Just read a post about cutting coils to lower a car. I have heard of this being done before but heard it wasn't a good thing to do. What are the pros and cons of this, and what do you use to cut them. I know that sounds like a dumb question but is using a chop saw better than a torch?
Cutting coils is one of the oldest Kustom tricks going. When you cut the spring you shorten it. That raises the spring rate. Cute the coil with a cut off wheel......keeps the heat down. And just let it cool down....do not try to cool it faster by splashing water on it. Cut just 1 coil and put it back....see out it looks.....and then decide if you need to cut another
FYI- One coil cut out on my stock 50 Plymouth dropped it 1.5 inches. Probably be different sepending on your specifics, but be cautious so you don't make your springs useless. Some cars, including 40's-early 50's Mopars you can cut 1/2 coil at a time.
Well personally I will use a torch & heat the spring while still installed,(do I hear rocks being thrown my way) I have done this with numerous personal cars & have never had a spring fail after years of use, the thing that I like is you can do a little bit @ a time then stand back & see how it looks, when you cut the spring it has to come out of the car which is labor intensive & you risk tearing ball joint/ tie rod grease boots & if you dont like it after its installed then you have to pull it back out & either replace the spring because you went to far or cut it again to go lower. Put the car on stands or a lift,I usually start by removing any rubber bumpstops if close by or covering them with layers of tin foil, I start usually @ about a 1/2 coil from the bottom & heat a 2" or 3" section until the spring compresses the hot section flush, than repeat that on the other side using the same method, let them naturally cool & set the car on the ground, bounce it a few times, roll it back or foreward a foot or so to let the car settle & stand back to figure out if thats where you want it, if its still to high then jack it up & do it another 1/4 coil or so. I'm not saying that this the correct way to do it but personally I have never had a problem going this route, altho I have made the mistake of cutting springs to far & having to pony up$ for new ones so I could start from scratch, my $.02
There is an easier way to cut front springs without takin'em out at all.Get your self one of those threaded spring compressers that go through the shock hole in the frame and hook it to the spring about 2 coils from the bottom,then draw the spring up out of the lower "A"arm with a big as impact.Once the spring is up enough you can trim it off with a torch 'watch your heat though'.I would'nt cut more than a half a coil at a time .
[ QUOTE ] There is an easier way to cut front springs without takin'em out at all.Get your self one of those threaded spring compressers that go through the shock hole in the frame and hook it to the spring about 2 coils from the bottom,then draw the spring up out of the lower "A"arm with a big as impact.Once the spring is up enough you can trim it off with a torch 'watch your heat though'.I would'nt cut more than a half a coil at a time . [/ QUOTE ] I have cut coils a 1000 times or more and never thought of that !!! Thanks !!!
I've heated 'em and cut 'em both. Either method changes your steering geometry, and with either method you will probably have to come up with shorter shocks. Do either too much (on the front) and you loose the abil***y to align the front end. That's probably the biggest problem that and the fact that you loose a little springing ability (ride or comfort) but all of the above is going to be your biggest concern any way you lower one, and I suppose that ride is not that big a concern unless your from the Lexus set. All that said I prefer to cut the springs myself. Its just a personal preferance, and I normally try to cut them with a cut off wheel or and angle grinder. I have done the squash 'em and clip em with a torch trick with no problems. I don't see why a cutoff saw wouldn't work, if you can get the spring in there. But you should be aware if you nick the spring somewhere else other than where you want to cut it it will break off right there when you're driveing it. You can tell approximatly how much a coil is going to drop it if you lay under it while its just sitting and measure the distance between the coils. Its not an exact science but it will get you in the ball park. Some folks say you shouldn't cut more than one coil and I usually try to stay with that myself, but I've heard of folks cutting a bunch off. So its up to you.
The number of coils you cut out of the fronts don't matter except if it's more than two you'll be sitting on the rubber snubbers ALL the time. Do like said above, cut one coil and reinstall and see if it's right. I like to grind the end of the cut coil smooth and slightly rounded so it won't be digging it's way through the bottom of the A arm soon. The front shocks hold the springs in so they won't go anywhere, but if you cut the rears on that 60 Chevy and keep the stock length shocks, when you jack the car up or go over those RR tracks by your house and "get air" the rear end will travel away from the springs entirely and let the springs just fall out on the ground, then the car falls down on the frame bumpers, causing tailbone injuries to the p***engers... etc... I cut two coils out of my 60 Elky. The mufflers are about 2" off the deck right now. I found a short enough shock Monroematic Plus #31000 that's only 19 1/2" eye to eye instead of the 21" the stock one is and it keeps the rear springs where they belong and still allows enough travel/fender clearance to change a wheel. The only thing bout this shock is it has eyes at both ends and the 60 chevy has a cross bar to mount the upper end to the frame. I just pulled the cross bars out of the old shocks and put some electricians "wire snot" conduit lube on them and shoved them into the new shock rings rubber bushing. And they're under $20 too...
Hey orca stay the hell away from my car.... torched springs ride like ***, but then again you probably don't know any better. Cutting is better, but limit the heat, also be aware that cutting will increase the spring rate, i.e. makes it stiffer. Remember anything worth doing is worth doing right.
hey, thanks to everybody that posted. My pops said back in his day they used to heat the springs or put a bunch of bags of sand or concrete in the trunk. They were envious of the guy that had some flat iron to put in his! I'll take it a coil at a time and see how it goes. My baby sits about a foot off the ground right now and that just aint cool. If I can make it out to the LBC get together, she might be sittin lower. Thanks again, Mike.
I had a 60 parkwood wagon a couple years ago, I took 2 coils off the front 3 off the rear. I used stock 76 Cad Deville shocks on the rear and 78-85 elCamino shocks on the front....it was like riding on your couch. That inline would sound great through lake pipes. I had a 53 Chevy with a 235 I split the manifold 2 and 4 and run straights out the back...sounded like a bumblebee on crack cocaine in 1 and 2 gear I lovem if its to loud use a couple tractor mufflers....RP
As far as cut springs go, I've done it a few times with good success. I have a different way of doing it than you guys though. I actually use math to figure out the new springrate and approximate ride height, and cut from there. Here is said formula regarding springrates. ____W^4G K =------- ____8ND^3 K is the spring rate in lb/in w is the diameter of the coil spring in inches G is 12,000,000 for steel springs (which stays constant IIRC) N is active coil numbers (in other words the coils of which are free to compress plus a half of a coil.) D is the diameter of the coil - measured to the center in inches. Another formula which I found, and have used with good sucess is this one. K = spring rate F1 = rated load L1= free height of spring L2 = Compressed height of spring Then do K = F1 over L1-L2 if you know L2. If not, and you know K, use that to calculate L2. L2 = L1 - F1 over K Once you know both K & L2, you can calculate the new rate, being F= K(L1 - L2) F is now the new spring rate, when you use the cut height and compressed height of the spring, as compared to the stock height, if this makes sense. As far as the physcial cutting, I wouldn't use a torch personally. I've used a diegrinder with good sucess before. You can also use a hacksaw with a proper blade, but becarefull not to nick the springs. What I've done in the past is ground a taper into the lower coil to help the spring seat better. If you're anything like me, and drive like a madman, I'd definatly suggest grinding a taper into it, and using a spring lox to secure the thing to the lower seat.
i have a question that i dont think has been addressed....the coils on my car have the top coil bent and tapered so it creates a flat coil for the bases. im ***uming all coils are like this, but when you cut them you lose that nice flat base so how do they sit in the cups without flying out? sorry if thats hard to understand.
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