OME Coil Spring life span

[plutonius]

I'm sure this has been mentioned and noted in various threads, and there may not be a definitive answer, but is there a general consensus as to how often people are replacing their coil springs? I am running 850's in the front, and 863's in the rear, and the front is starting to feel a bit squishy and rolly. Nitro Sport shocks are new within the last 6 months. The 863's are new-ish with about 12k miles on them. However the 850's have 100k miles on them, maybe more. My guess is that they are ready to be replaced.

The front measurement hub center to flare: OME 850 + 10mm trim packer = 22.5"
That's with a Slee Shortbus, Warn 8000, single battery. It seems that they have sagged a bit.

 

[greentruck]

The 80 is my first coil sprung vehicle and they are definitely a different kettle of fish than leaves or torsion bars. My limited experience so far is that the OEM coils were well past their Use BY date when we acquired the truck with 147,000 on it. Most likely, there was noticeable drop off in performance some time back before we owned it.

While OME coils are spec-ed differently than Mr. T's, I doubt there's a lot of difference in the basic metallurgy. It would not surprise me that your OME coils with 100,000 on them now seem less than optimal. They still work, it's more a matter of are you happy with them?

The limited amount of sag you mention is likely only noticeable looking at the truck from outside. However, you can feel the difference in coil performance in the seat on every foot of the road. To me, that's more of a deciding factor than a half inch or so of sag.

 

[plutonius]

Exactly - it's a seat of the pants feel I have that the OME's have reached the end of their optimal use. I'm not chasing the visual look of a 1/4" sag, I only noted it as it does seem that it's an attribute of the years and mileage on them. I'm going to swap them for new 850's (I think the 418's may be too stiff for me), but I'm still interested to hear when and if others are swapping out their tired coils.