I keep seeing posts about dual springs not being dual rate because they have no crossover rings which makes no since to me. How is a dual spring not a dual rate? you have two rates which when combined makes the final rate? All a cross over ring does is allow adjustment of when the top spring transfers to the longer lower spring, if the upper spring is tuned right (the right weight and length) then you don’t necessarily need a cross over to adjust it because the top spring will coil bind basically doing the same as a crossover ring.

When the top spring "coil binds" it is no longer in the picture and the lower spring is doing all the work. A cross over can be adjusted to engage the lower spring sooner by bypassing the top spring sooner but if this is not needed the cross over and the tuning spent adjusting it is wasted. 9–9

If a shock is bottoming out to soon a set of cross overs can help by taking the small spring out of the equation sooner but if the shocks are working as they should without the cross over then a cross over is not needed?

I can see a cross over being beneficial if you want to really fine tune your setup and I can see it being beneficial if the spring rate is off (or top springs to long) where you can then adjust the crossovers to get the spring rate closer (or springs shorter)to where it needs to be.

My question is why is a dual spring not a dual rate without cross over rings? Even if both springs are the same rate they are still a dual rate and will have a combined rate of different from each individual spring.

example: a 250 over a 250 will not have the same spring rate as a single 250lbs spring. Reason is because springs are rated at lbs per inch, meaning it takes 250lbs to compress a 250 through 1" of travel so at 6" travel it is at 1500lbs of pressure. so a setup with 250/250 will work together for a softer ride and at 250lbs of pressure the shock will travel 2". Make since? probably not but 250lbs will compress each spring 1" and seeing their is two springs that means two inch of compression. Now will anyone ever use a 250/250 setup? Most likely not but for example it works.. I hope this helps someone under stand springs. And I hope someone with a little more knowledge than me steps in with more info.