Why Testing Valve Springs and Other Coil Springs is Important for Winning Races

Any racer worth his Summit Racing T-shirt knows maintenance is critical to success at the track. A car with high-wear or high-stress parts that aren’t inspected regularly is a car that won’t win races.

Take valve springs and clutch springs, for example. These parts see incredible loads during a race; over time, they will fatigue and lose the ability to maintain their pressure ratings. Weak springs lead to valvetrain instability or a sloppy clutch—and if ignored for long enough, outright failure.

You can avoid those issues with a good spring tester like Intercomp’s Arbor Spring Tester. It allows you to test valve, clutch, pressure relief, and other small coil springs to insure they meet their load and pressure ratings. Test those springs at regular intervals throughout the race season and you’ll be able to catch weak springs before they have a chance to cause a loss of performance or outright fail. The Arbor Spring Tester is also handy for checking new springs before installation to make sure they meet their load and pressure ratings.

Designed and made in the USA, the Intercomp Arbor Spring Tester uses electronic load cell technology to provide consistent pressure ratings up to 1,500 pounds in one-pound increments. The tester is accurate to +/- 0.25% of the applied force; maximum spring pressure values can be captured using the peak-hold function on the backlit LCD display. The tool’s high-torque, lever-actuated compression action lets you test large batches of springs quickly and accurately.

Other features include:
• Billet 6061-T6 aluminum construction
• 5 inches total travel
• Digital travel and force readouts
• Readouts use standard 9-volt battery

Get Intercomp’s optional Bump Stop Adapters and you can use the spring tester to check suspension bump stops. Knowing a bump stop’s actual spring rate will give you a better idea of how the car will respond once a shock is fully compressed. The adapters are available for several common shock shaft diameters.

The Intercomp Arbor Spring Tester accommodates springs up to two inches in diameter and has an adjustable-length handle to provide extra leverage when testing heavy springs. Two adjustable test stops are included.

You can learn more about the Arbor Spring Tester in this Intercomp video.