What a coil spring actually does
A coil spring is tempered steel between the body and the wheel. It stores a bump as deflection and gives that energy back, which is what holds ride height. It is not the shock, not a leaf pack, and not an air bag. A MacPherson strut uses a coil, and the coil is not the whole strut.
Ride height is a coil of tempered steel already carrying the car. The wire sits between the body and the wheel, on a perch or an axle, or wrapped around a strut tube. Parked, the coil is compressed. The gap at the fender is that compression.
The fat spring in that stack is the coil. The disc and the caliper are the brake. Inside the windings, the tube is a damper, and it is not what sets the height. A bump puts more load on the wire. The coil shortens, and the extra energy sits in the steel until the wheel comes back down. Then the spring gives it back. Take the damper off the corner and that energy comes back as bounce. The corner still holds the car up.
On this 1932 Ford the coil has a perch of its own, and the shock is a separate tube beside it. The spring stores the bump. The shock meters oil and kills the bounce. A sway bar ties the left wheel to the right and twists when the body rolls. Parked, it carries none of the weight. A leaf spring is stacked plates, still the usual pack under a pickup bed. An air spring holds that weight with pressure in a bag. A torsion bar twists a straight rod instead of shortening a coil. A MacPherson strut is the coil, the damper, and the steering pivot in one tower. Pull the coil out of that tower and the tube can still locate the wheel. It cannot hold the car up.
Under the back of this 2005 Jeep Liberty the coils sit between the axle and the frame. No leaf pack. No bag. No strut tower turning with the wheel. Break a coil, or let it sag, and that corner drops. The tire rubs. The gap on that side closes. A worn damper leaves the height where it was and lets the car float after the bump, because the spring already gave the energy back and nothing turned it into heat.