Cutting aftermarket springs

heres a current picture of my fx after maybe 6 months or so on cut H&R's. I sware my 20's are shrinking man, they look like 18's to me lately, can't wait for 22's :rofl:

don't think it looks too low, sits nice & rides nice, want to go maybe 1/2" lower than this though...


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Never cut a spring. Even the manufacturer will tell you that. Or any good aftermarket shop worth their salt. Is this a FX enthusiast practice or something?? :confused:

Turbo, I agree that I would never have guessed those wheels were 20s! I really like the design though. Very nice. :tup:
 
turbocad6 said:
yeah, there a bitch to cut too, I used a hacksaw & the biggest problem is holding it to cut it cause it's rubber & then getting it cut straight & both sides even.

I also winded up removing one of the double cusions on part # 5 in that diagram, shortening part #4 by the same amount as the cusion removed & using the cut off part of #4 on top of the upper mount to make up the difference of the shortened sleeve. this gives a little more shock travel so my rear shocks don't bottom out as easy...
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Turbo

I think Im a little lower in the front, so just shaving/cutting #12 probably would be good for me? :tup:

Rubare said:
So if I get the cut H&R springs that are for sale, I guess I will have to cut the rubber mount for the rear or would I have to order new rear mounts?
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J

Im interested in doing this, shaving/cutting #12. Can you find out if your guy can give us a hand with the springs/shocks? I don't want to cut springs, just the rear rubber mount.
 
Cutting springs? Sigh, I remember back in the 98', PepBoys will cut the springs for you for only $5.

If you guys ever saw a 98' white Nissan 200sx lowered with a huge exhaust tip with popped out airbags driving around Torrance, that was me...
 
puhahacj said:
Cutting springs? Sigh, I remember back in the 98', PepBoys will cut the springs for you for only $5.
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Yeah cutting springs is more stupid than putting 24" wheels on your car. Well maybe not. Yes it is. Not sure. Ok, both are absolutely retarded.

This thread cracked me up. If you get called out by a bunch of 18yo Dubbers then you absolutely positively know it must be wrong! :laugh:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78280
 
Pupp said:
Yeah cutting springs is more stupid than putting 24" wheels on your car. Well maybe not. Yes it is. Not sure. Ok, both are absolutely retarded.

This thread cracked me up. If you get called out by a bunch of 18yo Dubbers then you absolutely positively know it must be wrong! :laugh:

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78280
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Keep in mind we are talking about cutting aftermarket springs and not stock springs, totally different subjects. With aftermarket springs you only have to cut 1/2 coil or so to get the desired drop as for cutting stock springs you are removing many coils to get the desired drop. Cutting aftermarket springs is safe if done in moderation.
 
fxlr8 said:
Keep in mind we are talking about cutting aftermarket springs and not stock springs, totally different subjects. With aftermarket springs you only have to cut 1/2 coil or so to get the desired drop as for cutting stock springs you are removing many coils to get the desired drop. Cutting aftermarket springs is safe if done in moderation.
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I didn't mean to offend anyone.

Many people seem to respect Eibach on here. This is what they say about it:

Q) What is wrong with heating or cutting a coil spring to lower a vehicle?
Heating or cutting a coil spring in order to lower a vehicle is just plain foolish. These procedures are very dangerous and at the very least results in poor handling due to the changing of the original springs characteristic and pre-load. When Eibach suspension springs are fitted, will the car sit at the correct ride height or will it need time to settle? All Eibach suspension coils are pre-set to eliminate settling and increase life expectancy. Some minimal settling may occur as the new spring mates up to an existing rubber suspension isolator, this is normal, but is not the same as a poorly produced spring which may take a set and effect the ride height, handling and alignment of the vehicle.

I'm no expert on springs so I'm not going to argue with them. Even if they have an agenda to sell more of their product I still believe this to be a valid and accurate opinion. But if somebody wants to cut their progressive rate springs that is fine by me.

---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 PM ----------

Let me add this caveat here. I am speaking from purely a performance standpoint. For example, if your car is a show car and aesthetics is your only goal, and ride quality and handling are not important to you, then I can certainly understand the process to achieve a specific look.
 
Mostly stock but if you have a progessive spring, you do have to be careful of how much you cut, have also seen them go past the seat at the bottom or break on heated ones.
 
