Right - here are my results.

Do they sound about right - believable?

(I've been calculating values for much stiffer springs recently so these numbers seem really weedy to me!)

For the smaller diameter spring I reckon there's a stiffness of 0.32 N/mm

For the larger diameter spring 0.18 N/mm

So that means the smaller diameter spring should be about twice as stiff as the larger one - is that the case in real life? (i.e harder to pull the small diameter one than the larger diameter one)

To test the springs =>

Get something that weighs about 100g

Hang this weight on the end of the spring

The small diameter spring should extend by about 3mm and the large one about 5.5mm

(calculation => Applied load (N) / stiffness (N/mm) = deflection (mm) => to convert grams (g) into Newtons (N) divide by 1000 and multiply by 9.81)

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!