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Springs all have one thing in common; they are made of specially
formulated steel which is tempered to prevent it from loosing the
shape it is bent into when "sprung." For this reason, a spring will
compress or extend and then return almost entirely to it original
shape. There are two kinds of springs, leaf springs and coil springs.
Springs have life spans that are determined by the number of cycles
they can withstand over a certain period of time. Occasionally a
spring will break on a car while it is being driven. This doesn't
usually lead to a collision, but if a spring breaks while you are
driving , the car will suddenly lurch downward-- you've got yourself
a low-rider! The bottom of the car might be damaged, or you might
lose your muffler!
Leaf springs are made of individual springs, or plates. If you break
one plate of your leaf-spring, it won't be noticeable, but your
car might begin to lean to one side or the other.
Coil springs, if they break, will suddenly drop the front or rear end
of your car and impair driving under the normal conditions of full
suspension travel.
Usually the springs surround the shock absorbers, because space can
be saved by putting the shock absorber inside the spring. The spring
on a MacPherson strut suspension rotates along with the strut body
itself; it pivots on a bearing mounted to the wheel well.
Some springs have adjustment dials mounted between them and their
mounting points. This allows the mechanic to increase the spring
tension and the ride height, you desire. This type of spring is
usually used only in high performance cars, because it allows the
raising and lowering of suspension system's height. The suspension
system is lowered for competitive events and then raised afterwards.
This way, the car can be driven normally and deal with road hazards
such as speed bumps.
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