Generation III Internal Engine 1997-2006 LS1 | LS6
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

can you have too much lift in your springs?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 05-28-2010, 04:41 AM
  #1  
TECH Regular
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
 
offroadfury6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 426
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default can you have too much lift in your springs?

hi, I keep having alot of people telling me to match my spring lift to my cam lift...I have a set of 241 heads around here with patriot dual gold .650 lift springs in them. my concern is the cam I want to go with is a 230/230 112 LSA. ( cannt give full specs ATM, my other laptop crashed ) but the lift I No-where near .650, would these springs be ok to run anyways? I thought just as long as the cam lift was less than the springs, you were straight...

thanks in advance...
Old 05-28-2010, 04:45 AM
  #2  
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
 
vettenuts's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Little Rhody
Posts: 8,092
Likes: 0
Received 9 Likes on 9 Posts

Default

And why are these people saying this? Do they give specific reasons?
Old 05-28-2010, 09:23 AM
  #3  
KCS
Moderator
iTrader: (20)
 
KCS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Conroe, TX
Posts: 8,848
Received 307 Likes on 207 Posts

Default

Originally Posted by offroadfury6
hi, I keep having alot of people telling me to match my spring lift to my cam lift...I have a set of 241 heads around here with patriot dual gold .650 lift springs in them. my concern is the cam I want to go with is a 230/230 112 LSA. ( cannt give full specs ATM, my other laptop crashed ) but the lift I No-where near .650, would these springs be ok to run anyways? I thought just as long as the cam lift was less than the springs, you were straight...

thanks in advance...
It's fine to have a spring to be capable of way more lift than what your valvetrain will deliver, but in a case like that, you would want to shim the spring (reduce installed height) to the point that at max lift you still get close (roughly .060" away) to that coilbind value. The reason for that is that when you get close to coilbind the spring can dampen the harmonics much better than if it were futher away. I think it has something to do with the outer most coils touching and creating "dead coils".

Still, you may be better off getting a spring designed closer to your lift anyways. A spring capable of more lift from a given istalled height will likely have a smaller diameter wire and would probably have to be a stronger (re: more brittle) material to achieve similar spring pressures than a thicker wire.
Old 05-28-2010, 11:44 AM
  #4  
TECH Regular
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
 
offroadfury6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 426
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

ok, I THINK the lift on the cam is like a 57? something...will try to go alil bigger, i'm sure I won't mind the power
Old 05-28-2010, 02:08 PM
  #5  
Banned
iTrader: (1)
 
Paint_It_Black's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Chi-town West Burbs
Posts: 1,044
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

Originally Posted by offroadfury6
hi, I keep having alot of people telling me to match my spring lift to my cam lift...I have a set of 241 heads around here with patriot dual gold .650 lift springs in them. my concern is the cam I want to go with is a 230/230 112 LSA. ( cannt give full specs ATM, my other laptop crashed ) but the lift I No-where near .650, would these springs be ok to run anyways? I thought just as long as the cam lift was less than the springs, you were straight...

thanks in advance...
It seems the people telling you this are caught up on running the spring within a certain amount of coil bind. Which is what you want to do to control an aggressive lobe. A 230 lobe with .57x lift does not sound like an aggressive lobe, so as long as the seat and open pressure meet the requirements there is no need to go to a shorter spring OR shim them up.
Old 05-28-2010, 02:19 PM
  #6  
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (2)
 
TooLateVTEC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: FredVegas, Va
Posts: 1,445
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default

Lift isnt what will hurt parts, its the more spring pressure than whats needed is what the lifters wont like over time.

Getting a set of springs better suited for your camshaft would be best.
Old 05-28-2010, 05:08 PM
  #7  
TECH Regular
Thread Starter
iTrader: (8)
 
offroadfury6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Posts: 426
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

ok, well im just going to run them whenever I buy my custom cam, personally I think it will be fine...




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:23 PM.