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heating a spring is def bad, it will crack at the heated spot, it ruins the temper of the spring steel... a cold cut will not cause any additional metal fatigue at the cut though.

ask infiniti if it's alright to turbocharge there car, they'll tell you that they recommend you don't tamper with the stock emmisions or drivetrain. ask apple if you should jailbreak there ipod, they'll tell you that you shouldn't blah blah blah, & that you'll void your waranty, ask most manufacturers of most products & most will recommend that you don't alter what they engineered, plain & simple.


there are a lot of reasons why a manufacturer will not recommend altering there products, some are very valid, some are to avoid liability & some are to protect the integrity of the product, but if no one modified anything from it's as delivered state then the world would be a very boring place :tongue:

bumping compression & improving airflow will increase power, hacking an electronic device can provide fuctionality beyond what was originally available, & cutting a spring reduces it's installed height & raises the spring rate. there is no tabboo or automatic "you're screwed" from reducing the installed height & raising the spring rate as long as they are done in moderation. in a situation such as the H&R's on the fx, with a 1/2 coil cut, a 1/2" reduction in installed spring height is the result & not enough to reduce travel to the point of bottoming, full suspension travel is still achieved & the usable range of the suspension is not comprimised. the spring rate is increased by ~15% give or take, this does not ruin the ride, does make it a bit sportier & a little stiffer, maybe more eibach like? handling is improved, there is no danger of suspension failure or altering the alignment in a negative way.

cutting a stock spring is stupid if there are replacement springs available to achieve the same goal more correctly, but minor modifications to mechanical parts are very common in the world of moddified cars, & swapping & moddifying springs are no different from swapping & moddifying brakes or an engine or an exhaust system or altering suspension geometry, sure you can screw something up doing any of these but if done in a way that works well there can be good in modifications too...
 
also just want to add, I think it's pretty ironic how eibach is so down on cutting a spring to the point of there saying it's foolish & implying it's dangerous, however I have seen already several eibach's that just snap in half all by themselves.... now how foolish & unsafe is that :tongue: don't see any cut H&R's snapping :tongue:
 
turbocad6 said:
also just want to add, I think it's pretty ironic how eibach is so down on cutting a spring to the point of there saying it's foolish & implying it's dangerous, however I have seen already several eibach's that just snap in half all by themselves.... now how foolish & unsafe is that :tongue: don't see any cut H&R's snapping :tongue:
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LOL. That is pretty ironic. I only quoted Eibach because they seem to have a big following here. I personally prefer H&R for quality and performance. But everybody on here told me to go Eibach for ultimate performance so I'm trying them out for now. If they suck balls I will swap them out for H&R asap.
 
if you do that, cut 1/2 a coil front & get a spare set of rear isolators & cut them down before you install them in the rear for ultimate performance from them :tongue::wink:

wish you could drive my fx, you'd see that it is a great setup, aggressive without being overly harsh... & about as low as you can go without more extreme butchery. it's 100% safe & effective... many pro builders cut springs & swap them between applications, as well as modify mounting points, maybe also with the disclaimer of "don't try this at home folks", but it is not as taboo as some would suggest, IF done within reason & correctly... I've seen guys cut the rear springs too. that is 100% NOT correct to do, both ends of the spring are formed ends, formed ends can't be shortened without either reforming the end(not doable on the end user level) or recreating the mounting pad to accomidate the change in spring seat angle... cut rears are asking for a cracked spring, even if it does work initially & for a while... your creating excessive stress at the pivot point right past the seat, a properly cut spring should maintain even force distribution, which a front cut does, but a rear will not on the fx...

also as a side note, I also shortened my upper rear shock mounts a proportionate amount, so no shock bottoming either... trust me, if it's done right there is 0 danger of any adverse effects aside from a slightly stiffer ride than stock H&R's... anyone who hasn't shortened the rear shock mount may bottom the rear shock occasionally with cut spring isolators, reducing the upper shock mount increases the shock travel in the lower range to keep it in a usable portion of the stroke without bottoming... trust me, there are right & wrong ways of butchering :tongue:
 
eibachs have a higher spring rate than the hr to begin with, cut eibach might be too stiff? the fronts are a continuous coil to the bottom so it can be cold cut & rotate the upper spring mount to match the new end orientation, as long as it's not bottoming or reaching the end of strut travel, & as long as it's not so stiff that the wheels are skipping over the road I guess it's safe as an eibach can be, but if it does the snap crackle pop eibach trick though, will it have been the cut that caused it? donno :tongue:

it's tryable but trying it is gambling that the springs will be turned to junk if it doesn't ride good, it might ride good, hard to say

another thing to mention since were on the topic:rofl: by cutting the front & not the rear, the spring rate is raised in the front, while the rear remains the same. the rear height comes down almost as much in ride height by shaving the rear isolator blocks, but the rears are now ~ 15% softer than the front is something to realize. you are slightly changing the tune of your whole suspension doing this. the rears being slightly softer than the front promotes a slight bit more oversteer I think, the ass can be a little looser at the edges of traction... the fx is pretty balanced & while I def noticed this difference after the cut, after I got settled in to it, it handles great for me, it feels pretty neutral, maybe slightly towards oversteer if anything, which works really well for me, especially w the awd. fx handles great. if anyone tracks there fx all the time it will def change the suspension tune, weather it works for you or against you at the limits is hard to say, no ones probably pushing there fx hard enough to see much difference in balance really I would think... normal driving it just feels slightly stiffer overall as a whole...
 
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