heating coils is not for dummies.

Sorry I just read in another post that you shouldn't heat coils and when I hear or read this I have to rant.

So for my rant!!! I have done thousands of wheel alignments and and hundreds of springs and all the rest of the shit that goes with it. I test drive all before and after. I know how thousands of different cars handle, ride, and respond. So about the heating thing. My On Topic (OT) 62 fairlane I lowered the front three inches with heat. I lowered the rear 7 inches with heat and three inch blocks. This was my only car I drove everyday I owned it between ages 21 to 25. I bar hoped, raced, dated, and used this car like a snowmobile/plow. I only drove one other car for 3 spring months when I was building a solid cammed 302 for it. The car handled, rode, and responded better than 75% of the cars that I put lowering springs in. The most important thing about the set up is IT IS A SYSTEM and it has to work together. I had a large front junk yard sway bar on it and all my alignment numbers were dialed in and all my parts were tight and don't forget pimp shocks.

Heating coils is free if they fail you are not going to loose control and crash they will only collapse on themselves. If you can take your springs out and nothing hits the ground your are good. This is why all cars should have bump stops. Everytime a vehicle is lowered bump stops should be checked. Riding on bumpstops is re'tarded and tires start to loose road contact.

About the metalurgy bullshit you dont heat the entire spring dumbass. Only heat as many coils as needed and keep them close together either top or bottom. Heat one coil at a time until results are satisfactory. Yes you change the spring rate of the heated sections. Use shocks and sway bars to compensate for "weak" springs. You now have shorter springs with a stack of dead coils on top or bottom which act like comfort coils IMO. Ever see springs with tightly wound coils and coils that are farther apart those are vairiable rate springs parts of the spring are stiffer that other parts.

STOP as soon as the cars starts going down. Let it settle measure every corner untill all are at desired level.
DON'T do this on any inclines, declines, or slants.
DON'T go to far.
LEAVE room for settling.
JOUNCE the vehicle alot while doing this it will help keep the tires from preventing suspension movement causing inacurate results.
DRIVE several miles and several times not down fresh asphalt get the car bouncing.
RECHECK after several miles and several trips adjustment may be required.
DRIVER don't forget a car does not go down the road without one if you adjust any suspension without adding the weight of a driver it will not be correct when when someone is driving it. Make sure your aligner sits in the car. How many people have heard the story about the fat person complaint "My car pulls to the left"?
TAKE the spare engine out of the trunk before getting an aligment.
ADJUST your steering box.
USED shocks have a wear pattern and when a cars ride hieght changes the shocks will not work the same. I was told Monroes have a hour glass design and have to be in the center of travel to be effective so in a lowered spring situation they don't work so I use Gabriels.
MAKE sure you are not hitting your bumpstops to hard after adjusting. Drive it and check contact marks.
TRAVEL is now shorter.
USE stiffer shocks if your car feels mushy.
TRIAL and error is the best way to find out what works and what doesn't.
DON'T listen to people about what they think rides good and what doesn't it is an opinion.
FOLLOW These guide lines and you should be doing doughnuts in no time.

If it doesn't work find the cause. If you do four other things at the same time reverse engineer.

FUNNY STORY=On my Off Topic (OT) 89 cavalier I had when I was 18 and working on your own car in the shop was a big no no. When I put new front struts in I cut one front tapered coil and it fit like complete shit. I was lucky I got the strut back together. So I put it in and thinking i was going to then buy new springs some other day I could sneak my car in. I slammed it in and heated the other side I put 20,000 miles on that car and never even considered replacing them because it rode and bounced straight. Mismatch shocks or struts and it does not work.


THIS IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO LOWER A VEHICLE. THE BEST WAY IS TO HAVE CUSTOM SPRINGS MADE FOR YOUR EXACT CAR TO YOUR EXACT NEEDS BY A SPRING MAKING PIMP.

I've lowered several other cars with heat and all have had similar results.

Cutting old coils is a waste of time and money if involved and how do you fine tune your hieght take the coils out again. Cutting new coils is even dumber buy the right coils in the first place.
Sorry about the short book I just wrote.

 

But I'm an old school gasser nut... I like the way they sit.

 

Low cars don't work 4 me here. Thumpin' and bashin around- yuk.

 

No such thing as "to low"

 

how about broken? any such thing as broken?

