Cutting front springs?

[mr ilia]

Why can't back springs be cut?

Have you seen how the rear spring looks like?

[ahalfacre5]

Why can't back springs be cut?

[mr ilia]

So if I were to cut all 4 of my springs, would I cut from the bottom or the top?

You can only cut fronts, and it is up to you whether you do it is from the top or the bottom.

[ahalfacre5]

So if I were to cut all 4 of my springs, would I cut from the bottom or the top?

[mr ilia]

the rate increases as you remove coils.

I think this requires clarification, as it turnes out it is a little more complex.

The spring rate will increase only if after cutting a full coil the spring lenhth remain unchanged as prior cutting...e.g. if you cut one coil off and somehow the height of the spring remained unchanged, as it was prior cutting, then you effectively shortened the spring's length (like the total length of wire spring made out of in relation to the height of the spring) and you also increased the compression (lbs/in) because the sring total heigh has not changed.

In real life, if you cut one coil of the sring, then the total height of the spring is now became shorter, then the compression numbers (lbs/in) will not increase.

[mr.vang]

Don't be fucking stupid.

if you can't afford to be doing it properly, don't do it at all.

+1

throw the stock rear spring back on, problem solved. if you must go low, buy some cheap ebay coilovers for $40 shipped.

[robande30]

You can cut your springs without major issues. As stated above, the rate increases as you remove coils. If you remove 1 coil up front, it is the same as an E30 M3 spring. You can remove 2 coils up front without blowing your factory struts. Anything more will overpower the dampening of the factory cartridge. I do not reccomend cutting springs just because there are better ways to do it however I have and am currently running cut springs on my E30 because I was experimenting with it to better understand it. I currently have 4 coils cut off the fronts and 2 off the rears and am running bilstein sports with minimal bouncing. I have been running this combo at 50 miles a day for months because I hadnt decided what direction to go with the car. It can be done but most will flame you for it.

Question for you sir?


I had many e30s that I cut the springs on same story like above lol. But I want to sniP my currrent hnrs but the rear is going to be sketch no? I had no issues cutting the old stock springs on other e30 but these seem wider?!

[PNWDan]

You can cut your springs without major issues. As stated above, the rate increases as you remove coils. If you remove 1 coil up front, it is the same as an E30 M3 spring. You can remove 2 coils up front without blowing your factory struts. Anything more will overpower the dampening of the factory cartridge. I do not reccomend cutting springs just because there are better ways to do it however I have and am currently running cut springs on my E30 because I was experimenting with it to better understand it. I currently have 4 coils cut off the fronts and 2 off the rears and am running bilstein sports with minimal bouncing. I have been running this combo at 50 miles a day for months because I hadnt decided what direction to go with the car. It can be done but most will flame you for it.

[taiden]

also http://www.pontiacracing.net/js_coil_spring_rate.htm

[taiden]

Do not cur rear springs, i see you did not. You can cut the front, but only a coil at a time, if you run stock spring hats. I have 1991 318i with 325is springs with 1 cut coil up front. Did not make any difference in the ride height, but I can feel it's stiffer now. I will be cutting 1 more coil in the spring time. My estimate, I will be -25mm in the front.
For the street use and "just for looks" cut springs are fine.

This is also a good thing to consider. Depending on a lot of things, you can cut 2" of free length off the spring, but the rate change may be so great that it only drops you 1".

[taiden]

There is nothing wrong with cut springs assuming you realize a few things first.

1) too much heat input will cause the spring to lose it's temper, and it will not be much of a spring anymore. Cut slowly or risk a useless spring

2) when you cut a spring, you effectively increase the spring rate. there are calculators for this, but the calculations are all for simple springs. our springs are not so simple

3) in the front, the upper spring perch will rotate to interface properly with the new spring end. In the rear, it won't. So it's less desirable to cut in the rear, unless you cut 360 degrees worth of coil each time (1 coil)

Food for thought, if you use drop hats in the front, you will be dropped with no increased spring rate. if you want a stiffer front spring, cutting is better than using drop hats.

[mr ilia]

Do not cur rear springs, i see you did not. You can cut the front, but only a coil at a time, if you run stock spring hats. I have 1991 318i with 325is springs with 1 cut coil up front. Did not make any difference in the ride height, but I can feel it's stiffer now. I will be cutting 1 more coil in the spring time. My estimate, I will be -25mm in the front.
For the street use and "just for looks" cut springs are fine.

[Jim Lepage]

I cut my front H&R Race with no issues.

[AsharC]

I cut my springs. You have to cut from the bottom because of some geometry thing. They are like the aggression coils or something I cant remember. I cut two coils and im not really sitting that low.

Ill try to find the sit where i found out about the coil thing.

Pictures:

[AndrewBird]

The big issue with cutting springs is that lots of People cut too much and/or use them with crap/blown struts.

This.

I ran cut springs on my Jetta (lol) for several years with no problems until the struts finally blew from being bottomed out so much. They weren't as good as correct rate lowering springs, but they were a LOT better then stock length due to the increase in spring rate.

And I'm with everyone else; cut one coil at a time until you get the height you want. I cut the springs on my Jetta I think 4 times before I got it to the height I wanted. Because of this, I can cut all 4 springs on a Jetta, from start to finish, including pulling them out of the car, in ~45 minutes. lol