Why You Need Helper Springs
Read Spring Preload & Ride Height first — helper springs exist to solve the problem described there.
What a Helper Spring Is
- A short, soft spring fitted in series with the main spring.
- Fully collapsed — coil bound — under the vehicle's weight.
- No effect on spring rate or on how the car drives.
Why You Need One
- Setting the shock where you want it in its stroke often means little or no preload on the main spring.
- With little preload, the main spring can go slack at full droop — a wheel hanging over a crest, or the car on a lift.
- A loose spring can shift, rattle, or seat crookedly when load comes back on.
- The helper keeps tension on the main spring through the full droop range.
- That is the point: it lets you put the shock where it needs to be without the main spring coming loose.
The Second Benefit
- A helper lets you run a shorter main spring.
- That gives back droop travel you would otherwise lose.
Do You Need Them?
- Depends on spring rate, spring length, ride height and available droop.
- It is a calculation, not a rule of thumb.
- The same car at two ride heights can need helpers at one and not the other.
- Send us the car, the rates and the height you are running and we can work it out.
More detail and photos to follow. If you have a question this does not answer, contact us and we can help guide you.