Originally Posted by
cycle_maven
The extra 150 pounds in the trunk of the Merc would only change the properties of the spring material if the springs approached their yield point during use, and the extra 150 pounds made them exceed that point. Mostly springs don't do that, unless there's something mighty wrong with their engineering- they hit the limit (bottom out) before the yield point is reached. Usually springs will break from fatigue before they spontaneously get "soft" or "sag". Disclaimer: that's with a well-designed spring- and not all cars are well-designed.
Not everything my dad told me was completely correct, either... especially about cars.
Interesting. I don't doubt my Dad's expertise on cars as he's spent many hours learning all the ins and outs of the Mercedes but I also don't doubt his willingness to lie to me in order to prevent me from doing something stupid (It might have been closer to 200-250 if that matters at all). So fair enough, I'll concede! But I really wasn't trying to be rude, if my original post seems terse or rude it's only because it was about 4:00 AM and I didn't have the mental capacities to write a nice post.