Ok suspension gurus. I currently have the Walker Evans setup on my 1000-5. It came with 250lb single rate springs on all four corners. I've always felt there is too much preload to hit ride height (Stock +1inch) and the things feels like it has way too much roll and a choppy ride over rough roads like washboard. I have a family of five (including my fat ass) and when we ride I have a seizmek bed extended and ice chest with about 20 lbs ice, snacks, drinks, etc on the back. Plus, all the necessary accessories like stereo, second battery, roof, light bar, front and rear windshields, fire extinguisher, recovery equipment, etc. We do desert trail rides, some rocks and ledges, nothing super crazy. Also, I'm running SATV A-arms front and rear with 32" tires.
Well wifey decided to go hard with a bunch of her friends in the goat and blew a front shock. Good time to swap springs with the rebuild. So, I've been thinking going to 300lb single rate springs. Then I've been thinking about going as far as 350lb springs. Or, even 300 front 350 rear. This will allow me to run minimal preload hopefully making for a better ride with elimination of the minimal bottoming out i have and decrease the body roll. I don't care about or need lift but ~1 inch I wouldn't be mad about.
So what do you guys think?
***UPDATE***
So I guess I should explain my rationale how I understand it. Dealing with single rate springs, the rate is linear as the spring compresses so for my 250lb springs I takes 250lb to compress the spring 1 inch and every inch increase spring rate by 250lb. So at 1.5 inches of preload, my effective spring force at this point of preload is now 375 lb. I can start with a higher rate spring say 300 and use 1 inch preload and my effective force at that point is 300. Now, for every inch of compression you have an increase in the amount of force exerted so with the 300 lb springs I'm starting at 300lb force opposed to 375 with the 250lb springs. This should help some with the choppiness part as I've softened up the initial spring force. So take that same example above except we hit a bigger bump. With the 250 lb spring with say 6" of travel at full compression the end force is 1500lb with the 300lb spring it is 1800 lbs so better bottoming resistance.
Well wifey decided to go hard with a bunch of her friends in the goat and blew a front shock. Good time to swap springs with the rebuild. So, I've been thinking going to 300lb single rate springs. Then I've been thinking about going as far as 350lb springs. Or, even 300 front 350 rear. This will allow me to run minimal preload hopefully making for a better ride with elimination of the minimal bottoming out i have and decrease the body roll. I don't care about or need lift but ~1 inch I wouldn't be mad about.
So what do you guys think?
***UPDATE***
So I guess I should explain my rationale how I understand it. Dealing with single rate springs, the rate is linear as the spring compresses so for my 250lb springs I takes 250lb to compress the spring 1 inch and every inch increase spring rate by 250lb. So at 1.5 inches of preload, my effective spring force at this point of preload is now 375 lb. I can start with a higher rate spring say 300 and use 1 inch preload and my effective force at that point is 300. Now, for every inch of compression you have an increase in the amount of force exerted so with the 300 lb springs I'm starting at 300lb force opposed to 375 with the 250lb springs. This should help some with the choppiness part as I've softened up the initial spring force. So take that same example above except we hit a bigger bump. With the 250 lb spring with say 6" of travel at full compression the end force is 1500lb with the 300lb spring it is 1800 lbs so better bottoming resistance.
