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Cutting my springs; How many coils do I cut out of my stock springs in order to lower it 2 inches?
Topic Started: Nov 26 2015, 12:06 AM (1,452 Views)
Shawn_g_34
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I do still need to be Able to fit 175/65/14 tires and rims under it after its lowered so let me know if that is too much to lower it and not rub.
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Old Man


I cut 3/4 coil off of my '91 'Vert all 4 corners. Dropped it one inch all around
Still rides good, any more cut off and it would be bottoming out at every bump.

NOTE: anything over 1 1/2 inches drop may need special camber adjustable bolt installed or the camber will be too far out.

Try cutting one coil off and see how you like it. you can always go back and cut more off if you want but if you go too much then its $$$ for a full set of springs.
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Woodie
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2 inches is an awful lot, don't think you want to go that far. It would look great, but not work very well. I cut one off the front and 3/4 off the back and ended up about an inch and a quarter lower then stock. That was on a GEN3 car, so slightly different from yours. If you cut more than one coil off the rears, they'll be able to fall out.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

aftermarket springs use "dead" coils progressively wound into them at the bottoms of the springs. essentially, when the weight of the car is on the springs the dead coils compress to where they are touching. that maintains the stack height to keep the coils from popping out when they are uncompressed.

it's difficult to use cut coils springs for extreme lowering (over about an inch) without doing a lot of other work to keep the springs in their perches.

when i built a track suspension for my red vert i had to use excursion limiting cables on the front strut assemblies and heavy duty limiting straps on the rear control arms to keep the springs in position. i also had to fabricate upper strut mounts for the front that allowed for camber correction.

for a 2 inch drop the camber bolts used on the front struts' lower mounting points won't allow enough correction even if you use the bolts in the upper and lower bolt holes.

the other thing you will be fighting is that your tire selection is much too tall. the side walls on 65 series tires flex an awful lot anyway. a way better tire choice would be 175 or 185/ 60 14 or 55 14 which have a shorter side wall that will keep side forces in check.

i have done some intensive suspension studies on these cars and built my share of lowered suspensions. years ago while i was doing this work i used a g tech monitor to look at lateral g forces. performance-wise there's not a lot to be gained below a 1 1/2" drop without doing a whole bunch of other work. huge drops look cool but those types of suspensions can turn into a hairy botched job pretty fast.

if you like having to get out of your car every time you cross railroad tracks to kick the springs back into place, go for it. ;)
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Shawn_g_34
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Thanks for all the replies. I honestly had no idea how much I should drop it down. See it's already slammed to the ground by the previous owner. He put another set of cut springs on it and it does scrape everywhere I go really bad and the tires rub as well. He didn't align the car after he did it either so it's way out of align and an alignment shop can't even get it up in the rack. Thank God I have the stock springs too but when I change them I still want to keep it lowered just not quite as extreme. I also need new tires as well so I can change the tire size as well. The tire shop that I talked too acted like the 175/65/14 would be the smallest combo. But I am open to suggestions. How many coils should I cut out to be reasonable?
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Murf 59
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If the springs are stock, do 1 coil in the front, aobut 3/4 of a coil in the back. This will drop it down about 2" or so. That is if the springs have not already been modded. I have a set 4 stock springs that will fit a 91 if you need? PM if you need springs.
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Shawn_g_34
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Okay so I took my back wheel off today and found the spring just sitting in there. I just picked it up and took it out. It wasn't held down at all. Is this normal?? Everything I have read says I would need a spring compressor and the spring I took out has half the amount on coils the stock one has on it. I just need to know if I can just put the stock one back in there like that before I put it all back together. this just seems a lot easier than it should be so far.
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Metromightymouse
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Powdercoat Wizard

Obviously they cut too much off of those springs. New springs will need to be compressed to fit.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

if you are in northern kentucky i am just around 200 miles north of you in ohio.

i have a full set of oem swift gt springs and the rear 2 springs sitting in my garage that i'd let go at a reasonable price. ;)

you could probably take a 2 hour drive to pick them up cheaper than shipping them.
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Shawn_g_34
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t3ragtop
Nov 27 2015, 09:04 AM
if you are in northern kentucky i am just around 200 miles north of you in ohio.

i have a full set of oem swift gt springs and the rear 2 springs sitting in my garage that i'd let go at a reasonable price. ;)

you could probably take a 2 hour drive to pick them up cheaper than shipping them.
I have a full set of stock springs that came with the car, but thanks anyways.
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Shawn_g_34
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So approximately how much will it lower my car if I cut one coil out of each spring?
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Old Man


Shawn_g_34
Nov 27 2015, 11:10 PM
So approximately how much will it lower my car if I cut one coil out of each spring?
pay attention. Go back and read the first sentence in post #2.
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Shawn_g_34
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I have 2 springs that have bigger coils but thinner wire and 2 with tighter coils and bigger wire. Which one goes on the front and which one goes on the back? I haven't ever had them on the car so I am not sure.
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Cofi
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Take some pics of it lowered!
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Shawn_g_34
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Cofi
Nov 29 2015, 08:51 PM
Take some pics of it lowered!
I will once I get it all done... In planning on working on it tomorrow. Does anyone have the answer to my last question? I have 2 springs with tighter coils and slightly bigger wire and 2 with wider coils and smaller wire. Which is front and which is back?
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