Hi everyone, got a question.
The theory is that leaf springs can handle more weight than coil springs, but apart from that, coil springs are normally better, but I’ve been wondering if this is technically the case with most 4wd’s.
What gets me thinking, with nearly every 4wd, by the time that the car is that loaded up / towing that much that coil springs can’t handle the weight but leaf springs can, the car is way over its maximum load carrying and towing capacity and the rest of the car can’t handle it, like the brakes, engine, steering etc.
It’s like that with my 80 series turbo diesel, its maximum towing capacity is 2500 kg and when I’ve had about that weight, the engine and brakes and so
forth can only just handle it, but the coil springs hardly sag enough to worry about and the inch more sagging than if it were leaf sprung isn’t noticeable when I’m driving, apart from that, I’ve got all the advantages of coil springs.
It’s the same with a 3 litre V6 petrol pathfinder I’ve got, when I’m towing a speedboat with it, it can only just do it and probably couldn’t do any more, but
the springs don’t sag that much at all and it’s not noticeable when I’m behind the wheel, and that’s with poor quality
suspension on it.
It’s like that with all your 4wd’s around in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, like 40 series cruisers. The weight they can handle with their engine and braking and so
forth, coil springs would hardly notice, yet the manufacturers made them leaf springs worried that coils couldn’t handle the weight.
One thing to, if you’ve got coil springs, you can put those air bags in
the springs, leaf springs you can’t.
I don’t know if this would be the case if you had a Hummer or an F350 or something, and it certainly wouldn’t be the case with trucks, but it makes me wonder about your ordinary 4wd. Technically, at the end of the day, does having leaf springs really mean that you can have more weight than if you had coils?
Is what I’m saying a good point or is it nonsense? Car engineers are meant to know a million times more about these things than me, is there something I don’t know?
Thanks everyone