Hi guys,
Well I know alot about how to make a car go, stop, turn etc. But I do not know really anything about suspension. Does anyone have any FAQ's or anything to help me??

Some of my main questions are:
1) what are coilovers and what do they do?
2) What is spring rate and how does it affect the spring?
3) What is shock travel?
4) What is spring dampening?

Any help is greatly appreciated because I hate not to know what I am talking about.
thanks in advance,
Jay

P.S I tried searching but I only got threads about different shocks, coilovers, etc.

 

bump

 

interested, too bump

 

Coil-over-shock assembly isn't much different than what you've got. The spring (coil) is mounted around the shock. The difference sorta depends on who you're talking to, because not everyone agrees.

Spring rate is a measurement of how stiff the springs are. A spring rate of 200 pounds per inch means it takes 200 pounds to compress each inch of spring. A spring with a rate of 400 pounds per inch is twice as stiff. A progressive rate spring has a spring rate that changes as you compress the spring.

Shock travel is just how far the shock can move. Imagine measuring the length of the shock all the way compressed & then all the way extended. It's related to suspension travel, which is how much the wheel can move all the way up & down.

Spring dampening - yeah, what is that? Damping ratio of an entire suspension system is a math expression related to the strength of of the shock vs. the strength of the spring vs. the mass of the car.