Rear suspension spring colour codes

Rainbird · Sep 19th, 2006, 16:18

Hi everybody

I have a 1991 460 left hand drive originating from Italy which needs new rear springs as they are a bit tired. According to the local dealer, they are colour coded with a band of either yellow, red, green or even unmarked, but as mine are covered in the usual mix of rust and mud, how can I tell what the colour coding was.

Does any body have any idea which springs I need? or what the difference is. I would hazard a guess that it's to do with the stiffness, but I have no idea which I should be mounting on the car

Many thanks
Peter

Sep 19th, 2006, 17:55

Hi Peter..might be able to help here. I went through a similar excercise recently when i wanted to change all four of my springs for the next stiffness size down (yep, I'm all for comfort these days rather than road holding! Being a GLT, they were the stiffest anyway.). My local dealer gave me a copy of some charts supposedly for dealership use only. Here is the detail of both front and rear springs.
Rear Springs
Colour Code; none yellow green red
Free length; 322 310 350 289.5
Spring Stiffness(n/mm); 19.7, 17.2, 14.7, 21.0
No.of Coils; 5.5, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5,
Wire Diam (mm); 10.37, 10.82, 10.62, 11.31,
At a load of N,
spring length is; 1430/225 1515/220 1625/240 1677/216

Front Springs
Colour Code; none blue green yellow grey red
Free length; 372 360 362 350 457 355
Stiffness(N/mm); 17 20 17 20 12 22
No. of Coils; 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 6.5, 5.5,
Wire Diam (mm); 12.75 13.25 12.73 13.25 12.30 13.25
At load of N,
sprg length is; 3020/194,3310/194,2850/194,3110/194,3150/213,3020/218.

I wondered if the code was going to still be visible with all the mud and gunge on the springs but sure enough, after cleaning, the Red was plain to see.
Some of the figures do look a little odd, but I've checked them against the Volvo chart and they are right.
Having changed the springs and the shocks, drop links and wishbone bushes, I'm soooo pleased with the ride now! What a car. Good luck, Sarumboy
PS. Send me a PM if I can help/explain anything.

Rainbird · Sep 19th, 2006, 19:07

Sarumboy
Thanks for the info - just what I needed. Given what you say, I guess it's time to wire brush the springs. It sounds like I'm doing the opposite to you as I'm looking to stiffen the rear as it often goes down poor quality roads when well loaded and I want to keep the exhaust off the ground more.

thanks once again

Peter

Sep 19th, 2006, 16:18	#1
Rainbird Junior Member Last Online: Aug 27th, 2017 06:49 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oxford	Rear suspension spring colour codes Hi everybody I have a 1991 460 left hand drive originating from Italy which needs new rear springs as they are a bit tired. According to the local dealer, they are colour coded with a band of either yellow, red, green or even unmarked, but as mine are covered in the usual mix of rust and mud, how can I tell what the colour coding was. Does any body have any idea which springs I need? or what the difference is. I would hazard a guess that it's to do with the stiffness, but I have no idea which I should be mounting on the car Many thanks Peter

Sep 19th, 2006, 17:55	#2
sarumboy Guest Location:	Colour Codes for 400 Series Springs Hi Peter..might be able to help here. I went through a similar excercise recently when i wanted to change all four of my springs for the next stiffness size down (yep, I'm all for comfort these days rather than road holding! Being a GLT, they were the stiffest anyway.). My local dealer gave me a copy of some charts supposedly for dealership use only. Here is the detail of both front and rear springs. Rear Springs Colour Code; none yellow green red Free length; 322 310 350 289.5 Spring Stiffness(n/mm); 19.7, 17.2, 14.7, 21.0 No.of Coils; 5.5, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5, Wire Diam (mm); 10.37, 10.82, 10.62, 11.31, At a load of N, spring length is; 1430/225 1515/220 1625/240 1677/216 Front Springs Colour Code; none blue green yellow grey red Free length; 372 360 362 350 457 355 Stiffness(N/mm); 17 20 17 20 12 22 No. of Coils; 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 5.5, 6.5, 5.5, Wire Diam (mm); 12.75 13.25 12.73 13.25 12.30 13.25 At load of N, sprg length is; 3020/194,3310/194,2850/194,3110/194,3150/213,3020/218. I wondered if the code was going to still be visible with all the mud and gunge on the springs but sure enough, after cleaning, the Red was plain to see. Some of the figures do look a little odd, but I've checked them against the Volvo chart and they are right. Having changed the springs and the shocks, drop links and wishbone bushes, I'm soooo pleased with the ride now! What a car. Good luck, Sarumboy PS. Send me a PM if I can help/explain anything. Last edited by sarumboy; Sep 19th, 2006 at 18:03.

Sep 19th, 2006, 19:07	#3
Rainbird Junior Member Last Online: Aug 27th, 2017 06:49 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oxford	Sarumboy Thanks for the info - just what I needed. Given what you say, I guess it's time to wire brush the springs. It sounds like I'm doing the opposite to you as I'm looking to stiffen the rear as it often goes down poor quality roads when well loaded and I want to keep the exhaust off the ground more. thanks once again Peter

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