{"id":77909,"date":"2021-02-11T17:45:39","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T01:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=77909"},"modified":"2021-03-19T07:57:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:57:13","slug":"encouraging-aftermarket-parts-to-get-along-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/encouraging-aftermarket-parts-to-get-along-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"jetpack-slideshow-noscript robots-nocontent\">This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p><div id=\"gallery-77909-1-slideshow\" class=\"jetpack-slideshow-window jetpack-slideshow jetpack-slideshow-black\" data-trans=\"fade\" data-autostart=\"1\" data-gallery=\"[{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-1-min-scaled-e1613094188299.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77918&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Click Here to Begin Slideshow\\n\\nIf you point your browser back to the first part of this saga, you\\u2019ll note I was faced with a construction dilemma on my own Nova project.\\u00a0 I attempted to mix several key suspension pieces together from various manufacturers. Simultaneously, I tried to meld drag race tech with pro-touring. Sounds easy enough, but even though I entered with great intentions, it all failed rather miserably. In the process, I managed to craft a difficult to work with package that also proved next to impossible to adjust.\\u00a0 That was a tough pill to swallow, considering I\\u2019ve been at this for something like five decades. The first segment details how I came up with the fix. This time around, we\\u2019ll look at a key ingredient in the mix:\\u00a0 Springs.\\n\\nI have a number of old pals who race NHRA Stock and Super Stock.\\u00a0 I queried them with regard to the hot setup for cars like my Nova. The consensus was to use Santuff springs on the car.\\u00a0 Santuff springs fit the stock style spring pocket. They\\u2019re tall and have smaller-than-stock diameter wire. That means they store energy.\\u00a0 They\\u2019re also available in a wide range of spring rates.\\u00a0 And as it turns out, Santuff has springs custom wound to their specifications by the folks at Landrum Spring (well-known and respected in the industry for their high quality, made-in-the-USA spring components).\\n\\nThe other question I had when it came to springs was what rate should I use?\\u00a0 Typically, one would get the car on a set of scales and then determine the front end weight.\\u00a0 By determining the front end weight, the spring rate can also be determined.\\u00a0 But I had another dilemma:\\u00a0 There\\u2019s no engine or transmission in my car. I can\\u2019t get the front end weight. And even if it was together, I personally don\\u2019t have a set of scales.\\u00a0 My class racing pals intervened again, and suggested I call Rineharts Performance (https:\\\/\\\/rinehartsperformance.com) for help.\\u00a0 Rineharts Performance is a full service Santhuff dealer. They\\u2019re also very familiar with typical spring configurations for a pretty wide range of NHRA Stock and Super Stock applications.\\u00a0 The Rinehart crew successfully campaigns a first gen Super Stock big block Camaro, so that helps too (the Camaro has the same basic front end configuration as my Nova).\\n\\nAs it turns out, Marty Rinehart suggested I try a set of 200-pound springs for my Nova.\\u00a0 That\\u2019s similar to what an NHRA Stock Eliminator Nova would use and it\\u2019s also in line with what they use on their Super Stock car (within 20-pounds on the spring rate side of the equation).\\u00a0 Marty pointed out the Santuff springs are built like a valve spring. There is no pigtail on the end.\\u00a0 The springs have closed ends and they\\u2019re flat top and bottom. He noted that it\\u2019s entirely possible to run them this way, even if the spring pocket is laid out for a pigtail (and they do on their Super Stock car).\\u00a0 Should the ride height prove too high, it\\u2019s also possible to cut the spring (on the flat) to create a pigtail. The right way to do this is by way of a cut-off wheel on an angle grinder.\\u00a0 Cutting a little bit off the end of the spring flat will lower the car and it won\\u2019t have a super adverse effect upon the spring rate.\\n\\nWhen it comes to spring rate, Rinehart Performance advises that it is entirely possible to use springs with a different rate on each corner. For example, you might have a 180 pound spring one side and a spring with a rate of 200 pounds on the other. You can use this to level out the car, compensating for driver weight and other factors in a stock body application.\\n\\nSo what kind of spring rates are available?\\n\\nRinehart Performance can supply you with 5-inch\\\/5-1\\\/2-inch OD front springs in 150, 180, 200, 225 and 250-pound ratings.\\u00a0 The springs are 18-inches long (free length).\\u00a0 The wire diameter (at least in the 200 pound springs I have)\\u00a0 measures 0.555-inch (or so). In terms of cost, the springs currently run $220 for the pair.\\n\\nSo how do they install?\\u00a0 Just like a regular OEM coil. Typically for an early GM like mine, I install the spring compressor bolt through the shock absorber hole in the frame.\\u00a0 The spring is inserted up into the pocket next.