Coil Springs

A coil spring is a length of spring steel wound into a helix, and it carries the weight of the corner it sits on while allowing the suspension to move. Compress it and it pushes back. How hard it pushes back is the single most influential number in your suspension.

The range covers coil springs in both directions, lowered for handling and stance, raised for clearance and load, with front and rear rates specified for every application.

Wire, Coils and Spacing Set the Rate

Spring rate is the force needed to compress the spring by a given distance, quoted here in kilograms per millimetre alongside the imperial pounds per inch figure.

Three things set it. The diameter of the wire, where thicker steel resists more. The number of active coils, where fewer coils means a stiffer spring because there is less material to deflect. And the spacing between those coils, which determines how much room the spring has to compress before the coils begin to touch.

That last one matters more than people expect, because a spring that runs out of travel and goes coil bound stops being a spring at all. At that point the suspension has nowhere left to go and the impact is transmitted straight into the car.

We publish the front and rear rates on every listing rather than just the drop height, because two springs offering the same drop can behave completely differently depending on how they are rated. If you are comparing options, the rate is the number to compare.

Why Progressive Springs Suit a Road That Isn't a Racetrack

A linear spring has the same rate through its entire travel. Push it twice as far and it pushes back twice as hard, consistently and predictably, which is why linear rates suit a dedicated track car where you tune around a known figure.

A progressive spring changes rate as it compresses. It starts softer over the first part of the travel and firms up as it is pushed further, which is achieved by varying the coil spacing so different sections of the spring compress at different points.

On a road car that behaviour is genuinely useful. Small inputs like expansion joints and coarse surfaces are absorbed by the softer initial portion, so the car remains civilised on a commute. Load the car up in a corner or over a crest and the spring firms into its supportive range exactly when it needs to. You get compliance where you want it and support where you need it, rather than compromising between the two.

Our coil springs use a progressive design for that reason. They are developed and manufactured in Europe to tight tolerances, so the rate you are quoted is the rate you get.

Dropping the Car Changes More Than the Stance

Lowering springs drop ride height and raise rate, and both changes work in the same direction.

The lower centre of gravity reduces weight transfer, so there is less body roll through a corner, less dive under brakes and less squat under power before the anti roll bars are even involved. The higher rate resists what movement remains, so the car settles faster after an input and responds immediately rather than leaning first and turning second.

Drops across the range run from subtle to substantial, and front and rear figures are often different because a balanced drop is not always the same number at each end. Plenty of platforms need more at one end to get the stance and the rake right.

What lowering also does is change your geometry. The arms swing through a different part of their arc, camber goes negative and toe follows, so expect to correct it rather than hope. A lowered car with an uncorrected alignment will eat the inside edge of a set of tyres and never feel as planted as it looks.

Be realistic about how low to go, too. Every millimetre of drop is a millimetre of bump travel gone, and rules often set a minimum ground clearance that varies depending on where the vehicle is registered. Check before committing to a big drop.

Going Up Solves a Different Problem

The same engineering works in the other direction.

Raised coil springs lift ride height for ground clearance and guard clearance, which is what lets a vehicle run larger wheels and tyres without rubbing. They suit vehicles that need to sit higher and carry more without moving to a full lift kit.

The challenge at this end is load. A spring firm enough to hold height with weight in the back is usually too firm when the vehicle is empty, which is exactly the compromise progressive rates are built to solve. The rear springs in these kits start at a higher rate unloaded and soften as they compress into their working range, so the vehicle is supported when loaded and still reasonable when it is not.

Heavier platforms benefit from the same thinking. As vehicle weights have climbed, factory springs on a lot of cars are working harder than they used to, and a correctly rated replacement makes a noticeable difference to how settled the car feels.

A Spring Is Only as Good as the Damper Controlling It

Springs and dampers are a pair, and a spring only performs as well as the damper controlling it.

These springs are engineered for balance with both OEM and quality aftermarket shocks rather than assuming you have already replaced everything, so a set fitted to healthy factory dampers will work as intended on most applications.

That said, a shorter and firmer spring does ask more of a damper than the factory item was valved for. If your shocks are already tired, replace them at the same time. The symptoms of a mismatch are easy to spot: the car feels bouncy or floaty despite being stiffer, and needs more than one movement to settle after a bump.

Spring Compressors, Bump Stops and the Alignment After

Coil springs store a serious amount of energy and a spring compressor slipping is genuinely dangerous. If you are not properly equipped for it, hand this one to a workshop.

Check your bump stops while everything is apart, because on a lowered car they are working harder than the factory intended and the right stop is part of doing the job properly.

Torque suspension bushings with the car on its wheels at ride height rather than hanging on the hoist, since a bushing clamped at full droop sits preloaded and binds from the first kilometre.

Get a wheel alignment immediately afterwards, because changing ride height moves camber and toe the moment the car settles. Then drive it for a few hundred kilometres and have the alignment rechecked, as new springs bed in slightly and the settings from day one will have shifted.

Find Coil Springs for Your Vehicle

Coil springs sit within our suspension springs range, and raised springs cover 4x4s that need extra height.

Select your vehicle to see the coil springs available for it, and check each listing for the drop or lift height along with the front and rear spring rates. Every Whiteline component is backed by our warranty, a fitment guarantee and 30 day returns.