Landrum Tight Helix racing springs are rear suspension coil springs designed for dirt and pavement circle track applications. Their tighter coil spacing and increased number of coils provide different travel and coil-bind characteristics than conventional racing springs, giving racers another way to manage rear suspension movement and chassis response.
Manufactured from high-tensile chrome-silicon steel, Landrum Tight Helix racing springs are precision manufactured and individually rate tested to provide consistent spring rates and predictable performance. Each spring is held to within ±2% of its specified rate and includes an individual dyno sheet verifying its performance.
How Are Tight Helix Springs Different from Conventional Racing Springs?
Tight Helix racing springs use more coils with closer spacing than a conventional racing coil spring of similar dimensions. This tighter helix creates a compact spring design with less available travel before the coils begin to contact one another.
Despite the closer coil spacing, Tight Helix springs are designed to maintain a linear spring rate through their normal working range. The tighter configuration primarily changes the spring’s travel and coil-bind characteristics rather than making it a progressive-rate spring. This gives racers a different way to control available spring travel while maintaining a consistent, predictable spring rate.
Why Do Racers Use Tight Helix Springs?
Racers use Tight Helix springs to help manage rear suspension movement and load transfer while maintaining a consistent spring rate and predictable chassis response. Their reduced available travel gives racers another way to control how much the rear suspension moves as the car accelerates, brakes and travels through a corner.
On the track, these characteristics can contribute to:
- Less unwanted body movement, including roll, pitch and dive.
- More controlled weight transfer.
- Better platform control under braking and acceleration.
- Faster, more responsive chassis transitions.
- More consistent suspension response to changing track conditions.
- Improved mechanical grip and traction when the suspension is working effectively with the overall chassis setup.
Rather than relying solely on spring rate to influence suspension behavior, a Tight Helix spring allows available travel and coil-bind characteristics to become additional considerations in the suspension setup.
How Do Tight Helix Springs Affect Suspension Travel and Coil Bind?
Because a Tight Helix spring has less space between its coils, the coils begin to contact one another with less compression than they would in a conventional racing spring with wider coil spacing. As a result, the spring has less available travel before reaching coil bind.
As the spring compresses and individual coils begin to touch, those coils can no longer contribute to the spring’s active movement. As additional coils make contact, the spring has progressively less remaining travel until it reaches full coil bind, when the coils are fully stacked and the spring can no longer compress normally.
For racers, this makes the relationship between spring travel, suspension movement and the point of coil bind an important characteristic of a Tight Helix spring.
How Do Tight Helix Springs Help Reduce Spring Bowing?
The increased number of coils and tighter coil spacing of a Tight Helix spring help reduce the tendency of the spring to bow outward as it compresses. By keeping the spring more stable and better aligned through its working range, the design can reduce unwanted lateral movement under compression.
Reduced spring bowing can also help maintain clearance between the spring and nearby suspension components, decreasing the likelihood of contact with the shock or other components as the suspension moves through its travel.
What Race Cars Use Tight Helix Racing Springs?
Landrum Tight Helix racing springs are designed for rear suspension applications on dirt and pavement circle track race cars. They are particularly suited to IMCA and UMP Modifieds and other Modified and stock-car applications that use conventional rear coil springs.
Available in 11- and 13-inch free lengths with a 5-inch outside diameter, Tight Helix springs provide racers with an alternative to conventional rear racing springs when the characteristics of a tighter-helix, higher-coil-count design are desired.
What Makes Landrum Tight Helix Racing Springs Different?
Landrum combines premium spring steel, precision engineering and individual rate testing to produce Tight Helix racing springs designed for consistent, repeatable performance in demanding racing applications.
High-Tensile Chrome-Silicon Steel
Landrum Tight Helix racing springs are manufactured from U.S.-made high-tensile chrome-silicon alloy steel. Its strength, resilience and fatigue resistance help the spring withstand repeated compression while maintaining its designed characteristics over time.
Spring Engineering and Design
Landrum uses advanced spring-design software and proven engineering principles to develop the tighter coil spacing and increased coil count that distinguish Tight Helix springs from conventional racing springs. The design was also evaluated through multiple test sessions during development to verify its performance before being offered to racers.
Individually Rate Tested
Each Landrum Tight Helix racing spring is individually tested to verify that its spring rate is within ±2% of specification. A dyno sheet is included with each spring, providing measured performance data as the spring is compressed so racers can verify the characteristics of the individual spring they receive.
What Sizes and Spring Rates Are Available for Tight Helix Racing Springs?
- 5” OD Rear Spring (11” Length): Rates of 175, 200, 225 lb./in
- 5” OD Rear Spring (13” Length): Rates of 175 and 200 lb./in
Find the Right Tight Helix Racing Spring
Use the Landrum Parts Finder to view available Tight Helix racing coil springs by diameter, length and spring rate, or contact Landrum for additional product information.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tight Helix Racing Springs
Does a Tight Helix spring get stiffer as the coils begin to touch?
A Tight Helix spring maintains a linear spring rate through its normal working range. As coils begin to contact one another, however, those coils become inactive, reducing the number of active coils and changing the spring’s effective rate. As more coils make contact, the spring can become progressively stiffer until it reaches full coil bind and can no longer compress normally.
How do I determine how much travel a Tight Helix spring has before coil bind?
Available spring travel is the distance the spring can compress from its installed or free height before reaching coil bind. This depends on the spring’s dimensions, coil configuration and installed condition. Because adequate travel must be maintained throughout suspension movement, racers should consider both spring travel and expected suspension travel when selecting and installing a Tight Helix spring.
Can a Tight Helix spring replace a conventional rear coil spring?
A Tight Helix spring can be used in applications designed for conventional rear coil springs when its diameter, length, spring rate and available travel are appropriate for the suspension. However, a Tight Helix spring should not be treated as an identical replacement because its tighter coil spacing and reduced available travel give it different compression and coil-bind characteristics.
How do I choose the correct spring rate for a Tight Helix racing spring?
The appropriate spring rate depends on factors such as vehicle weight, rear suspension geometry, weight distribution, available suspension travel and the handling characteristics the racer is trying to achieve. Landrum Tight Helix springs are available in several rates, allowing racers to select a spring that works with their vehicle and overall chassis setup.
Should I choose an 11-inch or 13-inch Tight Helix spring?
The correct free length depends on the vehicle’s rear suspension configuration, installed spring height and required spring travel. The spring must fit the application while maintaining appropriate travel throughout the suspension’s operating range. Racers should verify their vehicle’s spring requirements rather than choosing between an 11-inch and 13-inch spring based on free length alone.
What information is included on the dyno sheet supplied with a Landrum Tight Helix spring?
Each Landrum Tight Helix racing spring is individually rate tested and supplied with a dyno sheet documenting the spring’s measured performance. This provides verification of the individual spring’s rate characteristics rather than relying solely on its nominal rated specification.
Learn More About Tight Helix Racing Spring Performance
Tight Helix racing spring versus a conventional racing coil spring: How do load and travel compare?
How does a Tight Helix racing spring make a suspension react faster?
