I hear what you are saying. The factory pinion snubbers are several inches from the floor, but a performance based pinion snubbers should be adjust slightly contacting the floor for a manual trans and about a 1/2" off the floor for an automatic or visa versa. I gave up on them and forget what the DC Chassis book recommends.
At any rate, this close contact effectively stops the travel of the entire front of the spring. The rear of the spring is then limited in its travel too, as it is part of the same spring as the front segment.