wagoon 2,429 Posted July 22, 2015 Just trying find out the installed height of a KFFL-0 (listed as low for 6 cylinder falcon) spring in the front of a falcon sedan with a crossflow in it. I measured down past the shock mount to the spring saddle to measure the standard springs,and I didnt have to remove anything from the car.So if someone knows or can measure the installed height that would be great. And just to be a pain I need both sides of the car as the passenger side spring is longer. Editted as I had part number wrong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 23, 2015 Does nobody run King low springs on a 6 cylinder falcon??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Happy camper 19 Posted July 23, 2015 Can't help you with your question specifically,but is it tru that king springs are softer than factory? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 23, 2015 No they aren't softer than factory, I will take a pic of the king spring next to a standard spring tomorrow to show the difference. The king spring diameter is almost twice as thick as the standard, plus it has more coils as well as a different coil design. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xSMOKEx 47 Posted July 23, 2015 No they aren't softer than factory, I will take a pic of the king spring next to a standard spring tomorrow to show the difference. The king spring diameter is almost twice as thick as the standard, plus it has more coils as well as a different coil design. can confirm i have king ssl's in my cortina , much better ride and are defiantly stiffer then stock , really notice it in a cortina coming from stock springs after replacing the 2l motor with the 250xflow also have had a set in a xe and a xf with same results , set i had in the xe were standard height kings and were still stiffer then the stock springs (got them as a freebie ) from a car i was striping . the xf had ssl kings but also had koni adjustable shocks , scored from a wrecked car was a vast improvement even with them adjusted on softest settings . kings are far better then stock . i have even chopped standard springs to the ride height of king ssl's , trust me if you do that you will really know the difference between stock and kings lmao. P.s dont chop ya springs i was young and stupid and had no understanding of how springs actually worked . 1 Outback Jack reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bear351c 10,272 Posted July 23, 2015 Can't help you with your question specifically,but is it tru that king springs are softer than factory? NO ! Kings are 15% firmer than standard. Says so in the manual IIRC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 24, 2015 I would like to thank xsmokex for pointing out that I had my springs around the wrong way. The shorter spring goes on the passenger side and the longer spring goes on the drivers side. This is confirmed by the part tag on the king springs that has PS and DS printed on them, the shorter spring has PS on it. On a side note I have completed the parts for my spring compressor and it only requires welding of a rod in place which I hope to get time to do this weekend. Hoping to get the king springs into my wagon this weekend so that I can measure the installed height myself. 2 xSMOKEx and gerg reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 25, 2015 Ok finished my spring compressor and removed the drivers side spring today on the wagon. Can't say that I see much of a difference in the height but I put a ruler on the car and it was about 20mm lower on the drivers side compared to the passenger side which still has the stock spring in it. Tomorrow I will put the other king spring into the wagon, then leave it in the car for about a week then measure the installed height. Here is the standard spring compared to king spring, the standard spring as I very tough outer casing on the spring which makes it look larger in diameter but the 2 spring are actually quite close in diameter but clearly they are different lenghts And this is the spring compressor I came up with This is the bottom of the compressor, I didn't like the fact that using just a straight bit of bar left a large gap between it and the spring saddle where the shock mounts to. So I ground by hand a piece to suit the gap, which I got pretty close. 3 xSMOKEx, Outback Jack and gerg reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted July 25, 2015 Yikes.... massive difference in free height. What size thread? Looks like about m16 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 25, 2015 Yikes.... massive difference in free height. What size thread? Looks like about m16 Yeah free height difference is huge but height of car is less than free height difference. In saying that the original spring would be made of a different type of steel as it is much much older and steel technology changes a lot in 10 years let alone 20 odd years. As for the thread no idea as it is a shaft that makes up a vice that was never used, I will put a ruler on it to get diameter. I mainly used it because of the length of the nut as it shouldn't pull the thread will all the weight of the spring. There are so many teeth in contact with the shaft I figured it would be a lot safer than using a standard size nut. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted July 26, 2015 Number of coils is much less on the kings too so the spring rate is much higher, so once compressed the difference diminishes. You say the ride height is 20mm lower but give it a week or a month and it will settle down another 10-15mm Also lowering only one side and bolting up the sway bar will pull the std side down and push the lowered side up. You'll likely find that doing both will have it sit lower again. 1 xSMOKEx reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted July 26, 2015 That doesn't look like a buttress thread so I'm guessing the vice wasn't your average bench type. Could be 5/8" UNF then. 1 bear351c reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xSMOKEx 47 Posted July 26, 2015 Number of coils is much less on the kings too so the spring rate is much higher, so once compressed the difference diminishes. You say the ride height is 20mm lower but give it a week or a month and it will settle down another 10-15mm as gerg said they should drop another 10mm after they settle can take up to 1 month . btw awesome home made spring compressor id sooner trust that then those ones from super cheap auto , had a scary moment with them before lol 1 gerg reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 26, 2015 You are all correct on the front sitting lower. Got the other spring done this morning and it is sitting around 40mm lower than it was yesterday before I started. These are used springs so would imagine it will settle a little faster, but I have mainly put them on the car so I can find out the installed height of the spring. Then I can measure the poundage of the spring and go from there. Your right Greg it's not the normal square edged thread like on most vice and I'm not entirely sure that it is one but it has the correct end for attaching a handle and is about the right length for a vice. The thread is 3/4 inch in diameter or just bigger than 19mm. The thread is actually not long enough as I was hitting the bottom of the thread, the thread is 257mm long so I will try and find die to extend the thread a bit. This is the nut wound all the way down the thread This is how the spring looks when with the nut wound all the way down This is the standard springs next to each other, the dustier dirty one is the drivers side as that is the one I took out yesterday. Interesting thing is the height difference between the drivers side and passenger side spring is more on the king springs than the standard springs. 