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Stronger rear springs!

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230K views 374 replies 108 participants last post by  Bryecr  
J
#1 ·
Were on our 3rd Santa Fe (09, 13, 17). All have been 3rd row/LWB variants. With each one ive noticed the rear suspension lacks when it comes to aupporting any sort of load. Were not talking about overloading here either. Just Filling the car with the amount of people its advertised to handle.

Ive only come across 2 solutions. Firestone airbags, and sumo springs/coil spring spacers. Neither really excited me.

I researched, compared, emailed and came up with what seems a legitimate solution. Hyundai Veracruz rear springs! Per Hyundai specs, the comparable springs (AWD model) were around 0.5 inches taller. The GVWR for the veracruz is about 500 lbs more so common sense tells me the springs would be stiffer, albeit slightly.

I emailed Hyundai. After 3 weeks of no response i called and was told to contact my local dealer for spring rate info. Yeah. I work for the local dealer . Hyundai doesnt publish speing rates.

So i pulled the trigger, and figured at worst i gotta eat the restock fee.

They work. Pictures to follow shortly.

There is a definate improvement in how it rides, and currently it sits 1.5 inches higher in the rear. I do expect it to settle in at around an inch over stock. More reviews to come once we get it loaded up a bit. I dont expect it to be perfect, but its gotta be better.
 
#6 ·
Very nice and detailed pics, Thank you for the pics and yep it looks a lot better and more importantly is what you wanted. Great job!!


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J
#8 · (Edited)
Its nothing short of amazing. I expected a little harshness over the bumps/rough stuff, but its not at all.

The bounce is VERY minimal and overall road manners are improved. The car feels much more planted and balanced in corners.

Simply put, this is how Hyundai should have set this up from the factory.

Additionally. I did swap out the factory kumhos for Michelin defender LTX. Obviously some of the improvement is a result of the tires, but the greater difference comes from the springs.
 
J
#10 ·
Hyundai oem parts (dot) com has the springs at a few cents under $80 each. Lets go with some rough estimates.

$200 for springs (s&h, $40 would be absurd, but its easy math)

Its pretty simple to do. A high end labor estimate would be 1.5 hours (realistically im thinking 0.8 total, but i dont have that info available at this time) x$100.00 per labor hour puts you at $150. (100 / hr is an average and dependant upon your area)

So were at $350 and you WILL need an alignment with these. Pick the highest priced alignment im aware of $150.

All in, $500 should be the highest you could pay to have this done in a shop.

Id bet you get probably get it down significantly, maybe in the $250-$350 range.

Knowing how it rides now, i'd pay that $500 if you told me thats how much a permanent, and legitimate solution costs. I like it that much. (Its the wifes car, and she usually doesnt notice when i do anything outside of fill the fuel tank or wash the car...she loves it!)
 
#17 ·
Great info. I wish I would have known this before my trip to Florida. Car loaded with gear and people and we bottomed out several times over some rough pavement. If I can get it down to $250, I'll do it. It's a Lease so I'm not going to do too much to it unless I know I'm going to buy it out.
 
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C
#23 ·
Just wanted to say thanks to jsvob03. I pulled the trigger and replaced both rear springs with the Veracruz ones on my 2014 ($150). Install was very easy, took me about an hour for both sides with only jack stands, jack, torque wrench, adjustable wrench, breaker bar, and 19mm socket. Go here for torque specs and general procedures.

I did want to add. I measured the thickness between the springs. OEM santa fe were about 11.75mm in diameter and the replacement Veracruz springs were around 12.5mm, leading to a stiffer and improved ride characteristics.
 
G
#26 ·
chutoy22 said:
Just wanted to say thanks to jsvob03. I pulled the trigger and replaced both rear springs with the Veracruz ones on my 2014 ($150). Install was very easy, took me about an hour for both sides with only jack stands, jack, torque wrench, adjustable wrench, breaker bar, and 19mm socket.

I did want to add. I measured the thickness between the springs. OEM santa fe were about 11.75mm in diameter and the replacement Veracruz springs were around 12.5mm, leading to a stiffer and improved ride characteristics.
Click to expand...
Hey jsvob and Chutoy, great info here. Where did you order your springs? Chutoy thanks for the link to the procedures for this. It appears we don't need a spring compressor they are using the jack to compress and release the spring tension. Was this as easy as it looks?

Thanks!
 
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