Hi guys, I just picked up a pair of front springs from a Fox body to see how they will work in a Maverick application. The springs that I got I picked up used from a Mustang parts for sale posting for $70 shipped. They were advertised as the Moroso front drag springs and I thought that this would be a good fit with my mostly drag car. The first thing that I noted when they arrived was that these are actually Eibach springs. I am assuming that Moroso buys them from Eibach and sells them under their name. They were nicely powder coated with the normal wear and tear associated with being used and carried the part number 9310.001. I wrote Eibach and the nice people there told me that these were their front progressive rate drag springs for a 1979 to 2004 Mustang. They have 342lbs/in initial force and 462lbs/in main. Eibach also told me in their e-mail that these would probably set the front of a Mustang up higher than stock which is good for me since the weight of the turbo is in front of the springs on my car and it could stand to sit a bit higher than with my current cut down springs. These looked like they would work in my application so I tried to compare them to a spare set of springs that I had sitting in by back yard for the Maverick...(my just in case set). The springs that I had laying around had two orange stripes and one tan (of course this is under all the rust, so I could be wrong). This would make them the 6S spring D0DZ 5310-E with 1470 pounds 9-1/8 coils .577" diameter wire and a length of 16 1/8". I checked all this out and it all seems to correspond. I then measured the Eibach units. The length was slightly shorter at 15 1/2 inches (maybe I wont have to cut them after all) vs. the 16 1/8" of the stockers. The wire diameter came in at .630" vs. the .577" of the stock ones. The big difference (if you could call it big) is the diameter of the spring itself. Where the Eibachs measure 4 13/16" in diameter the stock springs measure almost 5". A difference of about 3/16". Probably not an issue especially since my tower notching almost comes in contact with the springs that are on there now, the extra room couldn't hurt me. The only concern that I have is if these will fit in the spring pocket correctly. My plan is to document the installation of these springs later this week and I will tell you if I run into any issues.
Interesting! I can tell you stock replacement Fox Mustang springs do fit. Been running them for a good while on my car.
Larger wire for the coils, smaller diameter for the spring and fewer coils all tend to make a spring stiffer. The one missing component is the type of alloy that is used to make the spring. Some are stiffer than others even with the same size wire and coils. My bet is that you can get them to fit but you will be unhappy with them because of the much higher ride height.
True. Even the stock ones are very stiff on my Maverick, perhaps even a little overkill for most people. I did cut them though, which made them much stiffer, because the height was way too high at first. I like them though. I want my suspension stiff. My only problem is I haven't found a shock for the front that's strong enough for that spring.
Well I've got two things that I am trying to correct on my car Paul. Right now it is sitting on the snubbers with the 6 cylinder springs that I had before the turbo. These were cut down to lower the front end without all that extra weight. As a drag car I really want weight transfer and the 6 cyl springs store energy really nicely, but I fully expect the front end to come up on this car and when it comes down I would feel better with the dual rate springs to keep it off the ground. I won't know for sure until I try them, but I should know something by the end of next week. I just got my downpipe completely welded and the wastegate hooked up, so the springs are next. I'll let everyone know how they look.
Folks, two things after spending 12 hours removing and replacing shocks, springs, limiters, et al multiple times... 1. Ford did not design this front end for servicibility and shock towers are evil. 2. No wonder everyone races a Chevy...they are much simpler to work on! Anyone can do it!!! Ok, now that the rant is out of the way I can give you an update. The smaller diameter of the fox body springs are definately an issue. The only way you can run them is without the top rubber isolator. Since my car is primarialy a drag car this won't be an issue for me, but it will be noisier on a street car. Next the way the bottom of the spring sets in the perch I am not real comfortable with. Once again the smaller diameter of the spring is a real issue and it is about 1/2" off when one edge is lined up. I will probably straighten out the last coil a bit to make it fit once I get the ride height correct. Yesterday I put in the springs at the stock length and as we all assumed it was too high. I ended up cutting one coil and it dropped 2". It was still a bit high for my taste and really wanted another 1" dropped out of it. I let it sit over night to see what would happen. The results? Not much. I didn't really expect it to drop much since these were used springs anyway, but maybe an 1/8" over night. So I cut another half coil today. The result was another 1 1/2" drop. Not optimum, since I only wanted to lose an 1" but it will have to do. I believe that since they are progressive rate springs as you cut different areas the drop changes. Anyhow, it is sitting very nice right now and we will see what tomorrow will bring. I can always put my stock springs or another set of Fox springs on it if need be, but my initial response is that it looks good and the weight (by lifting the front of the car) seems to transfer a tad easier than the last set of spring I had in it. If this works out, pictures will follow...
That's weird. I'm almost certain that the fox springs I used were actually slightly bigger diameter than the ones I took out. As for the isolator up top, I believe I used the Mustang one.
Yes, mine literally wedge themselves on to the upper cup without the rubber isolator. With the isolator they would not even come close to fitting. So I had to leave it out.
