loose springs on front struts on new billys and h&rs

[jdamm]

ive just finished fitting new bilstein HD shocks and h&r sport springs F/R to my 73tii,although im sure there could be a few factors here im after some ideas because i have not struck this before. fitted billy HD strut insert into tii strut,sat spring in perch and fitted top perch with washers on top then camber plate/strut mount. all done up there is about 20mm play for the spring to move around. how do i fix this as it wont pass a "warrant of fitness" as is.could i remove billy strut insert and get it shortend 20mm to fix this?also on top of this the ride hight it about 20mm higher than previous set up so would shortening the strut also fix the ride hight? any help or advice would be appreciated. kind regards julian

[Paul7002]

Somebody may correct me on this, but I think the problem is you need to use Bilstein Sports with those springs, as opposed to the Bilstein HDs . HDs are good for stock or only slightly shorter springs.

[jdamm]

ok that would make sence to me but have read here many times about guys using this combo for a comfortable ride but still sporty enough to handle better. the roads here are buggered from earthquakes so dont want too harder setup....

[mike472]

ive just finished fitting new bilstein HD shocks and h&r sport springs F/R to my 73tii,although im sure there could be a few factors here im after some ideas because i have not struck this before. fitted billy HD strut insert into tii strut,sat spring in perch and fitted top perch with washers on top then camber plate/strut mount. all done up there is about 20mm play for the spring to move around. how do i fix this as it wont pass a "warrant of fitness" as is.could i remove billy strut insert and get it shortend 20mm to fix this?also on top of this the ride hight it about 20mm higher than previous set up so would shortening the strut also fix the ride hight? any help or advice would be appreciated. kind regards julian

If the strut assembly has no weight on it and the spring has play up and down that's normal. You need a spring compressor to get the stock springs off and on and those spring don't have any play because of their length. Almost any other short spring other then stock will install with some play and you won't need a compressor to get it back together.

I have IE stage 1 springs and they are loose in their perches when you jack the car up. I wired them to the top perch to keep them in place when jacking the car up and down because they will get out of place if youre not careful. Search the forum about wiring the spring to the perch to prevent this. Do they jack the car up to inspect down in NZ?

Good luck.

[Hans]

Are you sure you've got the front springs in there, and not the rears?

[Harv]

As was said above, it's normal. If it's a problem for local inspection, I'd come up with a way to secure the springs in their perch. Wire or hose clamp etc...

Sports and HD's are the same length. It's the Rabbit strut that is shorter.

John

[williamggruff]

You don't make mention of installing the upper and lower spring pads, which are rubber caps that will take up probably 10-15 mm of that 20 mm gap.

[FB73tii]

If a wobbly spring under droop (car jacked up) is a problem for inspection, you could add some "helper springs" on top of them. Photo below shows sized for 2.5" coilover, you'll need to find some full-size ones if needed.

Fred '74tii & '69GT3

[jdamm]

thanks for the replies,i will try answer all of you,yes ive got the right springs up front as i thought i mite have done that, yea they jack up the car and grab the spring to see if it can bounce free from the perch(side effect of the "boy racer" scene and the cutting of springs by our rice racer rivals taking too much out so they tightend up the laws.) yea i need to replace the rubbers below and above the spring so i was hopefull that would help a little, the spring on top to keep it in place is already taken care of because the springs come with "dead coils" already. and as for the ride hight i need to just cut or compress the springs like normal? as for this wiring technique to hold spring to perches can you give me a bit more info as that seams like the only real option at the moment. thanks again for the feed back

[c.d.iesel]

H&R Sport Springs should only be installed with BILSTEIN SPORT

strut inserts because the lower ride height require a SPORT

strut insert with a shorter travel, and the sport strut insert has an internal bottoming stop that the HD insert does not.

use of the HD strut insert requires you retain the original

rubber bottoming buffer

You remove the original external rubber bottoming stop,

install the H&R Sport spring without the external stop buffer,

with the Bilstein SPORT insert which has an internal stop.

Leave your STOCK springs installed for inspection

after inspection - install the H&R springs with the

BIlstein Sport strut inserts without external rubber bottoming buffer

[Hans]

My suggestion about front vs rear was based on my own experience assisting with installation of Carl Nelson 2002 package - looking at springs sitting on the floor, they appeared to be be backwards. As I recall, fronts went in without compressor (use weight of car to compress and tighten strut nut), rears slid in without compressor once half shafts were levered down (undo CV joint first).

[jdamm]

ok i understand what your saying c.d.iesel about the sport strut and sport spring but the main choice for the HD strut was the comfort level i would happily run sports if our roads were not rubbish,i didnt realize about the bottoming out aspect and to be honest i wondered that when fitting them but couldnt get them to fit due to a bigger diameter strut and the strut already had a rubber ring on it and wasnt sure what it was for just assumed it was a bump stop,that being said when all these threads refer to billy HD and H&R sport combo being a nice combo then someone had steered alot of people wrong. hans as to your post the h&r were labelled front and rear and based on that was how i installed them,however i did compare them with my old springs for hight and diameter of steel and they were the same hight in the rear and comparable in thickness but the front hrs were shorter and slightly thicker than older springs but that doesnt mean much unless you know spring rate etc and i dont. now the main worry is am i going to wreck my new struts in this set up because i chose this setup based on the many threads and positive comment on this set up......thanks for the replies