Derek Drew wrote:

> <>  what do the spacers do that firms up the
> >    suspension if they do not change spring rate?

> I believe there is a possibility the spacers may not actually firm anything

> up at all.
>

Well, if that's the case, then the placebo effect is remarkable and well worth the
effort in any event. :~0

I think I see where theory departs from reality.  Your theory assumes that the
spring length remains identical with and without the spacer, and that all the
spacer does is increase the height of the van by the distance of the thickness of
the spacer.

I think that the spacer lifts the van some, but I also think it compresses the
spring a little too.  The result is that with the spacer, the spring is slightly
more compressed ... it is pre-loaded... over what it would be without a spacer ...
with the same weight in the van, etc.  Assume this to be true, and that the
distance of additional compression is 1 cm....i,e, the spring is 1 cm. shorter
with the spacer than without when installed in the van with the van sitting on a
flat surface.
Doesn't it take more pressure to compress the spring the next 1 cm. than it did to
compress it that first 1 cm. accomplished by inserting the spacer?

When you compress a spring, the force required to compress the spring is not the
same all the way to the point where the coils bind, is it...even in a progressive
rate spring?  So, if you shorten the spring by compressing it a little, aren't you
making it a little stiffer since it requires more force to compress it further
than it would have required to compress it the same distance had you started with
a completely un-loaded spring?

steve