Choppin coils

[Rustang]

I've been tossing around the idea of lowering the Mustang a bit. I can't afford new coil springs (or at least I can't let the wife know how much new ones run)....money is pretty tight here just like with everyone else.
I've been reading up on it and I know I can do it. I'd like to see it an inch lower at the most. Probably 1 coil would do it. Everyone says "don't do it, it'll mess up the geometry, it'll make it ride rough, bla bla bla." I hardly ever drive it, it sits in the garage mostly. Hell, I only drove it 200 miles last year and it's all from crusing around town occasionally.
Honestly, can ya'll give me your opinions here? Cut or not to cut, that is the question!

Here's how it sits now

[Caveman]

Re: Choppin coils

Cut 'em!

Just don't do what I did.

I.e., make sure you cut ONE coil at a time. '65 Impalas look really cool layin' frame, but they dont drive too well with the headers and oil pan ;D plowing up the parking lot. Oops.

Really rode fine, after I replaced 'em with new ones, which I took ONE coil out of. Lowered it about 1-2".

[ponchoman]

Re: Choppin coils

IMHO don't cut them. New coils aren't THAT expensive. I'd save a few pennies and put Eibach or somebody elses springs in it. That's just me.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Choppin coils

eibach eh ?
to lower the mercury we cut coils and clamp them and have dropped spindles , as well as a cee'ed frame

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Choppin coils

250 for eibach
too rich for my blood

[Mr4Speed]

Re: Choppin coils

Cut 'em! There's no reason not to if you do it right. Don't use a torch-the heat will kill the temper. Use a cutoff wheel or a sawzall-you put the spring in a bucket of water if you like just don't get it too hot. One full coil can be an awful lot at the wheel. You can do a little math and get pretty close the amount of drop you want. Get under the car while it's sitting on it's tires and measure the distance from the a-arm pivot bolts to the CL of the ball joint, then measure from the pivot bolt to the CL of the spring. On the rear do the same but from bolt to bolt on the lower control arm. You can do a bunch of math to find the lever ratio but if you're anything like me you'll get it wrong. The easy way is to grab a tape and a pencil and swing an arc on the shop floor the length of the control arm and then the length from the pivot to the spring. Draw a straight reference line then measure up on the outer arc the amount you want to lower it-now draw another line from there to the pivot. Now measure the distance between them at your spring CL. That's the amount you need to shorten the spring at ride height. Measure the distance between the coils at ride height loaded and that's your ride height per coil-divide and find how many coils(or portion of a coil) you need to cut. It's not an exact science but it's pretty damn close. There is the leverage from the tire CL to the ball joint that effects it, but the coils also get stiffer as you shorten them so I consider that close enough to a wash. You can fine tune it a little with spring isolators or with short lengths of heater hose slid over the end coils. The rear is the same on those since the coil sits on the lower control arm in front of the axle. On cars where the coil sits on the axle tube the amount you shorten the spring is the amount it drops. A lot of the aftermarket drop springs are funky rates that can actually make the car handle worse-some are fine-some aren't. Check the clearance of the bump stops when you're done-if they're too close you can shorten them a little with a sawzall.

[sedandelivery55]

Re: Choppin coils

Whack 'em off!! I cut 1 coil off mine and it actually made the car ride better on top of lowering it an inch and half. It did not change any of the geometry like others say it will.

[Rustang]

Re: Choppin coils

Wow! That's a lot of info Kris. You're the man! You've obviously looked into this before!

[88pony]

Re: Choppin coils

What about just finding some four cylinder springs? I dont remember how much that would lower it-I have read it before, but have forgotten.

[oldsman71]

Re: Choppin coils

cut them andy!! a cheap improvement!! 8)

[tedly]

Re: Choppin coils

Cut half a coil, see how it looks. You can always cut more off. Damn hard to put them back together, though. The ride may be a little rougher, but it won't be knocking your teeth out. Fairly easy to do and you can't beat the price!

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Choppin coils

raise it - for bullit jump the railroad tracks action

[yellomalibu]

Re: Choppin coils

I cut one coil off the front of the Chevelle years ago... didn't do much; maybe dropped it a half an inch.
I cut another half coil off, and it dropped it two inches... and then it settled a bit more after a day or two goes by.
Start with one coil then put your car back together, let it sit for a day or two to settle before deciding whether to cut more or not.

On my car the fronts can be cut, the rears cannot. The rears taper to a small diameter hole on the top and bottom, but have a larger diameter everywhere else. I put Moroso trick springs in the rear, and it dropped the rear 2 inches.

[Bamfster]

Re: Choppin coils

On both of my cars I started with 1/2 a coil up front. I put it back together and drove each one a bit to see how they settled, then ended up cutting a touch more.

The chevelle ended up with 2/3 of a coil on the right side and just about 3/4 on the left. For the rear springs I had to dig into an old TRW book and looked at rates/height/etc to get the stance I wanted.

On the camaro it ended up being almost a full coil on both sides.

Cut, reinstall, and let it settle for a bit....

[squirrel]

Re: Choppin coils

4 cyl springs will have a softer spring rate, the car will bottom out more easily.

Cutting the spring raises the spring rate slightly, which is a good thing.

The first coil cut off will drop the car a little bit, but so will the next quarter of a coil! So if you cut one coil and it lowers it not quite enough, only cut a little bit more off at a time or you'll go too far.

Also when cut the springs and put it back together, drive it around for a while and let the spring settle, and get used to how it drives/looks. Don't be in a rush to lower it more. A little is good, a little more might be too much.