Cutting springs.....?

[Octanejunkie]

Whats the opinion on here about cutting your springs for a spot of lowering?
I don't want much of a drop and i don't want to pay £100 for a set of springs.

[4v6]

Bad idea full stop.

Itll mean theres a possibility of the dampers bottoming out inside the strut for one thing.
For another itll mean a mismatched rate between the damper and spring, and for yet another itll mean the possibility of the springs not being clamped tightly between the platforms, so they could jump out of location if you hit a pothole, kerb, or the car goes light like travelling over a humback bridge.
Yet another problem will be an effective increase in spring rates as a shorter spring has less compliance.
Also youre going to have a negative camber increase and youll need some method of readjusting that.

My advice- do the job right, do it once and with parts designed for the job, itll handle better, work better and wont have any particularly dodgy side effects like those mentioned.

[Coxy]

or buy a set of 45mm lowering springs from me!

safer!

[Octanejunkie]

Ow much....?

[Gordon WR]

Originally Posted by Octanejunkie

Whats the opinion on here about cutting your springs for a spot of lowering?

Don't even think about it, if you can't afford a set then leave well alone.

[Coxy]

what I paid, £45 plus postage.

[moomin]

i chopped the springs on the girlfriends fiat it's down 2"s and handles exactly the same as it did before, no knocking, similar amount of body roll, handles pot holes the same as any other tin can fiat. i shorterned the bumpstops as well though

[amanda]

Originally Posted by Octanejunkie

Whats the opinion on here about cutting your springs for a spot of lowering?

Don't even try, you may find out your insurance becomes invalid Do the job properly and get some lowering ones

[Booty]

As Moomin states it will probably be ok for 99.9% of the time, then the .01% when you really require the car to help you out, it won't. Maybe a very small margin but it is a margin I wouldn't want to frigg about with. Fit the proper jobs and grace Coxy's hand with some coin for the correct tools for the job.

[AlanB]

Hi Guys

Originally Posted by 4v6

Itll mean theres a possibility of the dampers bottoming out inside the strut for one thing.
For another itll mean a mismatched rate between the damper and spring, and for yet another itll mean the possibility of the springs not being clamped tightly between the platforms, so they could jump out of location if you hit a pothole, kerb, or the car goes light like travelling over a humback bridge.
Yet another problem will be an effective increase in spring rates as a shorter spring has less compliance.
Also youre going to have a negative camber increase and youll need some method of readjusting that.

All perfectly correct.

All perfectly valid.

All equally applicable to a well- designed set of lowering springs......

However, I have a also had "proper" lowering springs with LOWER spring rates than standard, and had repeated problems with breakages and with springs going "soft" prematurely. At least with modded OE you have some guarantee of the quality, and with a simple bit of arithmetic, you can work out how much stiffer you have made it.

Cut 'em cold, and make sure the ends fit properly into the cups. Precautions for checking damper lengths, spring retention, geometry correction etc are EXACTLY the same as needed with any lowering spring....... If you don't know what is needed, ask a grown-up to help.

Lowering a car by heating the springs with a gas-axe until it settles to the height you want is less recommended.......

AlanB