Dodge Intrepid Police Package Springs

[shadowvox6]

Group,
I am really fed up with dragging the front end of my newly painted Special on my driveway, and other such places. I was thinking of swapping out the springs for a set of Dodge Intrepid Police Package springs all the way around.

I think that will give the "lift" the car needs to make it more driveway friendly.

Anyone have any thoughts??

[IntrepidBus IV]

Noooo!!! I say buy a new house with a leveler driveway before putting a "lift" on the M!

I had a steep driveway creating a large angle where it met the road, but I didn't have much of a problem with my lowered Intrepid. Just the undercarriage would scrape now & then.

[CleanTrep]

I would say negative Ghoast Rider on the police package springs. Your car is gonna be as high as a pickup if you do that!

[DrDodge]

I thought about this when i got the special as well,,,, i was gonna grab a set of intrepid struts and springs and just swap out the unit,, not worth the effort,,

[dmondeac]

Maybe the problem is the struts , since the "special" is 1/2" lower.

[TERMINATOR101CA]

Hmmm I have the Special suspension up front and never had a problem with steep driveways, but I can see how the Special has the cladding lower than a Trep, hence the problem with scraping.

[Dodgaholic]

Air Suspension...
http://public.fotki.com/300M/300m_new_exterior_mods/exterior_suspension/air_suspension_for/air_suspension_for/

[00R/T]

Maybe the problem is the struts , since the "special" is 1/2" lower.

The special springs are 1/2" lower. They're what controls the ride height.

[TCPMeta]

I thought the police springs were the same as the special springs.

[TorontoFireCaptain]

Since this was also asked in the "other place", I'll put my same answer here:
Struts lower it, springs are "rate" matched to the strut height, hence the reason you should not put Special springs on standard height struts. Your normal ride height will not have the proper spring support until is is somewhat compressed, so could compromise the handling.
Just changing the springs will not raise the height, you'd have to replace the struts.
Best bet would be the regular M's PHP set. Much better handling and ride than the copper's HD would be in all probability.

BTW, there is a bit of a joke here. Most wreckers - and places that sell new struts for that matter - do not know of the differences in height, and sell standard struts for Special replacements.
Car owners find that the front or rear tires wear like crazy, and the car pulls. Alignments won't fix it, and unless the shop does the ride height measurement, they can never figure out why.....................



...and no, copper suspension is not the same as Special or PHP.

[IntrepidBus IV]

I've used the standard sized struts with 1.8" lowering springs on both of my 2Gs and have been very pleased with the performance and handling, FWIW.

[00R/T]

I've used the standard sized struts with 1.8" lowering springs on both of my 2Gs and have been very pleased with the performance and handling, FWIW.

Yeah, that's why I don't understand how the struts dictate ride height and not the springs.

[TorontoFireCaptain]

Yeah, that's why I don't understand how the struts dictate ride height and not the springs.

Struts are designed, with a certain pre-determined weight, to reside at a specific height under static conditions, and the internal valving is designed to relieve the internal pressure based on that specific weight, length & time of travel as the strut moves up and down due to the road conditions.
Part of it's reaction specfications are the spring height and rates that it is designed around.
Use any other criteria, and it will not function as designed.
If you usea shorter spring, then it's "normal" static position is no longer where it was designed to be, so the valving thinks it is already in a movement position, and thus will be somewhat relieved. Your handling will suffer - maybe noticably, maybe not - but in any case the car will no longer react as it should under stock conditions. It can also affect the steering geometry.
Whle just adding lowering springs will lower the ride, it should be done with a matched set of struts in order to keep all of the parameters the same, and an alignment should definitely be done after any spring/strut swap of non-stock sizes.

[dmondeac]

I use "special" struts and Eibach 1" drop springs.and love the way this thing handles over the stock heavy duty suspension.

[00R/T]

I use "special" struts and Eibach 1" drop springs.and love the way this thing handles over the stock heavy duty suspension.

Yeah, that's my point too. Shorter springs improve handling.

[Scarface]

TCPMeta :
I've also heard the police package and Special suspensions are identical, but differ for their designed applications.
Springs may be a little stiffer than those on the Specials.

[TorontoFireCaptain]

TCPMeta :
I've also heard the police package and Special suspensions are identical, but differ for their designed applications.
Springs may be a little stiffer than those on the Specials.

The Special is not the same as the police:
4782 012AD 1 [SDC], Right
4782 013AD 1 [SDC], Left
4782 110AF 1 [SDD], Right
4782 111AF 1 [SDD], Left
4895 182AD 1 [SDG], Right
4895 183AD 1 [SDG], Left
#4782 778AA 1 [SDB], Right
#4782 779AA 1 [SDB], Left
#4895 560AA 1 [SDE], Right
#4895 561AA 1 [SDE], Left
2 4782 228AA 1 ISOLATOR, Front Suspension Spring, Lower
3 SPRING, Front Coil
4782 084AB 1 [SDC, ZND, ZAD] [SDD, ZBD, ZPD] [SDG, ZRD.
ZCD]
4782 085AB 1 [SDC, ZNE, ZAE] [SDD, ZPE, ZBE] [SDG, ZRE,
ZCE]
#4782 775AA 1 [SDB, ZTK, ZEK]
#4895 686AA 1 [SDE, ZDJ, ZSJ]
4 #

SDE coding is for the Special; SDB is for Police and Taxi.
For exact pieces on a specific car, you'd need the build sheet, and look at the suspension installation code - the "Z" letters

While it possibly would have been possible to preorder a car with the SDB suspension, the cars produced for general sale would be as above noted.
The Special has a unique suspension.
It's strut and spring rates would have been designed for the "european" handling that the car was initially advertized as.
One other thing I noticed on one Special I stripped: it has 17" wheels, but did not have the SDE suspension. It had the PHP strut and springs.
It is possible that they where changed, however, the car was a low mile one that shouldn't have needed changing. I haven't seen another stock one with 17" that I could look at the strut numbers to see if this was a normal thing, or one that "just happened".