Does fatigued coil spring steel cause a rougher ride (all else being equal)?
For example: would a 50 year-old coil spring tend to ride more harsh than a new spring that has the same ride height?
I'm referring to regular coil springs, not progressive rate springs...

 

Well.......since I've ridden in SEVERAL 50+ year old vehicles I'd say NO. In fact, they seem to ride soft and "floaty" if that makes sense. Just the opposite of harsh.

 

.... Up until the coils fatigue enough to stack the coils solid.

 

OR sag to the point the bump stops are resting. against the frame. But since the PO said 'stock ride height', the answer would be no. Any harsher ride would be the results of the suspension sagging or completely. locked up struts.

Now if you did front end bushings, and tightened the LCA bolts while the weight was off the suspension, you could get some bind from the bushings that would result in a rougher ride at stock height, but any fresh suspension parts don't seem to be part of the. puzzle.

 

'stock ride height' in 198x, or 2025???

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...od-1986-a.html

Compare what you see in all those pages of pics, to whatever you THINK 'stock ride height' is.

Rest assured, springs ABSOLUTELY DO fatigue. And they ABSOLUTELY DO ride rougher. Especially CRAP stock ones from way back when, when they were carefully designed to ONLY be "good enough" to make it through the 12 mo / 12,000 mile warranty. I don't think most people around here, esp the younger folks, have THE VAGUEST CLUE how crappy, and how just barely functional, new cars from the "Big 3" (actually, it was 4, up until about 87 or something) were back then. The US mfrs hadn't yet fully caught up to the foreign mfrs, esp Japanese, that were building cars that could go [gasp] over 100,000 miles!!! on the original engine!!!!!! [/gasp] People were so used to cork gaskets and Indian Head shellac sealer and other GARBAGE like that, that would hardly last until a car's first oil change without failing, and then all the sudden you could buy cars that wouldn't leeeeeek for 100,000 miles!!!!!!! It's no wonder that the market share of the US mfrs fell SO MUCH SO FAST throughout the 70s & 80s.

 

Thanks for the replies. When I mentioned "stock ride height", I wasn't really referring to how high or low the car sits (I should have been more clear), but rather to springs that have not been cut (new vs. old) and asking if the old, fatigued steel would cause a rougher ride or a softer ride. I know that when they fatigue, the ride height decreases, but it is the ride quality that I was curious about. I'm not even referring to my thirdgen with this question, but rather another off-topic old car...

 

Might want to check the shock/struts for ride comfort. The Koni Yellow, thus expensive, will do miracles. They also increase "ride height"

Here's a real life example. On a completely stock IROC-Z '89, I installed subframe connector, all new suspension bushings, OEM replacement shocks and struts (Monore & AcDelco) but kept OEM 33 year old springs. The car felt like crap, even a bit worse than with the old stuff on. The Monroe struts were worse than the worn out 33 year old OEM struts. When I was going over bumps, the entire car rattled with metallic sound. On the highway, with uneven pavement, the front would bounce up and down.

"It did not help at all. Car felt clunky and unstable with metal on metal feel. Thanks to the AC Delco/Monroe shocks and struts. Not tuned for IROC-Z no matter what they say."

Then came the Koni Yellow with new wheels and tires

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/whee...-pr148-oe.html

"The car feels completely different now. Steering is solid. Handles way better in corner. Chassis feels tight. On rough roads, car feels connected to the road and has a dampen feel instead of metal on metal. The front is stable instead of bouncing up and down. So much better!!!!"

It also increased "ride height" by about 1/4 of inch.

 

... so, taking into account post#7, I would be very careful with installing replacement springs. You most likely will end up with a nightmare. The replacement springs, now a days, seem to be one size fits all for all 1982-1992 F-Body. Same with Shocks and struts.

 

Well my question is not with regard to my thirdgen, but coil springs in general. I figured that some people here might have some insight since thirdgens have coil springs...