Cutting front springs?

[oldekid]

For those of you who have done this, when you say you can cut one complete coil from the front springs, does that mean that you would cut directly below where the beginning of the top coil starts? I just want to make sure I understand, because the guy doing the cutting wants me to show him exactly where to cut. Maybe someone has a diagram or something.

Thanks for any help.

[torinodan]

here ya go

[oldekid]

here ya gotorinodan,
Thanks so much. That is exactly what I needed. :beer:

[oldekid]

Today, I had a local shop whack a coil off my front springs. Thanks to the guys on this forum that led the way, I am pleased with the results. My car handles better, but has a little more stiffness when presented with major road hazards, such as potholes, railroad crossings, and speed bumps. But it is not that bad.

I wasn't able to get the front end aligned yet, but will soon.

The guys at the shop were really impressed with the stiffness of our shocks. The Mustang shocks don't put a stress on their equipment like our MM shocks do.

My wife noticed (she thinks) that my car was a little lower. Until I park next to another MM, I'm not sure that it's that noticeable. They lowered the air system in the rear by about an inch, to level it out. To me it all looks fine.

It's not a drastic change, but it is something that just adds to the handling characteristics of a pretty big car to make it drive smaller.

[cyclone03]

Good Job!
Get that front end aligned right away though.

Also be aware of all parking curbs, you'll hit a few you used to clear without problems.

Some drive ways may pose a problem if you like to "tossed it in" if you know what I meen.

[juno]

Did you happen to measure before and after to see how much it dropped?

[oldekid]

Did you happen to measure before and after to see how much it dropped?No, sorry I didn't. It was already on the lift and being worked on when I thought of doing that. I asked the tech if he measured before as well, and he didn't. I have heard anywhere from 3/4" to 1" though. I think someone on here did measurements before, but I can't remember who.

[oldekid]

Just another update. I was able to find a local shop to do the front end alignment. I made sure that they understood from the beginning that I didn't want a basic factory alignment, and handed them a printout from this forum with Carfixer's ( :bows: ) specs. These guys were pretty impressed.

The service manager informed me before they started that he noticed a couple of scratches on one of my rims. He said that he could tell that I was particular about the car, and wanted me to know that before they started their work.

A week or so before, I had a nail in my left rear. I took it to a local tire place, and they fixed it free. . . . or so I thought. . . ugh. This could be an excuse for another mod. . . new widened rims!!!

They did have to break off the cam nut adjustment flag thingie. . . whatever it's called. The tech said it wasn't real easy to get to, but he was able to get it off, and made his adjustments.

They loved the car, and remarked about it's stance. The tech took a pretty long test drive, came back to tell me that everything was fine, and that this was a really nice car. As I was paying my bill, the girl at the desk said, "that's really a nice car".

Well, that's another mod down. . . . and now to figure out what's next.

This is fun! :beer:

[Mr Johnson]

I was talking to the local shop about cutting the front springs and though he has done it before he was very hesitant to recommend it. Biggest issue he said was that it wouldn't have the same amount area to rest on once the spring was cut and could make more noise under moderate to severe load.

I haven't heard anyone talk about this but I figured I'd ask. Any issues with noise after cutting the springs? A straight through cut? I've seen some mention the ride gets softer after cutting the springs?!? I guess worst case I need to buy a new set of OEM springs so this will probably be my next mod when it's back in the shop.

[DEFYANT]

Haggis and I had this conversation today at lunch.

Consider Kenny Brown Marauders are fitted with cut OEM springs. I'm thinkin this may be in the near future.

[rocknrod]

Today, I had a local shop whack a coil off my front springs. ...
So you had a full coil (one coil) cut off the front springs?

[SergntMac]

I was talking to the local shop about cutting the front springs and though he has done it before he was very hesitant to recommend it. Biggest issue he said was that it wouldn't have the same amount area to rest on once the spring was cut and could make more noise under moderate to severe load.

I haven't heard anyone talk about this but I figured I'd ask. Any issues with noise after cutting the springs? A straight through cut? I've seen some mention the ride gets softer after cutting the springs?!? I guess worst case I need to buy a new set of OEM springs so this will probably be my next mod when it's back in the shop. He may be right, but we haven't heard such 411 here before.

There are over 50 Kenny Brown Marauder S builds in the field, all with cut front springs, 3/4 to 1 full coil. No such stories have come back this way.

I strongly suggest that you cut the springs that are on the car now, and be prepared to replace them if you don't like the results. Starting out with a different spring doesn't give you any experience,or, perspective on how the car handled before. New springs = new ball game.

Just my .02C...

[gdmjoe]

SergntMac ... I strongly suggest that you cut the springs that are on the car now, and be prepared to replace them if you don't like the results.
That was my thought as well when deciding to snag these off eBay® for cheap ( $37 ).....

http://www.geocities.com/gdmjoe/coilshocks.jpg

*Lowering is on the list of mod's-to-be-done ( sometime ).

[JACook]

I was talking to the local shop about cutting the front springs and though he has done it before he was very hesitant to recommend it. Biggest issue he said was that it wouldn't have the same amount area to rest on once the spring was cut and could make more noise under moderate to severe load.
You're cutting the top end of the spring, where the pitch is consistent from coil to coil, so it'll sit in the
seat just the same as it does now. It'll just have less preload at full extension.


I've seen some mention the ride gets softer after cutting the springs?!?
Nope. Cutting the spring increases it's rate. Think of it this way- If you unwound the spring, so that it was
a straight torsion bar, a shorter bar will be stiffer per degree of twist than a longer bar of the same stock.

There's a limit of course. Since the remaining coils of a cut spring will be subjected to more torsion, if you cut
too agressively, the spring can work-harden and fracture. But this is not likely to happen with just a 1-coil cut.