Just a question [about rear springs]

[Carbonized]

As I convert my 87 to EV, I'm expecting it to gain a few pounds. Has anybody ever updated the rear springs to higher spring rate? I would love to stay away from the complexity of air springs if at all possible.

[Jan-Willem]

Do you have coil springs in the rear?In that case yes, I replaced mine with pedders 7105 springs, which are a straight swap.
but i understand from posts here that getting ford aerostar springs also work, if you cut them to the desired height. I did not do that, because I am from europe, and we do not have the ford aerostar.

[Carbonized]

:thmbup:Thanks a lot. Yes its the coils. Did you have the Toyota specs to compare to. I used two different online spring rate calculators and came up with wildly different results. How do the Pedders feel compared to the Toyotas ?

[Jan-Willem]

13522
13523
I am very happy with them, it doesn’t feel too hard/firm. Somewhat like a more modern suv springyness, definitely softer than my honda civic.
but for me it is hard to compare to the original toyota ones. Mine were original, but also 35 years old. They were uncomfortable when unloaded, and riding on bumpstops when loaded.
incidentally I put some weight in the van today, and I did some measurements for you. Unloaded, from the fender to the center of the wheel was 37cm. I had to pick up an engine, an honda eb3 with transmission, subframe and all
the bits and bobs attached to it, right above the axle. This dropped it to 35cm. So the van sags in the rear 2cm (less than an inch) per eb3 engine. Not sure if there is a spring rate conversion calculator for this very scientific measurement :wnk:

[Carbonized]

Thank you Jan. The springs are quite a bit taller, it must have raised the rear compared to the old OEM. I'm not sure I'll be adding a full Eb3 in extra battery weight (Tesla M3 75Kwh), If 4YE= Eb3, maybe half of that but a bias a tad more to the back. This will be a great option to start with. My static ride height measured that same way is 333mm with the Model 3 motor installed. I don't want to lift the van, EVs are very sensitive to aero. Thanks again for the info