Corner balancing with regular Spring/ Strut?

[fowljesse]

So, I'm thinking about getting coilovers, but I'm also thinking this; When a person gets them, unless they're an avid racer, trying to shave bits of time, they adjust them, and leave them that way.
Would it be possible to tune my H&Rs? Could I shim the springs, where needed? I'm not talking about just throwing something in there. I would get to a machine shop, and do it right, if it's possible.
For instance, I could bolt a 1" piece onto the strut, that would just extend the seat, to make that spring a little stiffer, essentially doing what a threaded adjuster would do. It would be the exact same shape where the spring sits, and would be solidly attatched to the strut seat. What do you think?

Edited for bad typing.

[projectzemx3]

you mean cut off the seat for the spring on the strut and bring it up one inch and re-weld it into place? it could work.... it might make your ride height higher tho.

[wytbishop]

I think that shimming the spring could work very well, though it would be a lot of work. The trial and error procedure would be horrendous. I would space the top of the spring though, not the bottom. The top o fthe spring is flat(er) and it would be easier to get teh shims to stay level. That would be a big problem at the base fo the spring.

[fowljesse]

Yeah, I would do the strut tops, & just go with Vaughn's formula. I don't remember it, exactly, but can go back and find it. It was something like raise LF 1", RF .5", LR .5, RR -.5 so shimming would be LF 1.5", RF 1", LR .5", RR 0".
Or, I could get the wheels individually weighed, and surmise how much 3 of them should be shimmed.
EDIT: Found the figures.
He says Raise the LF .5", Leave the RF, Lower LR .75", Lower RR 1".
So, I'd shim the LF 1.5", RF 1", LR .25", and leave the RR. I nkow this won't have the exact same effect as actually raising the suspension at the corners. It would just stiffen the springs. Are there any experts out there that would know if it would be worth it? Opinions are welcome, too.

[wytbishop]

I'm no expert on setup, but I know that you can rent scales from any instrumentation shop to correctly weigh the four corners of the car and shim/adjust until they are at the desired corner weights.

[Whisper]

That seems like a lot of work for not a whole lot of result. At least for daily driving. If you want to AutoX or lap, invest into proper suspension.

The formula doesn't seem very precise. Feels more like eye-balling. It doesn't really take into account the exact driver weight, nor the actual weight distribution of the vehicle. For example after my car was corner balanced, I measured the height of each corner - the differences weren't as drastic, and proportions were a bid different. It would be a serious amount of work to properly corner balance by cutting, shimming, and welding.

H&Rs are already designed to offer a pretty balanced ride, I wouldn't really mess with them. If you want to do it, do it right and get coilovers or at least CG sleeves.

[fowljesse]

Thanks for replies.
I suppose if I could get $400 for my setup, I could justify spending the $$ on coilovers, which is what I'd prefer. Maybe you could drive my car, Whisper, and tell me how much difference they would make.
I will be doing Auto-X.

[Whisper]

Yeah, let's meet up and check it out. I'll call you tomorrow.

[MX3ak]

Playing with the springs don't sound good at all to me.
Mine broke some days ago and I was doing nothing to them!
Yeah pretty scarry story...

Why don't you go forward with cheap coilovers from ebay? I heard they are stiff as hell, oh... forget it maybe that's good for pulling straight but not for corners, yeah.

[fowljesse]

I met up with Whisper, and he raced with H&R springs, and Tokico blues. He said that they worked pretty well, but the blues were a bit stiff, so he got AST coilovers. He drove my car, and said it was good for racing, since my struts are less stiff than Tokicos.
I'll look into the adjustable sleeves.