Major Accomplishment

Over the last few months, we’ve been in contact with a coil spring manufacturer asking that they help us create a custom set of coil springs for the van. Last year and after 5 weeks of waiting, they created the rear springs to be 2’’ shorter that stock and 20% stiffer than stock. we installed them right after having the springs powder coated red.

Earlier this year we asked that they create a second set of springs but this time focus on the front springs.. and again, they followed suit but took a bit longer than expected due to bad weather in the midwest. 2 weeks ago the springs were completed and drop shipped to our powder coaters helping us save time. The powder coaters completed the springs and we picked them up last week. we drove to our shop and set up a time when we can get the front springs installed.. according to them.. looks like April 12th is the earliest.. more waiting..

But once the springs installed this will mark a major accomplishment for us as we’ve always wanted a set of springs for the van and couldn’t isolate a set that would retain the towing and hauling capabilities but at a lower ride height. I don’t see any other connect owners rushing to buy a set of our springs plus at 1K for the set.. these may be a bit more expensive than those offered by Eibach etc.

Best way to describe these springs is that they are as stiff as coilovers but without the center mounted strut/shock.

No surprise there :sleeping_face:

Can you please explain why you wanted a 2" lowered Transit Connect with stiffer springs?

These are work vehicles, not sporty cars

It’s cool and all, but I am not going to invest much time to this tread cause someone(s) gonna saying some negative stuff and you gonna get butthurt over it and delete the thread most likely anyway… So cool and all, but good luck with whatever you trying to do with this…

If I was gonna invest some time into this, I might ask something like, what about the shocks? are they going to bottom out now?? did you have to mod the rebound bumper thingy? did it change the location of the sway bar mounting point, what happens when you lift the vehicle and let the wheels hang, can the shorter coils fall out?? ya know crap like that…

Yes they will. Likely more than half of the bump travel has been lost.

I hope the bump rubber has been trimmed by about 1/3 to 1/2.

He has also lost significant load carrying capability.

Hey, different strokes for different folks.
We have other contributors that have modified suspensions simply for appearance. In high school, lifted the front end of my Fury, just a breaker bar on the torsion bar adjustment. Friends would come in to have the shackles reversed to lift the rear ends.

Speaking of which, wonder what happened to Clueless33. He lowered his car simply for appearance.

In the '50s, some guys stole tombstones to put into the trunk, thereby lowering the rear.

This is what I miss about living in my old hometown around Milwaukee. All the specialty shops that could do most anything custom. I had a place that custom wound several sets of springs for various projects. Forget linear rate springs for these applications- you would probably get better results with a progressive rate spring and for your application maybe even a dual rate spring depending on how you plan to use this van. Oh, and they made those springs in-house in less than a week for around 2x price of a mass produced OEM spring.

That is actually one of the most despicable and disrespectful things you can do, imo

Absolutely!
I was fairly young when I heard about that type of activity, and even as a kid I thought that it was despicable.

It’s part of the l$$ $$$$ …

edit: Someone flagged my post because I made reference to a certain group of vehicle owners who modify their cars?

Please post pictures when you get the windows and artwork done, like on this van.

Cool, thanks for the update…
Pics of the mods would be nice…

Its poetry folks. Fighting fire breathing dragons is a common theme in the good book. Of course they dont and didnt really exist.

That is a cool s-h-a-g-g-i-n’ wagon!

The original poster’s update has been deleted.

The update included a long list parts and repairs that might be described as bad luck. Hard to believe a delivery van used for personal transportation would need so many repairs.

Which good book, Harry Potter?

If the van’s arockin’

Too many product references in his posts. Like Bose, JBL, Harman, Polk…

I didn’t see it and care less about sound equipment if thats what it was. But thats silly not being able to name brands like ford, chevy, etc. of course this place has gotten a little silly the past couple years.