MatthewMiller

Good question. It means the former: if the spring is set in the clamps in the car, it will take 1000lb of force (in your example) to move either end up 1". It's not really half the spring, because the clamps are around 24" apart at their outside edges, and only about 1 foot of each spring extends out from that. But it's more than 1', because the middle of the spring between the clamps isn't constrained, so I think that about 1/4 of the inner part of the spring moves with the outer end, with the clamp on that side acting as the fulcrum. The rear spring isn't this complicated!

But that does bring up a useful point for the OP. If he clamps the spring in his car, he could use a jack and wheel scale and maybe a dial gauge to move the spring end upward exactly 1" and just measure the force. That would be the rate of his particular spring.

BOOT77

Ha, figured those those guys were otw out! They sent me the wrong gen kit then I tried to return it twice, the label they sent me was no good both times! And I had like $50 of credit from another mistake before that, not that I'd use them again anyway.