probably best to talk to spring maker as to why you shouldnt cut'em,they'll explain it better, its to do with the shape of the spring on the last couple of coils. i regreted it mostly cause its illegal over here,
I have long driven shortened springs and was often dissatisfied,still too high but often too low.now i have airride and my own rules.: DI know it's taboo for many guys.
Finally starting on the drop. Got the fronts out and getting ready to cut em. Not sure if I should start with one or 1 1/2 coils. Any input? One just seems to little looking at it.
Well I started with one and it didn't drop it much at all do I pulled me out cut another 1/2 out and now it looks great but ...... Now the snubbers are fractions away from the stop do I find some other ones and try again pull off the snubbers or what!? It looks sweet as hell now
Shorter bump stops. The shortest I know of are 3/8". http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ens-9-9132g/overview/
You could start by taking a hacksaw blade and reduce the snubbers to 1/2. Its not a real good idea to totally eliminate them because its murder on the parts when steel hits steel.
Sweet! Thanks for the help I was dreading the wife's reaction if I had too go buy new springs I wouldn't hear the end of it I can hear it now "remember the last time you tried to do it yourself" in the mean time could I just trim mine up? And second trim the metal where the bump stop?
any tips on the rears other than el camino spring? i read on one of the other forums that i could cut them as well just make sure i do the tops. they are pigtailed at both ends but they were saying that the spring pocket on the top is big enough and they sit back up inside just fine. any thoughts??
Did you measure ride height pre and post cut? Curious to see how much drop you gout out of 1.5 coil cut. Thx
i didnt actually measure but it was right at about 3 inches. i did lots of measuring and stuff about a week ago and 3 inches was what i was looking to achieve to put the white walls right at the top opening of the wheel well. now my only concern is suspension travel. my bump stops are currently barely touching the frame. hope that modifying them will work.
You might also try rear Jeep Wrangler springs for the rear. 97-06 are pig tailed on both ends. 07-current are too but more on one end than the other... kinda beehive shaped. The 07+ came in different spring rates for 2 or 4 door and the Rubicon for 2and 4 door. The nice thing about Jeep springs is they are often replaced by a lift spring before they ever get worn out. I have a set of each of the above if you need me to measure anything.
what was the outcome of the bumpstops? have you cut them down and has it made any difference? got the same problem on mine
Haven't had a chance yet work has me busy. Plus i snapped one of the bolts connecting my sway bar to my a-arms. How is the ride on yours sitting this way? How did you drop your rear el camino springs or??
My dad had a '53 Buick in the late 50's that they lowered by heating the coils. They stacked a few bricks under the bumpers on each corner and heated the springs until the car rested on the bricks... I bet it rode wonderfully Looks like you have a nice Buick, post some pictures of the whole car!
Mine sits on the bumpstops too,i cut 1 1/2 coils like you,i have had two aluminium top hat spacers made to fit in my springs to lift them 20mm,still got to fit them but i might try cutting the bumpstops first.
Just located a set of Free rear Jeep springs and a set of free Chevy truck springs through my regional truck group. Thanks for the info guys! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Allright... the dropping is complete! so it was 1 1/2 coils lopped of the front springs and el camino springs for the rear. Took her for a test run and am happy with the ride. one the rear got dropped it took enough weight off the front so it no longer sits on the stops. I also replaced the swaybar links and bushings on the front while i had it apart.