\\u00a0 Then I install the spring compressor hooks. Due to the length of the Santuff springs you should install the hooks as low as possible on the spring (that\\u2019s the only difference from installing stock springs). Use lots of lube on the compressor threads and wind up the spring.\\u00a0 Then you can hook up the lower a-arm ball joint to the spindle. It\\u2019s actually pretty easy.\\u00a0 By the way, Santuff also offers a special spring compressor designed especially for this job.\\u00a0 FYI, if you check out the photos, I\\u2019ve included a photo of my own spring compressor.\\u00a0 It\\u2019s similar to the Santuff job except its shorter on the top side.\\n\\nIn the end (and thanks to Marty at Rinehart Performance), everything fits like a glove. The front end now has sufficient travel for a lower horsepower, small tire car such as my Nova.\\u00a0 A bonus is, I can remove and re-install the front shock absorbers easily.\\u00a0 Plus, there are all sorts of \\u201cHigh Energy\\u201d spring rates available to allow me to tune the chassis.\\u00a0 As you can easily see, I took the long way around in an effort to encourage aftermarket parts to get along. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes and save yourself some time and dollars in your own build.\\u00a0 For a closer look, check out the accompanying photos.\\nClick Here to Begin Slideshow&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-10-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77911&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This is one of the Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts Performance shipped to me.  The free height is 18-inches.  That\\u2019s a bunch when compared to the conical spring.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-11-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77912&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The spring from Rineharts has an outside diameter of 5-inches. That\\u2019s pretty much the same as the conical spring on the top end.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-12-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77913&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Another big difference in the springs is the wire diameter. These examples have a wire diameter of just over 0.55-inches.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-13-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77914&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The Santuff\\\/Landrum springs have a closed end on both sides. They\\u2019re like a valve spring in that regard. The text offers more info.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-14-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77915&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;For my application, Marty Rinehart suggested I start with a 200-pound rating on the spring. Basically, spring ratings indicate how many pounds it takes for the spring to compress one-inch.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-15-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77916&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;This photo really tells the tale. Conical coil over spring on the left; Santuff\\\/Landrum spring on the right.  It\\u2019s pretty easy to visualize how as tall, thinner wire spring can store energy.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-16-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77917&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Santuff\\\/Landrum springs Rineharts&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Here\\u2019s a look at the spring compressor I used for the job. I\\u2019ve had it for over 40 years and it\\u2019s worked fabulously (provide the threads are judicially lubricated).  Rineharts Performance sells a similar example.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Mix-17-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;77910&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Encouraging Aftermarket Parts to Get Along \\u2013 Part 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Aside from hooking up the steering and installing the brakes, the front end is done (again!).  It doesn\\u2019t look much different, but it certainly has more travel.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}]\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>This time around, we\u2019ll look at a key ingredient in the mix:\u00a0 Springs.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":77918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5011,3697,17,11,3470,5029,4879],"tags":[3559,281,41,822,461,321],"class_list":["post-77909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chassis-suspension","category-galleries","category-guest-column","category-how-tos","category-news","category-racing","category-slideshow","tag-chassis","tag-how-to","tag-news","tag-suspension","tag-tech-tips-2","tag-wayne-scraba"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Mix-1-min-scaled-e1613094188299.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-kgB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77920,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77909\/revisions\/77920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}