LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

Kinda already know the answer, but...

How long before installed duals need to be changed. I know that every 20-30K miles is the rule of thumb. Am looking for information related to duals that have fatigued from being compressed (mounted) for a long period of time. So, how long before mounted springs should be changed (rule of thumb; 5 yrs, 10yrs? Will check ours before using, just curious.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Fatigue isn't so much a matter of being and staying compressed - it's repeated loading and unloading and the rate of loading and unloading.

As far as miles go, 1/4 mile from a red light in traffic spins far fewer revolutions than 1/4 mile at the track. Then, the driver's behaviors - does he/she wait for the car to warm up before running it hard, etc - impact spring life.

At 20K highway miles, for example, probably perfectly fine, but 20K track miles, probably LONG overdue.

Then, the cam ramp rates figure in. 10K miles on EPS "endurance" lobes are going to be vastly different than 10K miles on XER lobes

Know It All

I agree. I try to check a few springs every 10k miles or so. I have the Manley Nextek springs on a LSL/LXL camshaft going on 13k miles and they were fine when I had them checked.

Sales3@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (2)

With the way that I drive I would check mine yearly. I don't put a ton of miles on my set up but it is pretty hard miles. You can purchase a spring tester for fairly cheap from several vendors that you can use in conjunction with a bench vise to test the spring pressure. On a good note, if you do need to replace the springs you can buy just the actual springs (from us anyways) and not have to buy a full kit over again. From us, the dual PRC springs sell for $10 ea.

Lonnie

Cstick

Not encouraging any other procrastinators, but I just finished installing my replacement springs this weekend. I originally installed my TSP 228R and TSP dual springs in October 2004. 11 years and 44,146 trouble free miles later I installed new TSP duals. I drive the car pretty easy 98% of the time, and it is mostly 1,500 RPM highway miles.
I admit I have never checked the pressures either. Did not think about a bench vice spring tester, but will probably get one. Just read some reviews of $100 ones and most did not have good reviews based on accuracy.
I bought a new spring kit so I have two sets of titanium retainers now. Years ago when I thought about replacing them it sounded like they may have changed reatainers and I did not want to take one off to measure.
My new kit installed at 1.80. I measured 1 with one of the old seats and it was 1.79. I meant to measure with an old retainer but forgot.

Jase01

I couldn't recommend this but I replaced a set of flat tappet cam dual springs late last year that I think would be heading towards 30 years old and they probably would have still been ok based on pressures I took with an on car tester. About four of them were 10lbs down on the seat but were actually still within spec according to the paperwork with the new springs.

Admittedly they had spent a lot more time sitting around than actually running and also were off the engine for a year or two when a roller cam was installed but they did cop plenty of 7000+ RPM hidings during their installed life especially with their previous owner.

Jason

Jason 98 TA

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for using tsp products! We recently added pac springs to the tsp lineup and have those as well if you ever need em!

I would say the most important thing is don't let it sit a long time without turning over and warm the engine up before you beat on it!

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

I also think valve train stability would play a role here. For example, 5/16" pushrods that flex will induce different loads to the valve train (including springs) then say a 3/8" pushrod with very little flex. Not sure how to quantify this, but a well designed valve train should get more spring life then one that has a multitude of impact loading due to valve bounce, etc.

LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

Checked 'em. The 11 yr old 8019's have shown zero loss that our cheap vice mount spring checker can measure. Confirmed load accuracy w/ a calibrating spring. Almost feel like testing them was a waste of time...not really, but, had been concerned about nothing.