When are springs finished?

[stefan]

Do springs wear out? If so, how do you tell? My suspension is shot.. it rides terrible and the struts make noises. I've got new struts... im just trying to decide if its worth replacing the springs too.. There completely covered in rust.

[Seth]

i put kyb gr2s on front and put the old springs back on. i dont know if this will shorten the life of my new struts or not.

id also like to know if i need to take them back off and put new springs on.

[TCFestiva93]

Question:

Where did you get your digital speedo

Thanks

[deathegg]

I know that springs are only designed to go so many "cycles" (compression and then release) before they are considered "worn out)........but don't know what the exact numbers are.

[SoCalZ28]

im thinking they do wear out, my L Plus ride like a truck and im pretty sure my right front shock is blown.

[jglutz]

By today's standards (festiva era) springs have pretty good life cycle before they fatique.....however....they tend to break before they get soft.

Front....If I were changing the struts and they are 150K mile (230KM's) or older...Iw ould change them while the front was apart if budget permitted.

Back....Same.

[Icedawg]

My car had over 200 K km on it and the shocks were not good. But the rear springs also seemed too soft. My weight would sink the rear end almost to bottoming out. I put in Aspire springs and it is much better. Course those are old too, but they still seem better. The original quality of the spring governs the life, but I have no idea what quality was used.

[roycehof]

The "free spring height" determines the health of the spring tyically. There are other tools used to determine the health like measuring the compressive force. Springs will over time start to sag but it depends a lot on how much the are "worked". If you are always overloading them they will get weak more quickly than the person that never has any load in the vehicle. If you think they are bad, the odds are pretty good that they are indeed bad. A easy check would be to measure the bottom of the bumper to the ground on your car and compare it to onr that you know has had it springs replaced. All things being equal (tire size, etc.), you should be within 1.5 to 2 inches. If you are more than that those spring are shot.