1 gerg reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 26, 2015 btw awesome home made spring compressor id sooner trust that then those ones from super cheap auto , had a scary moment with them before lol Yeah that's why I wanted to make my own, I always over engineer my stuff so I know it won't let go. The round plate is 10mm thick, the bolts that attach it to the spring saddle are 12mm diameter shaft and the threaded rod is 19mm in diameter. All this would probably compress a spring twice the weight but I always like to operate every thing at 80% capacity or less then you know it won't fail unless you have done something wrong. The nut has a collar that sits down inside the round plate and yesterday it was binding together. Today I used a bit of grease and it was much better and didn't bind at all 1 xSMOKEx reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 26, 2015 Righto went for a drive today to make sure I had everything back together ok. All I can say is WOW, I never would have thought that a simply spring change would make such a big difference to the handling. The springs have added a very noticable firmer feel to the front end while sharpening the steering up a lot. The steering has sharpened up that much that the car now feels like the backend is loose, the backend hasnt changed its just the front has tightened so much. Measured the car a few hours after I went the 30km drive and the car has settled to be almost 60mm's lower than it was before spring change. The drop is quite noticable now and will see what happens in a week. These springs are suppose to be 1 inch drop but so far its 2 1/4 inch drop. 2 xSMOKEx and gerg reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted July 26, 2015 Next time if you don't want the thread to bottom out, maybe install a spacer under the nut so you can wind it a bit higher. And always use lube... On the thread, under the nut, everywhere. Grease is ok but messy and attracts dirt. Good old Lantotec spray is top stuff, or even a bit of ATF will do. 3 bear351c, xSMOKEx and wagoon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 26, 2015 Im going to get the thread extended as I need a other 1/2 to 3/4 of inch to make sure I can get the A arm out easier. I will give the lanotec a go. I didnt use it as I thought it would dry up while spinning the nut under plenty of pressure from the spring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerg 10,871 Posted July 27, 2015 Lantotec is awesome stuff, it gets a bit of a crust on it so dirt isnt as likely to stick to it but stays gooey inside to keep doing its job. I use it on everything except window glass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bear351c 10,272 Posted July 27, 2015 Beat me to it, gerg. Was gonna say place a 20mm socket under the nut. Good stuff, wagon. So how much has the car dropped, compared to the uninstalled height of the springs.? Cant really see from the pics, but looks like about 60-80mm difference in the coil height. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted July 27, 2015 So here is a comparison in the height, and Bear I think your right it is closer to 2 1/2 inch drop. This is before on the exact same patch of dirt as the after pic just taken from the rear angle, but you get the idea on how much it has dropped After The front has dropped that much that I have had to adjust my headlights, my drivers seat( AU drivers seat with front tilt) and my spotlights on the front now hit the road 6-8 foot closer to the front of the car than they use to. In the pics above before putting in the lower springs in the front the gap between the tyre was just about even between the from and rear of the car, now clearly the front tyre is much closer to the guard. 1 bear351c reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
broken-wheel 659 Posted August 2, 2015 i like your idea of a spring compressor! i normally use two of them normal ones to get the stock strings out as they are fucking long bastards, oh well i been putting changing springs off for 3 months now 1 xSMOKEx reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MNTL.XD 3,831 Posted August 4, 2015 I have 2 pairs of Kings springs for the XD. I have just the normal lowered ones (KFFL-01) like yours which i use for getting it through roadworthy's if i need to, and a pair of (KFFL-59)'s which i mainly use. In the Kings Springs catalogue, the KFFL-59's in a six cylinder are 'super-lows', the same part number is also under V8 as an 'ultra-low'. I don't need a spring compressor at all to install either size, the 'lowered' spring is a bit of a tight fit, but a good shove gets it in, and the 'super/ultra-lows' almost accidentally fall in... Dukes of hazard maneuvers are NOT recommended with these springs. Here's a pic of how it sits with the V8 and 'ultra-lows'. (With the 4 into 1 extractors with 3" collectors, MNTL.XD has 70mm ground clearance.) 3 Thom, bear351c and wagoon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wagoon 2,429 Posted August 4, 2015 Mate I have always love the look of your car, it just works. Anyway when I put the kffl-01 in my wagon I had to compress them to get the A arm back in but when I pulled them out of the parts ute I unbolted the sway bar to drop the wheel down and the spring was just loose on the saddle. So just pulled it over the hump of the saddle and it fell out. I keep measuring the height between tyre and guard to see if it is settling anymore but there hasnt been a change so this weekend I will measure the installed height of the spring. Then pull the kings out when I have a chance and see what poundage they are. 1 MNTL.XD reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
broken-wheel 659 Posted August 4, 2015 when you use shorter dampers they limit droop by an inch or more and this will keep the lowered spring captive, this another reason why cutting springs=bad as you can actually have the spring fall out keep in mind that the V8 springs are based on iron heads and iron intake manifold, if you have alloy heads and alloy intake manifold then use the 6cyl springs on V8 powered x series Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
