I gotta replace the coils on the front of My 50 Chevy. When I installed the dropped uprights, I cut the 50+ year old coil springs the same amount, but it leans a little. I was looking at Jamco and Eaton who both offer dropped coil springs, But I'm wondering what the difference is between these and a new stock set that I cut. If anyone has good results either way their willing to share it would be appreciated.
Cut plenty of coils. Don't be afraid to use a torch, despite what some might say it only affects the temper within 2-3 inches of the cut. Won't really make any difference in the spring. Go slow, you can always cut more. If you're trying to fix the lean make sure you've let the springs settle before cutting anymore. It may level itself out with a bit of driving.
Everyone says "go slow", "cut a half coil at a time", etc.... I say BS. I cut two to start & buy new springs if that was too much. JH
if you cut them with a torch and didnt cut them exactly the same amount of time one will be less tempered then the other. always cut it with a cutoff wheel or a grinder.
Cut until it rides on the stops (you have stops, right?). Drive to competent alignment shop. Drive more.
Again. Look at the heat affect zone. 1 1/2" maybe 2" from cut at most. If your not getting up to straw color, you're not affecting the temper. Do your homework. Metalurgy is not Voodoo.
When I used to cut them, would cut at the same place as end (one complete loop)to let it fit in the perch the same and would put it in a five gal bucket and fill it with water untill the cut mark so as to not heat anymore of the spring than necessary.
Always remember cutting 50 year old springs is cutting springs that have already sprung and the car is already lowered simply by weakening the spring by age and use. The car is probably 2-4 inches or more lower than a stock one and doesn't have much spring in what it has. Always best to buy a stock spring if you can and cut it. That way you have the correct spring action AND the height(or lack of it) that you want. Measuring the original springs will give you the wire size, style, O.D., and at rest length of the springs you need. Get into the MOOG spring catalog at your local CarQuest, NAPA, or O'Reilly's store and go to the back pages where the spring specs are listed. Find the style of spring you need then check through the listings to find a spring with same wire size, O.D., and at rest length. See if the spring rate is close to the original and if so buy them. Also check to see if there is a spring that matches but is already 2-3-4-whatever inches shorter than your stock ones, that'll work too and eliminate the cutting.
Its funny, looks like most people chimed in to explain their way to go about cutting springs and didnt answer the real question asked: Pre-dropped coils or cutting newer coils? First thing to check are the ends of your coils. Does the coil spring wrap tighter at one or both ends? Was the coil bent and shaved to create a flat bottom or top? Does your coil cup have a recess in it to except a cut coil end? Once you figure that out, think this over. Im using very simple math to make it easier. Lets say your spring has ten coils in it. Uncompressed the spring is 10" high. Put a load of 1000 Lbs on it and it compresses 1". That means the spring rate is 1000 Lbs per inch, or 100 Lbs per coil. Okay, now cut the coil spring in half, leaving 5 coils. Put the same 1000 Lbs load and it and now the pring rate is 200 Lbs per coil, resulting in a much stiffer spring and ride. As far as heat when cutting, the coil will be effected no matter how you cut it, unless you use a method that doesnt create heat, like water jetting. When you apply heat to metal it anneals the metal. That means that the strength is leaving the metal. This method is used when someone wants to easily work the metal into a shape. The heat topic is, how much heat will really effect it and how bad? Well, heres just one example: My dad cut his 4 coils on his '51 Ford with a torch. When we were at the beach, one of the rear coils collapsed to the point that the tire was rubbing hard in the wheelwell. My dad had my brother and I both sit on the other side of the back seat and put all of our camping gear in the trunk on that side too so we could limp it home for a 2 hour trip! What happened was the section of the coil that had been annealed from the heat had bent down from the weight, which put added stress on the remaining coils and made their job twice as hard. After bouncing down th road to the beach, it finally gave up. After that he had cutom made lower springs for the car. Same lowered stance, but smooth ride. And guess what.... He HATED it!!!!! He said it rode like a dream boat, but NOT like a hotrod!! The boucing and hard ride was gone and so was the at***ude of the car. So, I guess what this all boils down to is, what kind of ride quality are you after? Smooth? Go with pre-dropped. But.... if you want to really feel your hotrod and brag about your sore back with a smile, knowing that every other new car owner out there doesnt have a clue about what youre experiencing... then cut your coils. Just do it quick, with as little heat as possible. Ive cut coils with a grind wheel and Ive never had one collapse.
I always use a diegrinder to cut coils, doesn't generate enough heat to affect the spring, cut 1/2 turn at a time install loosely and cut again if you don't get the height right the first time, easier to cut again than replace the spring. Car will settle a little as you drive it.
I have cut springs on many old cars and as others have said go conservative and cut again if needed.Its hard to tell how much an old spring is gunna drop per coil.I cut a coil and half from a 60 Chevy car once and it dropped it 3 inches .I have cut a coil and half from others and barely got 2 inches of drop. BTW , i use a cut off wheel to cut them and not a torch ...
there should be a receiver of sorts (an impression in the lower control arm and the upper frame pocket) that the coil sits in at either end that you might have missed with one coil (likely the higher side)
I have purchased dropped coils 3'' for my Olds 1950 and believe me, it's not the good way to go. Chinese **** and the coils keep on sitting down. After 4 months, the A arm is now in contact with the bumper !!! Meaning I have no suspension anymore !!! F word. I will cut my original coils and I'm sure it will be much better than this cheap **** I bought from this US supplier (or chinese **** distributor)...
Seems like good advice here. And why use a torch when cut-off wheels work so well? Lastly, have you tried swapping the coils left / right? More than likely one side of your front end is a little heavier than the other and it might be worth your effort to see if you can put the "weak" spring on the "light" side of the car. Or figure out how to shim the low side? Gary
My take on answering the original question, or giving the same answer already given, in different words... When we bought the 59 it came to us with coils that had been heated to lower it. It was the worst ride in the world and the left front and right rear springs had given up. It was a **** shoot what that car was going to do at any given moment. I bought "Lowered" springs for the back. The theory is that the springs are engineered to have the same spring rate as the originals, while lowering the stance. As mentioned, when you cut a spring, you affect the spring rate. It stiffens the ride. The lowered springs ****ed. It was as if they were engineered from a "sprung" (weight on) measurement. I put them in, they looked very short. I dropped the car down and was immediately on the stops. Talked to the company and they told me the springs were correct, that my car must have been modified some other way. I sent them pictures, argued, then sent them the springs and got my money back. I bought a set of stock springs from Flat Top Bob, hacked two coils off of them WITH A DIE GRINDER, ground the cut end down a little so it wouldn't eat at the perch, stuck em in and never looked back. We love the way it rides. Turns out two rounds is a bit much for the front end. So, I took one and a half rounds out of the front springs on my elky but the spring rides funny in the pocket and makes a slurpy straw noise. I'm going to try and flip it to see if that goes away. If not, I'll cut the other half and add a rubber spacer to the top or bottom. There are a few things that lean me towards just cutting stock coils... 1. The steel. They don't make ANYTHING like they used to. Old steel is better steel. 2. Old, big cars road pretty damned squishy. Do you really want to lower it, and not stiffen it? 3. $$$ As for using a torch to cut. Sure, you might be able to get away with it, but aside from being lazy, or having a torch and not having a die grinder, why would you? It's not hard at all to cut them with a die grinder. Hell, it wouldn't be that hard to cut them with a decent hack saw.
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