are the same and cheaper, and they come with 7" 350# springs so you won't have to buy those.

I'm starting to think that helpers are going to be mandatory to do it right on any setup. I'm still trying to find a source for less than $50/corner. Does anyone know if there's any difference in stroke between different years' shocks? Or is it just body length that changes?

 

I'm not using helpers and neither is Ryan G but we are both using 7 inch springs. I can see where the 5 inch spring guys might want helpers.

 

Your list sounds fine. Just remember to go around the shock body with some duct tape to keep the adjuster collar perfectly centered to avoid c-clip trouble.

 

My 7" springs only have 3" stroke and after measuring some others and looking at spec sheets, that seems pretty typical. My MSM Bilsteins have 5" stroke front and 4" rear. About 1/2" of that will be blocked off by the compressed bumpstop, but that still leaves the spring to either dangle at the bottom 1/2" or bind at the top. Even if those aren't ranges of suspension travel that my car will typically see, I'd rather design my car to work properly instead of hoping I never hit a big bump.

Edit: it's actually 4" stroke in the front and 5" in the rear. Pretty much the only springs that have that much travel are as long as the shock itself.

 

Would 8in springs work?