Cutting springs question???
 

What all has to be done when cutting the front springs on f bodies? I was wanting to lower it down just a bit maybe one loop out of each spring. The front looks a little harder than the rear. I was just wondering what i will need or how hard it will be. Any help would be appreciated...

Cutting springs question???
 

I was wondering how hard its going to be to cut the front springs. I wnt to drop it down a little bit but not too much maybe one coil all the way around. Just wondering what I will need or how hard it will be on the front ones.

Dont be stupid. You would need new shocks and higher rate springs to lower right. If you got to just wack off some spring.

dont even try to do this. Go by strano springs and koni shocks

One coil out of each is going to hurt that much?

You'd be shortening the travel without compensating with a higher spring rate, so you'd be putting more stress on the shocks, possibly bottom out more, and make it ride worse.

I would not do it, but if you want to do it use a cutoff wheel, and start with half of a coil first.

Save up and do it right.

:werd:

If you're gonna half-ass it, at LEAST heat the springs.

I cut the coils on my hotchkis springs for my 69' (handled ALOT better) Not sure i would do it on these springs though.

hardest part is aligning the shock assembly into the a arms and bolting it back up.
cutting the spring with a disc grinder takes a few minutes with the correct cutting wheel. wear eye protection.
i used the loaner spring compressor from autozone and it was a cinch to compress the spings.
use some of this stuff. its from gunk. i filled the whole top nut area with it for 20 minutes and it came off like butter. make sure it is this style and not the aerosol. the liquid is a black color. mine has a different label, but i think this pic is just a newer label and same product.

in the past, i've used other stuff like wd40 but it was useless. i've had to cut bolts and shafts in the past but this last time on a shock that was rusted and had never been apart, it came off with ease using this gunk super penetrant.

Wow alot of hatred but anyways who cares man just do it. It is YOUR car and I understand people on this board trying to help but if they have not done it personally then there is no reason to offer advice.
Do you want my advice though?
I cut one coil off of the front and did the hose mod in the rear, stock springs with over 82,000 miles and shocks with over 48,000 miles on them. Been this way for months with no problems at all.
Maybe I did something right because I do not bottom out, it is not bouncy and the ride is firmer but almost feels stock. It looks alot better and I get alot of compliments on it even from people who have high dollar ($1000+) setups.
BUT and before people jump on me...If you are racing alot or canyon carving in our pigs then getting a high dollar setup is the way to go BUT if you have a daily driver and just want it to look good without sacrificing too much money then go for it. If you dont like it THEN you can get whatever aftermarket setup you want.

Anyways good luck on whatever you decide.

someone cut there springs and then made and adjustable panhard rod to bring the rear to center and he said he's had no problems when driving, search for his post, i think it said cut springs or something

i cut my front springs to lower it 2.5-3" and the rears were cut very uneven to try to even out the car's lean. but overall drop was about 3-4" in the rears. drove it for over 40k miles like this, no major problems besides killing the front shocks travel which sucked going over speed bumps and such. it hurt sometimes over some bad roads but i got used to it. a few weeks ago, i finally blew a cheap autozone shock that i bought used. overall, it was ok but not the best ride since i was using stock shocks on 3 corners and the autozone one on the fourth. i just went konis and strano springs about 2 weeks now and don't feel that it is worth it with the initial settings i have on the shocks. i would recomend the strano springs since it's a decent drop that will let any shock still have enough travel. my biggest problem with the suspension was too much of a drop and not leaving much play left in the front shock. but cutting springs to lower a car say 1.5-2" should be no problem. this is my experience and i haven't put this up in the suspension forum because i need to adjust my settings and see if it will get better. then i'll post a review. right now, if someone paid me full price for the shocks and springs combo i paid, they'd be off by tomorrow. so that being said, i'd go back to my old setup and be fine even with the major drop using cut springs. i need a little more time on this setup and maybe drive some other cars to compare, but right now, i'd rather have money in my pockets over what this combo has given me. but like i said, maybe it just needs more time and adjustment.
so go ahead and cut your springs an inch or two worth of lowering and let us know. and do get an adjustable panhard.

Like said the hardest part is getting the spring out.

Cutting is time consuming, I have a tiny air compressor, so I kept runnin gout of air, but it forced my to go slow and keep the coil cooler. You do not want to get the coil hot.

Then it is desciding how much to cut, not enought got to do it twice . . too much . . . then you need new springs.

I cut 1/2 a loop off the top of my SLP eibachs because I felt the front was too high.

Quite easy to cut the front spring but be prepared to bottom out. But it will look good.

i wouldnt do it man just get some springs and shocks. hey you live in athens, nice.

Yep I live in the big city of Athens. I see that you live in Cleveland. I haven't seen your car around, but it's a good lookin car. Thanks everybody for the info, but I just was really wondering how to cut the front springs if I go ahead and do it? I just dont know whats going to be involved in it....if I decide to do it.

This is why I'm asking but it shouldn't bottom out that bad w one coil cut out, should it?