 

How about no sense of humour Any such thing as no sense of humour??????
I dont really agree with rockabillyrodders technique,but it makes sense that if the spring is going to fail,the car is only going to drop as far as the bumpstop will allow.Like I said-I dont agree with it-but it makes sense.
Me personally-I would prefer to get a "pimp" to make springs to my specs,or airbag the vehicle in question-but that is just my opinion!

 

Huh? If the springs fail you won't crash because the bump stop limits travel, but riding on the bump stops is "re'tarded" because it could cause the tire to lose contact with the road.

I'm pretty sure that anytime the vehicle dynamics change violently (as in the case of a broken spring...bump stops or not) there's a possibility for an accident. And last time I checked, a tire losing contact with the road surface was a pretty dangerous thing...unless the laws of physics just don't apply in the Badger State.

 

What a bunch of contradictory crap..............were you drunk when you wrote this mess?????

Ray

 

yes it is...

 

The doctor prescribed those meds for a reason. I'd advise not going off them again.

Frank

 

To all who responded negatively...

I believe "Hot Rod Safety Police" is a contradictory term. If perfect safety was the goal we would all drive Volvos.

Of course we would drive at the posted speed limit, no radio to distract, seat belt cinched up tight, sitting like Mary Poppins upright in the seat with both hands on the wheel at all times.

Do you have three-point belts and airbags in that Hot Rod?

Sometimes I just want to lay back and cruise in my loud lowered sled... torched springs and all. Being cool is unsafe sometimes.

 

Just getting out of bed in the morning begins our exposure to a series of risks.........risks that can be managed to some degree to increase our chances of returning to our bed at day's end.

Sure, we all take risks............but it reminds me of the old Aviator's adage......"There are OLD pilots...........and there are BOLD pilots............but there are no OLD, BOLD pilots"

Ray

 

That is one of the top ten greatest things I have ever heard!!!!!

 

Young guys come on this forum looking for advice and knowledge. Giving incorrect or dangerous opinions can be disastrous. There are consequences. Learn to do it correctly. You are not the only one on the road with their lives at stake here.
This has absolutely nothing to do with being "cool", and if you want to go out of your way to be unsafe, then please do it on roads not shared by others.

 

Yeah but there is a big difference between being unsafe and stupid. I don't tempt fate and I don't do negligence either.

 

It kinda sounds like he could be bucking for the Darwin Award, doesnt it?

 

He must have been smokin' something when he started this thread.

 

I wouldn't use this technique on a bet...

My brother thought this was a good way to lower his truck. He did exactly what you wrote. Worked fine until the heated area fatigued and broke. The truck collapsed on the right front, causing him to momentarily leave the road and ending in the ditch. No real damage, but could have been a lot worse.

Heating a spring until it collapses causes the metal to no longer have the properties of a spring. Then, like any other piece of steel, it will flex back and forth until it breaks. It will last for a short while because there is still some spring left in the unheated area of the spring.

 

OP should take a Metallugry course. Titlt of this post should be ""Heating coils IS for dummies"

 

Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt...

Oops! Too Late! better luck next time....

 

hack!!!!!!!!!

 

One time I farted and it smelled just like freshly baked chocolate cake.

I'm not betting on that happening twice.

Heating coils is stupid, not cool. Sorry, it's just too easy to swap in other coils or trim what you have.

Oh, just a heads-up to the OP: there's a huge difference between 2 pills every 8 hours and 8 pills every 2 hours. Reading comprehension: it's your friend

 

No comment!

 

Gee, I wish I was as smart as you think you are...

 

I love the H.A.M.B.!!! Sorry for bunchin panties now we should all get to work to prove everyone wrong. BTW automatics are better than stick and four doors are better hotrods. HAHA. But seriously it's all just a matter of opinion and opinions don't count. Anyone can dump a clutch for a burnout and anyone can make a two door look good.
As for one spring failure on the front yeah not good!
Always be prepared for an accident they can happen anytime.
So keep your knuckles white and your nails dirty becuase failures are unaviodable and you will have to get dirty repairing them.
Remember if you modify anything junk you might just fix it so why not try and if it fails your time was not wasted if you had fun or learned something. Me? I learn all day long and have enough fun to scare crazies away. Just think of the guy who bought the first 32 coupe for a hotrod and all his friends said coupes are for chickens only roadsters can go fast. Always look at both views. Only dummies spend 300 bucks on springs for a 300 car. So heat it is for me because all my cars are junk but at least I am having fun and I don't find fun in cars I can't cut up and modify. So back to playing with my junk, boy I sure hope I don't break anything on them.