Any one have any leads or a pair of XT6 front springs?? Im trying to put them under an 82 gl with new struts to get a little bit of drop and stiffer spring rate. This should work right?? Any help/tips are much appreciated! thanks all!

hi,

  the xt6 springs have a little stiffer rate,  but i don't think you will see any drop.   ea82 front struts are built in a few different heights, original  xt4 fronts will definately lower it some, the standard 2wd is middle of the road,  and 4x4 wagon is the tallest.   these differences are from where the strut's bottom spring perch is in relation to it's stop flange,  where  it sits against  the knuckle.   factory struts are about 1" difference in each version  in this portion of the strut body..   aftermarket struts are somewhat universal, so the actual dimentions  will vary some,,  not sure how much,  but 2wd sedan might be the shortest aftermarket ones available.  on  xt-4 , the  aftermarket seems  to be selling same number as 2wd sedan so idk.   i have personally measured  original takeoffs,  and there are at least 3 basic heights they used.   so if you want to lower it some  use the  xt-4  2wd front struts and that's as low as the aftermarket makes. 

Ok so can I just run the FWD ea82 springs on the the ea81 4x4 struts?

dont take my word for it til i check but....

I got some FWD xt4 springs and some ea81 4x4 struts I could see if the bottom of the springs fit the strut

but I think you might have 2 problems

 

1)  with the top hat spring retainer piece right below the strut mount

which you can put an ea82 top hat on that, I believe so that might be an easy fix

 

2) I'm not sure the spring perch on the strut itself is compatible because If i remember right the ea82 springs sit straight

up and down when set upon the floor where the ea81 springs dont ... but then again ruparts says in the post above the ea82 struts have a stop flange so maybe they are compatible???

 

again just going off my not fully functional memory so no haters please

Edited March 17, 201412 yr by Tat2Brat

Ok so can I just run the FWD ea82 springs on the the ea81 4x4 struts?

 

 hi,

  i made a mistake in what i read on your original post,, all the  references i made were  about  ea-82 parts,  because my brain saw 82 and registered ea-82,  not 82 gl,  i am sorry, my bad...  but what i tried to say, and does apply here also,  is  that if you want it to sit lower,   you should  use 2wd struts not 4x4 struts,  and  the xt6 springs are a stiffer rate but not a  whopping amount.  

And I just checked I was wrong only the top part of the ea82 springs are flat

and they do sit in the original 4x4 ea81 struts I have hanging around

but they are tapered so I think you just have to get the top hat part from an ea82

I dunno if FWD ea82 and the original ea81 struts will make it lower or not

but they will probably go on the vehicle

Just thought of this but my brat's original 4x4 struts have two big threaded rods on the side where you can raise and lower the spring perch

if  you have these lower it on down but if you hear clunking while driving over bumps you went too far and raise it back up

Thanks everybody. So the ea82 springs do fit the bottom spring perch on the ea81 4x4 correct? And how much shorter are the springs?

they fit the bottom spring perch yes

Im not sure if how much shorter if at all

I dont have any spare ea81 springs to compare length

but i can measure the ea82 springs if you want