my car has some lowering springs on it, but they didn't really lower the car. i still have a huge wheel gap, and it drives me nuts. the only reason id consider cutting the springs is the after market springs have a dead coil at the top. i figure if i cut it off it should drop it another 1/2 inch or so. i have had cut springs on trucks before, but thats a little different than the McPherson strut setup. keep in mind this car will never see a track, its just a weekend car.

 

i've got cut springs. its gave me the ride height i wanted but its still a pretty rough ride. best bet would be a coilover setup but thats a bit more expensive than cutting springs.

 

id like to have coilovers, but they cost almost $1000 after you buy struts for them, and thats way out of my range right now.

 

RE-Speed has a package deal for their front and rear coilovers for $425. You don't need to replace the dampers at the same time, it's just sometimes easier to do it that way. I suggest leaving the springs alone for now and just save up for the coilovers. Your going to want to upgrade them in the future anyway.

 

Cut springs are for idiots who want to die. Spend the cash get decent coilovers or even a nice spring strut combo.

 

thank you for the informative post. you do realize id be cutting a dead coil and not cutting stock springs right?

 

Do it to a spare set of struts/springs so you can swap them easily. It will handle nicely and look nice, but it will ride like *** and can get a little bouncy when pushed too hard.

 

i might just pull these lowering springs and sell them, then put that money towards some coil overs. no point in ruining them i guess. can you get coil overs with spring rates that could be run with the tokico blues? i really hate to spend that much money on something i just want for aesthetics .

 

I have eibach sport springs and have cut 2 rings to get it to the height I wanted. I also had tokico blues all around as well.

 

Now you're starting to talk sense.

You can get damn near any spring rate you want, so there's no worries there. Whether you are looking for a nearly "stock" ride, or want it a bit firmer for fun on weekends, or want to turn it into an all out racer, there's a spring for that...

I've got the race version of front coilovers, which require welding. But you could easily get away with the street version, which is bolt on. And the rear adjustable perches are a cinch to install.

Best products and customer service by a long shot www.re-speed.com You can send Billy a PM, tell him what you want, and he will set up a package for you that will get you there...



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cutting springs is fine so long as you have a good shock.

 

^+1
Cut springs aren't what make some cars dangerous, it's the stock blown shocks they're coupled with.

This Z won many races on cut stock springs and Tokico Illuminas.


In fact, I'm about to cut the RacingBeat springs on my 7, I have good shocks already (Illuminas) and I don't like the skyjacker look the RB springs give my car.

 

my RB springs (with tokico blues) lowered the front of my car quite a bit. i now have about a 1 finger gap.

 

same on my car, but i can double fist the rear XD

 

People who say cut springs are bad don't know what they're talking about. A cut spring is still just a spring, works as well as any other. What's bad is not changing out the shocks to something that will handle your new, now much higher, spring rates. That's what results in a bouncy ride and quickly blown shocks. Combine properly cut springs with shocks appropriate for the spring rate and you're good to go.

That said, though, coilovers are highly useful and I'd definitely recommend them if you've got some extra money.

 

Go with coilovers. Well worth the money. Go with the race kit if you want to go lower. I went with the street kit first, wasn't satisfied cause there was still a 1.5" gap inbetween the tire and fender and that was as low as I could go. I ended up with the race kit and got the car where I want it. Billy is a amazing guy and his customer service is the best i've seen.

 

Dead coils are there for a reason, though, yeah? They're collapsed when the shock is compressed, but when it's extended - say a wheel is off the ground - the extra coils extend with it and retain the spring's contact with the upper perch, so the spring remains seated. Without them the spring would be too short to accomodate the extendet suspension and would unseat and fall out of the perch and then all sorts of troubles happen.

 

Make sure to tell everyone that was due to your spring rate choice and not the "street kit" specifically.

250# max rate for the street kit.

-billy

 

i pretty sure if i hit something hard enough to decompress the spring that much, the spring coming out of the perch is going to be the least of my problems. do the coilovers stay seated when the car is off the ground?

 

Proper full coilovers stay seated at all times. Some come with a second tender spring that collapses under compression (similar to dead coils on lowering springs), and some have single spring pre-load. I don't know about the sleeves, but usually even sleeves allow the adjustment of the perch to keep the spring pre-loaded, so it doesn't fall out.

 

Oops, forgot to mention that. I'm running 350# springs up front, which is why I couldn't get the car any lower on the street kit. I had the choice to get lower spring rates so the spring would compress more under the weight of the car, cut the stock perch and weld it lower, or go with the race kit. I went with the race kit(still need to weld on a new lower perch), cause I didn't want to settle for a lower spring rate. Both coilover kits are great, but the race kit works perfectly for what I wanted...because of my spring rate

 

respeed ftw! im also running 350lb springs. are you gonna do the rear soon?

 

Ya, I have the rear kit from re-speed also. The rear passenger side won't sit correctly cause my rear end is sitting diaganol. The drivers side is good, but the passenger side is sitting around a inch behind the bumpstop so the spring won't sit flush on the perch. Now I have to find out what links are bent.

 

nice!! pictures?

 

I'll definately get pictures once done .