Hi Guys. I'm looking for info on EF & EL stock (OEM) spring rates.

I'm running an 6 cylinder EF Fairmont (ex LPG) in a brief season of speedway for novice drivers. It's a novelty event class running on a 400m oval dirt track with moderately banked corners. No suspension mods are allowed, which I understand to mean that you can only use OEM parts. Diffs must be unlocked.

The interior and glass is all stripped out, which means the car rides high and seems front heavy. The class has all sorts of cars, mostly Japanese FWD. The car is very competitive on the short straight but loses ground on the corners. I figure we're doing around 50km/hr around the corners and maybe 80-90 km/hr at the end of the straight. Lap times are 23-25 sec.

The car seems to understeer at corner entry, then flick into oversteer on exit. Getting the tail out is fun but much slower. It seems to go fastest when kept pointing straight. I guess that's because of wheelspin from the unloaded left rear wheel on corners once the car breaks rear traction. (We always turn left).

My driving style for competitive laps is to brake early for the corner, neutral throttle around to the apex, then apply throttle gently, allowing the car to drift a bit wider on exit. The FWD cars typically get away from me on the corner exit. My diagnosis is that I need to look back at the beginning of the turn. The car is understeering initially. If I enter the turn quickly I need to pile on lots of lock. Once speed is scrubbed off the car then swings quickly into oversteer. To prevent that I have to brake more heavily and coast around the corners more slowly than I would like.

I've moved the battery back to the LR of the cabin and have a swag of things to do to improve the set up, including swapping over to the EL rear suspension ( changed Watts linkages and diff pivot point). Hopefully that will get the front and rear suspension working together better.

I need to find out the spring rates and sway bar sizes for the various EF and EL models (including Tickfords) and any LPG and towing packs so I know what I can work with. Where do I go to find those?

Cheers

Springs for the XR series were basicly Low Springs. Not sure of the spring rates.

Swaybars for all the EF/EL sedans were the same, even for the XR's.

Thanks SWC.

They're were suspension up grades from Ford for the EF/EL.
IIRC, the upgraded springs had a Pink paint stripe, and the shockies were Grey in colour. Std shocks were black, and not gas filled....and I think std springs had a Brown paint stripe.
Also, one of the springs will have a White paint stripe as well....this is fitted to the RH side...just remember that White is right.

Thanks cjh. I had no idea that they were different from side to side. Looks like I'll have to get a workshop technical manual. Cheers.