Swapped Steeda ultralight front springs tonight over the Steeda comps I've been running. Put them both on a scale and the ultralight fronts were 7lbs even, comps 9lbs even. Quite the difference for springs!! Hefting them both in my hands I could really tell the difference... it was very surprising.

My front now sits at 28, rear at 28.2 with the comp rear springs. My f/r was front biased by .5'' with the comp fronts....sat really high and were very stiff with the Hotchkis swaybars.

Took her for a test drive and I'm really happy with the ultralight and hotchkis setup. Rear ultralights go on tomorrow but I can't see the weight difference being that extreme for the rears...

 

Lets see some pics

 

I'll take some later today with the ultralights. This is literally "superbowl sunday" for ncaa football (go Pitt/Houston!) so I'm glued to the tube....

I have the before pics, I'll post both here tomorrow.

 

I just installed a set of Ultralites on the rear of my 07 but the instructions were kinda vague about which way is up so I ended up installing them upside down. I put the end of the spring with closely spaced coils on the axle.

Funny thing is the first three coils of the closely spaced end touch each other with the weight of the vehicle on the car. Spring bind, which I understand to be bad.

I called Steeda tech support and asked about that. They claim it is because I have them installed upside down. I'm having a hard time understanding why that might be. I can't envision a reason why a spring would behave differently in different orientations if it is only being acted upon in compression.

I'd like to know how it works out for you. I'm going to go flip mine over but I'm not holding my breath that it will make any difference as far as the binding coils go. I wonder if all Ultralites do that but no one ever notices since the binding coils are hidden in the spring well if you install them "right side up".

 

I discussed the "progressive" vs "linear" type springs at length with Sam Strano when I purchased the ultralites because I, like you (I assume) noticed the spring bind. According to Sam (and correct me if I'm explaining this wrong Sam) the "progressive" type springs have the pigtail ends and the first couple of coils on the pigtail do indeed bind under full weight of the body thus turning them into a "linear" spring at least in function. In design they are a progressive "type" because of this.

The coils that bind keep the spring under pressure at full suspension extension so they're doing what they were designed to do.

And yes, the pigtail ends go up towards the body of the car so you will need to rearrange them. Not sure how important the orientation is to the actual functioning of the spring though. I've heard they are fine in either orientation but not 100% sure of that. I'll post some pics of mine today.

 

Hate to say this, but ignore them.

That's not actual spring bind because the whole spring isn't bound, and it's a normal thing for progressive springs (and not a problem). It would not matter which way they were installed...

 

If I may speculate a bit...

If you install the springs with the "bound" section toward the axle, then the weight of that bound section essentially becomes a static part of the axle, therefore increasing the unsprung weight at the rear of the car. If you install them in the opposite orientation, it would add to the sprung weight. Since we always try to minimize unsprung weight if given a choice it would probably be best to install them in the correct orientation.

 

I agree, though we're talking a very, very minimal change likely completely not noticeable...

 

This is odd... While the front ultralites vs comps were 9lbs ea (comps) and 7lbs ea (lites), the rears are 6.4lbs ea (lites) and 3.2lbs ea (comps). Just weighed them on the scale. Explain that to me please.

I'm guessing the rear ultralites are going to raise my rearend over the 28.2'' it is now and have a larger biased front/rear slope. They're a physically larger spring, wheras the fronts were basically the same size, just weighted differently. We'll see in a few minutes. I'm taking pics as I go and will post them.

 

Here are the pics. It's raining tonight so no after pics (except in garage), probably until this weekend.

Before, with Steeda comps all around (as you can see the front is considerably higher by 1/2''):



After with Steeda Ultralites all around (in garage sorry it's raining tonight, no outside pics unfortunately). Ride has been nearly leveled. Front is 27 3/4'' (must have settled a bit over the past 3 days) and rear is exactly 28'':



Steeda comps vs lites:



Orientation of rears:



Rear with lites:



The Steeda comps would be an awesome track spring but were a bit too stiff for my taste on the DD. The ultralites are perfect with the huge hotchkis swaybars I run. I'm planning to sell the comps to someone who either tracks their car or desires that much spring rate. Not for me. The ultralites and hotchkis are the perfect combo of compliance and zero roll for my liking.