lmao.gif Well THAT didn't take as long as I thought it would! nana.gif

The cars bouncing down the road have been done by cutting springs too far, or by heating springs... OR by installing hydraulic actuators instead of shock absorbers. If you cut the coil so it doesn't rest in the perch, there is a hazard. If it rests in the perch with 800lbs of car on it, it's fine.

The spring rate is too low because even when the shocks are fresh, it goes BOoooiiIIINNNG vs. bOINk when you hit something, and it wallows through a turn. Uprated rear sway bars only go so far eh. The roads around here are fairly flat, and my tax dollars keep the potholes full. A bit of a stiffer suspension is not going to hurt a city car. Besides which it's MY car. I drive it and I think it's too soft. If it rides a little more harshly, and I wanted that, who loses?

It increases the spring rate, sure. It doesn't increase it 50% to cut one coil.

You know what else lowers ride hight and center of gravity, and increases spring rate? Aftermarket springs.

Trust me, I saw at least one, maybe as many as three (it was late) people in the dead threads on this board alone, saying they had done this and liked it enough not to spend money on full coilovers immediately. I also saw about an even split amongs F-body and prior models of (other car type) owners who had done this and liked the result, vs. those who gave responses like all those above. If money for aftermarket springs comes my way, and doesn't get converted into guns/ammo, it might go into a new set of springs/struts or coilovers. For now, imma try it.

DTN, you measured a stock spring didn't you? Do you want to save me some work measuring and post up the important numbers?

 

well just so you know the stock springs are not progressive. Cutting a coil off isn't going to get you to a stiffer portion of spring sooner/increase your spring rate. The only way you are going to get a btter spring rate is to buy aftermarket springs, no if ands or buts about it.



If you really are going to do this make sure when you cut them they sit in the perch perfectly and also make some sort of braket to hold the top coil in place. Doing those two things will get rid of the two major risk factors in doing this. that is how those old hotrod guys you refered to do it. One more time, just cutting coils out of your stock spring is not going to increase spring rate.

 

It won't increase load capacity (that will remain the same).

One of the variables determining spring rate is the number of active coils. Changing the number of active coils is going to affect the rate. Note that I didn't say anything about changing how progressive the springs are.

"Better" is in the eye of the beholder, my friend wink1.gif

 

I say go for it, you have done some research, you know what you have to do and how to do it

i mean the worst that can happen is you crash and die... which happens ANYTIME anyone puts a vehicle in gear, only here you could be increasing your chances

had a kid on wednesday heat up his springs on his camry with a torch, so he could shrink them, i think its dumb, but apparently thats how his dad has always lowered all his cars (know where not to buy cars from now)

try it out, you have stock springs like you said, if it doesnt work out then you change them out, otherwise go out and cut them, and post some reviews

 

I had a reason. It was GK spring, the front sat perfectly, but the rears were too wide. After a conversation with non-technical technical support, we came to the conclusion that the part number was correct and they had been cut too long. So, I cut the spring down 1 rung and it fit perfectly into the slot as it should have. But the ride was too low because the spring rate was for a GK tiburon. It looked like I had a dead body in the trunk. It turned out the springs were mislabeled as 97+ tiburons and it should have been 2003+ tiburons. When I found out what the ACTUAL problem was, I bought some Eibach springs and have been pretty happy since.

You can do it in the front, but the rear springs are somewhat conical. The rears get smaller at the top. The base won't fit into it's slot when you cut them down.

 

Hey finally someone comes around with some sense! laugh.gif

The front I definitely want to come down. The rear we'll have to see. It looks jacked up with the standard trans. in there, because of all the weight it's missing. It's not as bad as the parts car with no engine either, but it's not as low as it was, stock, and stock was pretty high.

The rears, on the bottom, don't they have a "coil end goes here" spot on the perch? What's to prevent cutting them, unless you mean they get too narrow too quickly to remove even 1 coil? Time for some more photos.

 

If your struts arent anlready dead, they will be if you do this. They are adjusted for stock spring heigt. When you lower the springs(even with after market springs) they will bottom out and die. This is when your car will start bouncing.

I say dont do it. You can get springs pretty cheap on ebay or used on this forum.

 

At 132,000 miles, I'm pretty sure my stock struts are gone, haha. Especially since they fail the 1-bounce test. I'm not too worried about them! smile.gif

1" lower isn't going to kill anything unless you are driving off-road. Especially if it's only the 1" I went UP when I went on a transmission diet. There's what, 3", 4" of travel, stock? If I ever decide to replace the struts I'll go with some that were designed for whatever the final drop is.

 

Im not sure why you even posted this question your going to do it no matter what anyone tells ya and you seem to know more then anyone on here so do whatever you want and quit tying up bandwidth.

My rant for the day thank you.

 

someones parts didnt come in ^^^^ nana.gif


it seems like you have done the research.. although. i would do it on a spare set of springs and not your only set of springs, in case you have issues. i wish i woulda tried something like that with my srt. my aftermarket springs are progressive but the spring rate is nuts on bumps and 'meh' roads.

though, my stock rear springs only had like 4 coils, so if i cut like 1.5 coils, my car woulda been sitting on the ground.