Progressive tenders for GCs

[e30Matt]

Anyone tried these or know anyone who has? Just curious, as maybe this could be an option to add a little more versatility to my coilovers.

[UNHCLL]

Sooooo what you're trying to say is, you bought the GC suspension so you could get the ULTIMATE in slammage and fender gap. And now you cant handle the soft to moderate linear spring rates you're running??? THAT is YUROH!!!!!11111111one


:roll:


Talk to H&R... perhaps they can offer you a tender spring.

[e30Matt]

Sooooo what you're trying to say is, you bought the GC suspension so you could get the ULTIMATE in slammage and fender gap. And now you cant handle the soft to moderate linear spring rates you're running??? THAT is YUROH!!!!!11111111one


:roll:


Talk to H&R... perhaps they can offer you a tender spring.

I was asking because GC themselves offer progressive tender springs for their coilovers, and I was wondering if anyone had tried them because, yes, linear springs suck on the street.

Can't anyone around here give a straight answer without being an utter fucking jackass?

[aaron_silva]

I wouldnt mind tender springs. My dad's coilovers (true coilovers in the rear) have tender springs front and rear. GC's will only be in the front. Call GC and let us know what you find out.

Aaron

[aaron_silva]

OH, and if GC has them... why not just call them??? Novel idea i must say so myself ol' chap. 8)

Beat me to it. :up:

Aaron

[e30Matt]

OH, and if GC has them... why not just call them??? Novel idea i must say so myself ol' chap. 8)

Beat me to it. :up:

Aaron

Seeing as when I posted, they were closed for the day, that'd still be a pretty hard thing to do, eh?

[aaron_silva]

Tomorrow is a new day my friend. 8)

Aaron

[SpencerM3]

Back on topic,

Most tender springs are simiply there to hold tension on the main spring when the suspension becomes unloaded (ie, jacking car up). When the suspension is loaded (ie, when driving the car), the tender spring is fully collapsed, just taking up valueable suspension travel and doing absolutely nothing.

I used to have KW coilovers on my M3 and one of the first things I did was ditch the tender spring b/c it took up valueable space that was needed for tire clearence.

What dampners are you running? What spring rates? Proper dampening is usually the most important factor in getting a decent ride quality.

[Digitalwave]

He's using Bilstein Sports which are lacking in rebound for his spring rates.

[Rob]

Spencer- arent you referring to 'helper springs' which prevent the main spring from leaving the perch under full droop?

I always get tender and helper confused

[Bitburger]

Spencer- arent you referring to 'helper springs' which prevent the main spring from leaving the perch under full droop?

I always get tender and helper confused

I've always been under the impression that tender and helper springs are the same thing just different names. What's the difference.? Someone enlighten me.

[Rob]

You may be correct steve, i've heard them used as different things, and i've heard them interchanged. Who knows

Proper dampening is usually the most important factor in getting a decent ride quality.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is most likely the case. OTS bilstein sports arent exactly conducive to 350lb or whatever linear springs. 1" of shock travel doesnt help either.

[Digitalwave]

Doesn't really matter, Matt will be rocking his DSM probably with Tokico shocks and Neuspeed springs or something soon :)

[SpencerM3]

Spencer- arent you referring to 'helper springs' which prevent the main spring from leaving the perch under full droop?

I always get tender and helper confused

From my experiences, helper and tender springs are the same thing. And yes, thats the definition I was trying to get across.

I've never actually seen anyone use 2 different spring rates on one dampner. For example, you'd have a 100# "tender/helper" spring that would absorb small bumps and once it is compressed, a main spring with a higher rate would come into effect. It sounds like a good idea but there would be a few problems to overcome. Suspension travel is one, as we don't have a ton of suspension travel on these suspensions. That extra spring is going to take up a fair amount of travel. Then, what about the dampners. It would be over dampned for the helper spring if you tune them for the main spring. Not a huge issue but might give a weird feel, especially in transitions.

IMO, just buy progressive rate springs if you want to keep your bilsteins. OR, buy some GC konis. I run a 600/525 w/ SA koni setup on my E36 and it rides VERY nicely for such a stiff suspension. A big factor is that the dampners can handle those rates.

[trent]

Well, according to Eibach, Tender and Helper springs are different.

Helper springs -- prevents main spring from coming loose during droop

Tender springs -- used to turn the Linear spring into a progressive spring for specific tuning needs.

Tender springs come in two styles, linear AND progressive. If one knows what they are doing and the appropriate math, they can really get a car dialed in.