Spring replacements for cones

[Richard1]

After much studying of opinions and considering how and where I will drive my pickup, I decided on replacing my 40 year old cones with springs. They came Monday, but no instructions. I already have the hi-low's.
There are two heights, the smaller having an aluminum disc with threads, the longer having just an aluminum donut.

I'm thinking the shorter go on the front?
Do these just replace the cones?
or do the aluminum discs replace other parts?
What gets threaded into the disc?
Next week I'll have a chance to go try them on, as the truck is 700 km from here.

[MiniDave]

Mine were the same way - no instructions....

The short ones do go in the front, I bought hi/lo's with mine so the adjustable extensions screwed into those threaded holes, I expect the standard ball joints would go in there. I'll go look at the remaining pieces from mine and see if I can remember....

[MtyMous]

The threaded portion is simply so you can thread a rod/bolt through the top of the subframe in order to hold the spring in place while you position the trumpets/hi-lo's or fit the rest of the suspension around it. The springs can easily come out of the perch while you're trying to get everything else fitted and this is a simple way to keep them in place. My hi-lo's do not thread into them. The thread size is completely wrong on my set.

[MiniDave]

So Richard, what do you think of your springs?

My only complaint with mine is that they're not rising rate as the OEM cones are so if you carry a load you need to raise it up a bit or it rubs the tires on the fenders - at least on my wagon it does. So I wound up just raising it up about 1/2" extra and it still looks fine but now it won't rub, and it rides a little better too.

[Richard1]

I installed them, but haven't finished the transmission, so they just sit there. I glued a 1/8" fiber/rubber sheet between the car and the springs. While I had everything apart I repainted the subframe since I'd modified it quite a bit since the original paint.

Someone on Minimania questioned my use of the aluminum disc that came with the hi-los and the aluminum disc that came with the springs, but they fit that way, and I only had to extend the rod about a turn or so to take out the slack.

No need to use the threads to install when you have the sub frame out. I just flipped it over and placed everything in, then replaced the shaft on the arm.