Cut springs or buy cheap lowering springs on ebay?

I'm surprised that no one mentioned that cutting coils will alter the temper of the metal and will as a result, alter the spring rate. This is from the heat created by the cutting of the spring. It can make your car's handling unpredictable and in my opinion is unsafe. 2 pennies.
 
I put some c springs on my moms vert. The ride is extremely good. I did not caut any coils and really dont need to on hers. She didnt want anything too low. IMOP the front is perfect and is almost where my sportlines sat. The back would not hurt to be cut a little. Heres a pic.
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onebad2000gt said:
not true. I did it on my old GT 2 years ago. cut 2 coils on all 4 springs. car did fine. I would recommend getting some new polyurethane bushings and C/C plates and expect to change shocks within the next 6 months. If you want the play by play let me know.I did it at the time cause I was broke, and it did fine for what I wanted. its a bit low and a bumpy ride, also it sucks if you ever have to get the car up on a lift, lol but heres a look.

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:shock: whoa! That thing is too low IMO
 
onebad2000gt said:
thats BS. my car handled incredibly after I did it. I could stick turns at 60-70 mph that before I would have been scared to take at 45-50. and it didnt raise up off the ground at 130 mph it sat even lower and just went. as for the heating issue, im not a metalurgist so I wouldnt know. what I do know is it was awesome, I loved it, and they worked just fine. oh and as for unsafe. no. in two years i avoided several accidents, IMO BECAUSE I had a tighter handling car.

You may have perceived the car to handle better after. More power to you. But, this is not BS. Have you ever heard of heat treating? Heating up metal to alter its molecular structure. The purpose is to strengthen the metal. But the catch is that it must be done in a very controlled fashion. When you are cutting coils off that spring, you are creating a lot of heat. You are, in a way, heat treating the metal, but in a negative way. The temper of the metal and spring rate are altered.
 
JRPony said:
You may have perceived the car to handle better after. More power to you. But, this is not BS. Have you ever heard of heat treating? Heating up metal to alter its molecular structure. The purpose is to strengthen the metal. But the catch is that it must be done in a very controlled fashion. When you are cutting coils off that spring, you are creating a lot of heat. You are, in a way, heat treating the metal, but in a negative way. The temper of the metal and spring rate are altered.

You shouldn't have any problems as long as you do not use any kind of cutting torch to cut the springs. Mine were cut using a metal cutting blade and the area around where it was cut was pretty warm, but definately not hot enough to change the molecular structure of the metal.
 
Well if I can get my buddy to help me today I am going to try and get it done..I think I will go between a coil and a quater or 1 and a 1/2...we will jsut see...but if I do get to it I will post pics asap of before and after..I am not worried about the entire temp thing...the springs are pretty cool to the touch even after cutting ;)
 
Ryan's 02 GT said:
I cut mine about a year ago. I took one full coil and have no C/C plates and no uneven wear on the tires. The key to getting out the springs without the compressor tool is the remove the lower shock bolts and let the rear hang, and remove the top bolt on the struts so the a-arms hang. I bought some springs off Ebay and the bounce?ricey feel was bad. I'm glad I cut mine.
ok I rented the spring compressor like an idiot and its going to be alot easier with out if you ask me ...wich bolts are you saying I need to remove..once I get these out I should be ready to drop the arm and remove the spring all I need is maybe a picture of the bolts..no sense and removing a bunch of crap I dont have to if I can figure out exactly what I need
:D
 
You have to move the brake calipers out of the way but do not disconnect them. Remove the two bolts holding on the shock. remove the bottom bolt from your sway bar. Have the jack up under the A arm while doing this. Lower the jack and the stand on the A arm (takes alot of pressure) And pry the spring out w/ a big crow bar. As for the rear just loosen the quad shock and the strut and bam your done. I have lowered about 4 mustangs. First took a while but just finished my moms in about an hour front and back. Make sure and post pics when done