[rpduc]

Hmmmm, I don't know beans about measuring spring rate, but from a purely methodical standpoint I question the accuracy of your method... I never thought about measuring spring rate myself... I imagine suspension shops have a bit more "sophisticated" apparatus. But if you're determined to DIY wouldn't it be more controlled and accurate to compress the fork with a jack or long lever while it was on a (accurate) scale? Seems like that would be easy enough to rig up.

The most instructional comment on suspension set up I've seen is the "springs hold the bike up and the damping controls how the fork moves."

Wrong spring rate and you end up overcompensating with valving and clickers and the "normal" working range of the fork gets shifted to a less than optimal portion of the stroke.

The spring rate on the rear should be stamped right on the spring up towards the top and you should be able to see it without even taking the shock off. Might have to spin the spring to get a clear look at it.