Coil spring rubber sleeves, are they required?

[TMF]

Having recently replaced all the coil springs in my 90 convertible, I also swapped in the previous rubber sleeves that fit inside each coil. My observations on this is that at first the springs were, well, springy and then they stiffened up. I'm going for the smoothest ride possible and put factory coils and Monroe Sensa-trak shocks and struts on all the way around. But, it still fees stiff over small bumps and such.

What the heck are those rubber sleeves for anyway? Would I get a smoother ride without those rubber things in there?

Thanks in advance!

john

 

[Pod]

What the heck are those rubber sleeves for anyway? Would I get a smoother ride without those rubber things in there?

I swapped springs a couple of weeks ago (to Ford C springs) and left those rubber bits out. I put on new isolators top and bottom though. Haven't noticed any difference with noise afterwards.

If the springs manage to compress enough for those rubber things to do anything, I think you'll have much bigger problems anyway.

 

[HISSIN50]

They are there for NVH.

 

[TMF]

They are there for NVH.

What does NVH mean?

john

 

[HISSIN50]

Noise, Vibration and Harshness. With no isolators, you have metal on metal contact.

I just ponied up the 50 beans for new ones for the 88 GT Vert. My old ones looked swiss cheese-ish.

 

[TMF]

Ahh.. We're talking about two different things! On my car, the rear has rubber isolators at the top and bottom of the springs. In the front there is just one at the top. I'm guessing somewhere along the way the bottoms for the front disappeared and I never even thought about it until you mentioned it and I remembered the ones at the bottom for the rears.

No, what I am talking about are round rubber sleeves, about 6 inches tall and they slide inside the coils and sit about in the middle. They are very tight and I really had to work them out of the old coils and into the new ones.

Does that ring a bell with anyone?

John

 

[sqrlnts]

Tag.
TMF, I too am curious as to what these do. Also curious if I will need to swap them into my new springs.

 

[88 Fox GT]

When I did my rear end swap, I was wondering what the hell those rubber sleeves were for too.

I'm guessing they are just one extra thing to reduce noise and vibration even further. I don't think they are necessary at all.

 

[HISSIN50]

Ah, my apologies for misunderstanding.

I think those booties are pretty useless. I think they might have something to do with extreme rear suspension compression, but for most folks, they arent really needed (or should I say, aren't reinstalled). I'm not real sure on that though since I tend to reinstall stuff like that.

Good luck.

 

[onefstsnake]

I left everything out when swapping my Steeda springs on.

No Isolators, sleeves anything. No noise at all from the springs while driving.

 

[sqrlnts]

I left everything out when swapping my Steeda springs on.

No Isolators, sleeves anything. No noise at all from the springs while driving.

thanks for the info onefstsnake.

 

[onefstsnake]

I will say that the steeda springs like most springs are coated in some sort of paint. Im sure this might have an affect on noise.

But I dont hear much of anything, and when I do here a clunk or something its not the springs.

 

[tunedin302]

For best ride possible, do coilovers. Mine rides super smooth without the harshness of the stock setup and handles 100Xs better around turns.