Do Die Springs loose strength over time?

[SteveN452]

I built the die spring landing gear for my Acro Sport II back in the mid 1980s and the airplane now has over 750 hours and several thousand of landings. I used the die springs available from Aircraft Spruce. The springs were 6 inches long when new. Now with the weight of the aircraft (1030 empty), the springs are 5 1/4 inches long. See photo for details.

Has anyone else changed out their die springs over time? The plane flys and lands just fine it just appears the springs may have lost some of their strength over the last 30 years.

Thoughts?

 

[LauraJ]

 

[Dennis Flamini]

 

[SteveN452]

 

[Dennis Flamini]

 

[gha111]

 

[Lotahp1]

 

[planebuilder]

 

[Dana]

 

[crankyklingon]

 

[EAABipe40FF]

 

[Dennis Flamini]

 

[SteveN452]

 

[crankyklingon]

 

[crankyklingon]

 

[TFF1]

 

[crankyklingon]

 

[Vilhelm]

 

[TFF1]

 

[crankyklingon]