flexible components and parameters

I have a stack of belleville washers and want to control the height as a
flexible component. I need a dimension to drive it but want to enter in a
parameter (example: compressed = 7.0 ) as the variable that drives the
flexible dimension. How can this be done?

 

that way I only have to change the parameter number and my whole stack in
the assembly updates.

 

I think it might work if you went into 'Tools>Relations' and put in something like
d4=Compressed where d4 is the controlling dimension. Then you could change the
parameter Compressed and have the controlling dim update. There's also a bunch of
different things you can select to make the component variable. One is parameters,
although, I don't see how this would work without somehow equating a paramter to a
dimension.

 

yeah, but then wouldn't changes to d4 modify my drawing even if it was
selected as a flexible dimension after the relation was added. I did find a
solution to my problem though, I selected the first spring washer overall
height dimesion as flexible and modified it to its working height. Then I
made the distance between two datums (equalling the overall height) on the
other washers flexible based on the distance of the first spring. Now I just
have to update the flexible dim for the first spring and it changes the
working stack height of them all.