Took some shots during my overnight job ;)
Took some shots during my overnight job ;)
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Dont do that, just trust me on this. You will be much better off atleast getting proper springs.
lol, cutting springs increases spring rate (stiffness). The only thing that sucks about it is trying to find a desired spring rate and ride height. Cutting to achieve 500lb/in. may require cutting much smaller (lower ride height) than you had intended. Measuring spring rate (applying 300+lbs of force to get one inch of deflection) is a bitch also. But if you're into just cutting to get the car sitting lower theres absolutely nothing wrong with it other than the fact that your stock shocks will probably blow due to being old and not designed for stiff springs. You could cut a little bit to make them slightly stiffer, then compress them (w/ spring compressor) to the desired length and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so, they will permanently be that length.
Disassemble your springloaded pen and cut the spring in half and notice the difference in force required to compress it before and after, same concept with a car.
Disassemble your springloaded pen and cut the spring in half and notice the difference in force required to compress it before and after, same concept with a car.
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Take a 6" spring and compress it 2". Cut it in half (to 3") and compress it 1". Takes the same force. Now, to compress the 3" spring 2" will take more than it did for the 6" spring. If I understand the term 'spring rate' correctly, you aren't changing the spring rate, you're just changing how far the suspension has to travel to experience the same force, effectively making it seem a little stiffer and lowering at the same time.
Take a 6" spring and compress it 2". Cut it in half (to 3") and compress it 1". Takes the same force. Now, to compress the 3" spring 2" will take more than it did for the 6" spring. If I understand the term 'spring rate' correctly, you aren't changing the spring rate, you're just changing how far the suspension has to travel to experience the same force, effectively making it seem a little stiffer and lowering at the same time.
I would have to disagree. You can take a linear spring and compress it half way and the amount of force required to compress it will be no different than when it was under no force.
Linear springs do not change rate under compression, progressive springs do since the coils are spaced differently. The springs in your car are linear springs, by cutting them you are increasing spring rate. By compressing them (using my oven method-taken from "How to make your car handle" by Fred Puhn) they will still retain the factory spring rate.
The only downside to shortening them w/o stiffening is the significant change in suspension geometry, mainly roll couple. You can google it, but basically your car will exhibit far more roll than when it was at stock ride height. Of course if you're into just sitting lower and don't care about handling this doesn't apply.
Linear springs do not change rate under compression, progressive springs do since the coils are spaced differently. The springs in your car are linear springs, by cutting them you are increasing spring rate. By compressing them (using my oven method-taken from "How to make your car handle" by Fred Puhn) they will still retain the factory spring rate.
The only downside to shortening them w/o stiffening is the significant change in suspension geometry, mainly roll couple. You can google it, but basically your car will exhibit far more roll than when it was at stock ride height. Of course if you're into just sitting lower and don't care about handling this doesn't apply.
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