Would anyone be interested in testing their suspension spring rates for the current generation CL?

I propose that if you send me one front and rear spring, I could quasi-statically test them over about 2-inches of travel. I would then of course ship them back to you. The results could possibly be posted in the ARCHIVES section and could be updated as the data base grows. I propose creating force vs. displacement graphs for all of the different springs that are made available.

I have tried to find out what the actual spring rates are from several different aftermarket companies but no one wants to give out that information. Apparently they are under the impression that if they give out that information they will go out of business. So, I would not mind doing the testing myself but without having to go out and purchase a set of springs from every company out there (and subsequently returning them after testing is completed). I have access to a machine with a hydraulic actuator and a built-in data acquisition system and this is what would be used to test the springs. We use the machine to perform dynamic tests on items such as hydraulic engine mounts.

The testing could possibly be done for more than 2-inches of travel but that would require more fixturing to be built. Currently I do not know how much the spring & damper compresses during normal driving but I may acquire some suspension travel data in the next few months. Why? Well, basically because I can (I get nerdy sometimes). I would only acquire data for driving around town like a good motor vehicle operator though as I am not interested in thrashing on my own personal vehicle.

If you are going to purchase aftermarket springs then you could send one of those front and rear's first and then perhaps the stockers after the aftermarket's are installed. Whoever signs up would need to give me some intitial measurements of the springs so that I could fabricate the fixturing.

Let me know if you are interested.

 

ill send you my stocks.

comptechs publish their spring rates... i have them written down from my old set.

ill send you my ground controls when i replace them with Teins and ill send you the teins too.

the more we know the better

i think neuspeed publishes their spring rates too. not sure... maybe h&r. someone besides comptech does tho.

 

Soopa,

Let me know when you are ready and I will PM a shipping address. And thanks for wanting to participate.

 

hey jim

do you need to do this in Columbus, OH?

Pitt to Columbus is ~3hrs. I wouldn't mind driving out there some weekend, provided I have lodging (and maybe a 6-pack )

Was thinking maybe we can get a bunch of CL folks together in the Columbus area, and we can have a little mini-meet.

I'm putting my TEINs on today so I'll have the stocks available. and if we have time we can take the TEINs off and do those too.

Anyway, this probably won't be able to happen until after PAA.

Let me know...

chikai

 

Been away from the computer for awhile ................


chikai,
unfortunately the mrs. would probably disagree with me puttin' people up for the night but you are correct that I will be doing the testing in Columbus. Sending just a spring makes it easier though as then I can do the testing at the end of the day after my other commitments have been completed. Also, this procedure certainly reduces the risk of something going wrong if we were working on an actual vehicle - less time constraints.

 

TEIN publishes theirs too:

http://www.tein.com/honda.html