bcty

I noticed when i bought the car it had a one inch rake on it and i didnt like that and i was wondering what could i do to get rid of it... i installed my new suspension which i am sure you all saw and the back is still one inch higher than the front. i wanted to level this out and i was thinking about cutting the springs, but i dont want to mess up the springs.... any suggestions? had anybody cut their springs and who did it? any problems? just let me know what you guys think!

mazdaspeed7

DO NOT cut your springs. It alters the springrate. Take the rear shocks off, cut off the stock spring perch as close to the shock body as you can, and have it welded back on lower. I did this, But I installed coilovers on all 4 corners. Im still using stock springs, but my car is much lower than stock.

Silkworm

Good lord, dropping the back a coil isn't going to hurt THAT much. Cutting and rewelding the perch is going to be a class one pain in the ***.

Yes, it will drop the number of "active" coils in your spring, and that will somewhat increase the rear spring rate, but 95% of you will never push your car hard enough to notice.

However, use a cut off wheel on a die grinder, not a torch, to cut the spring to avoid overheating the spring. Cut half a coil at a time, then put the spring back in and look at how it's going to sit. Better to cut not enough than too much. You will need a spring compressor to remove the spring from the shock.

PaulC

NZConvertible

I did this to my last car (84 Cosmo) and the results were excellent. I cut 1.5 coils from each corner with an air saw which dropped the car about 1", firmed up the ride, cut body roll and had a positive effect on handling all round. My car was like this for 2 years with no probs at all.
The reason spring cutting has such a bad rep (and is now illegal in NZ and probably most other places) is because of the ********* who take 3-4 coils out of each spring to get their car as low as possible (nobody will sell them springs low enough, for good reason), completely destroying what handling it may have had and turning them into lethal barely-guided missiles.

ChrisV

I've cut springs on so many different kinds of cars it isn't funny. Between myself and fellow club memebers, we have put literally millions of miles on cut springs in daily drivers and race cars. I've gotten autocross trophies in cars with cut springs. But you have to know what you are doing. Yes, it alters your spring rate, but not by much if you're only removing one or two coils. In fact, that's where most people get into trouble. They cut the springs so far that the small increase in spring rate doesn't compensate for the reduced travel, and they bottom out the shocks/struts. This is why you see the typical rice boy "bounce" in their cars with cut springs. It isn't that the springs were cut, but that they didn't bother to compensate for that radical a drop. Or they dont seem to know how to cut them evenly, nor look at the spring perches and make the coils match them. If you go radical, you have to adjust the shock mounts to compensate. And ALWAYS align the car afterwards.

On my RX7s, I've noticed that aftermarket spring sets always make the rear higher than the front, and cutting the rear springs is a viable way to compensate for that. On the Tokiko sport springs I had, cutting 2 coils from the back was perfect, and matched well with the Tokiko HP struts on the car. Never bottomed, rode well, allowed the car (with Yokohama A008RSIIs) to pull 1.2G laterally.

People will say that cutting the springs is dangerous. If you don't know what you are doing: measuring, cutting evenly, compensating for large drops, etc, it might be. But for a 1-2" drop, it's a good, lowcost way to get the job done. However, NEVER heat the springs with a torch to do the job. That removes the temper of the spring steel, causing it to crystallize and usually break. Having a heated spring snap while driving is a bad thing (seen it happen many times before...)

ChrisV

Oh, one other thing. if you have access to air tools, you won't need a spring compressor.

While the car is sitting on the ground, remove the center nut on the strut top. Then, as you jack the car up, the spring will slowly have tension removed. Since nothing stops it at the bottom of the travel (due to the strut being unbolted from the perch, but the top perch still being attached to the car), you can then reach in and slip the spring off the top of the strut by hand. It's just as easy to reinstall the spring, and as you let the car down slowly, slip the strut top back into the perch. When the car is completely down, reinstall the top strut nut.

This trick allowed me to be able to remove and replace all 4 springs on the RX7 in under 15 minutes, with no spring compressor.

Samps

this is very interesting. i was always against cutting springs, but maybe i was wrong. i went with coil overs.

ChrisV

Coil overs are fine if you have the money. Many people don't.

Also, I've seen this at autocrosses (especially after my RX7 with cut Tokikos and single position Tokiko struts beat RX7s with coilovers and multi adjustible struts), you can out-trick yourself. If you have too much adjustment, you will forever be adjusting, and never really have a stable baseline to improve your driving from. Even though I could win my class, My firend (and national champion) Greg Fordahl could stil beat me in my own car, so I as the driver was still the limiting factor.

It was always funny at the autocrosses to have one of teh RX7 drivers I beat check out my car to see what was done, and when they saw the lack of trick bits, they'd always say, "dude, you really need ____ coil overs and ____ shocks! You can set them for anything!"

I'd say, "did you beat me with them?"

"No"

"Then I don't need them."

Until the driver is not the limiting factor, ultra trick bits are as much of a hindrance as a help. This is of course assuming that the basic parts are working correctly to start with.

bcty

thanks for the info.. sice i dont have the tools here i would need to take it to the shop that put my suspension in... how long do u think it would take to do? and difficulty

Yelow RX-7

did anyone see the GroundControl coilovers? you can adjust the ride hight with just one screw. anyone know how much these are?

Samps

I,ve got the ground control set-up, and it is deffinitely the best bang for tha buck when it comes to coil overs. I also have tokico non adjustables, for that very same reason of too much adjustability (i may have just made up a word). With the stock struts the GC set-up will cause your car to bounce a lil.

mazdaspeed7

Best bang for the buck? Youre kidding right? I got a coilover setup from someone I know who races regularly, paid $130 for all the sleeves and stuff, brand new.

SpeedRacer

Crazy, I know Greg Fordahl(at least I know who he is). He is a great driver. I've seen him at NW region events. He was also at the Bremertion Nationals.

SpeedRacer

They are about $399 for a set of 4 with springs.
To those out there without spring compressors, or air tools. Another way to remove the springs is to remove the strut assembly from your car with the spring still attahced. Then use bailing wire or something similar and wrap it around the coils. Use a screwdriver and twist the wire to clamp it around the coils. Do this to at least 2-3 different coils to make sure the spring is held tight. Then take off the center nut holding the spring on.

tmak26b

My car sat like 1 inch higher in the back than the front without the spare tire in the back with the eibachs

mazdaspeed7

I didnt know the GC came with springs...its a much better deal in that case.

87GXLRX7

Any of you guys know where i can get some *cheap coilovers*... thanks