I would like to stress that by some of the comments people have made they really don't understand how much thought and effort that goes into the design of suspension springs! Companies invest millions in reaserching and developing suspension systems so they work properly. You take a hacksaw to a spring and your basically throwing all that work out the window.

Aftermarket lowered springs are designed to be just captive (held in place) with the wheel at full droop. Cutting off a portion of the coil will reduce the free height (length of the spring out of the car), possibly to the point making the spring loose at droop. Do you really want to risk that when your driving along?

Most springs are designed to a fairly tight tolerance of material volume to load carrying capacity. That is, the amount of steel used in the spring is hopefully just enough to hold up the car over the life of the vehicle with normal use. Chop off some coils and you've dramatically reduced the amount of material, which almost always will lead to an overstressed coil that will sag prematurely.

A reduction in ride height is normally coupled with a proportionate increase in rate to offset the reduced bump travel. We need to slow down the compression of the spring enough to make sure we don't punch through to the shock at high velocity. A properly designed lowered spring will have a rate increase sufficient to offset this bump travel reduction. So chopping springs can mean big bump = fucked shock.

The cutting method can also be a problem. Generating heat is not so much a problem as reduction in the heat afterwards. That is, heating the material beyond its temper and then rapidly cooling it will affect the composition of the material. A hack saw would be preferable but, irrespective of what tools you use, its not good practice overall.

All of which eventually fucks your suspension geomerty which defeats the point of lowring the car in the first place!

Seriously, dont be tight, just wait for a few months and save £200 for a set of springs!

 

XRT_Stu

 

@ XRT_Stu: -- @ last, a voice of reason. Top dude.

 

Jesus, anyone would think the lad was going to cut the springs and then attempt the Dakar rally FFS

Nice to see not everyone here is talking out of their arse

You will not run into problems by cutting springs. The only people who run into problems cutting springs are (as someone rightfully pointed out earlier) the people who cut too much off through bieng a complete retard. If you can't cut a spring and still maintain a safe driving car then you shouldn't be anywhere near a tool box, 'cos it aint that hard

"A cut spring will fall out of the cups".... do me a favour! This is yet another example of some clown cutting way too much off and wondering why he ended up grinding to a halt after his first encounter with a pot-hole. If a spring cut to a sensible length with fall out of the cups, how do you suppose an aftermarket spring stays in place? They are shorter too you know!
And if we're talking about the spring not seating right, that is also bollocks. You do the job properly (as someone said earlier) and match it to the origional spring's finish. i.e- If its pigtailed, make yours pigtailed. If its flat topped, make yours the same. And so on...

I could point you to hundreds of modified cars running cut springs with no issues at all. It seems to me that the people saying you can't cut springs are people with no experience in the matter and probably read it on some other forum and regurgetated it here as 'a fact'.

"Cutting spring is dangerous" is one of those urban myths that get born through people quoting something they heard somewhere without fact or proof. I once asked someone on another forum why they thought it was dangerous to cut springs and the answer I got was "because ma m8 lost his fingers dats y end of"........ the fucking idiot cut the springs IN SITU

So you'll forgive me for not going around spreading the gospel that "cut springs = BAD" to all these thousands of 'lunatics' using this age-old method of lowering your car all over the fucking world

 

if cutting springs is such a good practice why do RS spec models have different springs to the low spec models, and not simply a coil cut off........

Its a fucking bodge and you know it

 

Complete fucking BODGE!


Dont do it, Not worth the risk.. Say this chap did cut his springs and he has an accident DUE to them being cut? might not happen, but it might....

Its like saying - "Wind the rod in a far as possible on the actuator.. you'll have more boost... "

But how long will it last?!


Just save the cash and buy proper lowered springs! End of

 

Seems like not many of you have actually put a lowering spring and a standard spring next to each other when you say that lowering springs are stronger and have more material.

All I can say is, if you don't know what you are doing, then don't.

 

grinder oot coil aff!