Cutting front springs?

[Victell]

As far as cutting the front coils, should cut(s) be made at the top or bottom? Cutting the bottom looks like it would be easier to access. But cutting at the top would allow spring hat to be rotated so it fits in the slot.

2020 thread bump...

[superj]

I ran cut springs on tons of e30s. I always started with one coil and worked my way to what I wanted it to look like. be sure to drive around on it after each coil removed so the suspension settles and you see what it will really look like. don't just lower the jack and be bummed it only went down a bit because it could settle some more when you drive it around.

I never cut the backs though. I think if I was cutting the fronts its because I already had lowering springs in the back, like e36 m3 or something else.


also, cosmo coil overs are still super cheap, like 200 and some bucks. I used those way way back in the day also.

[Jake325is]

Just helped me 7 years later!

[Bimmerman4Ever]

:) Sorry! Didn't mean to poop at the party.

By all means, party on!

Som

As far as I'm concerned a post or thread is never old if it helps at least one person in the future. Then again these cars are not exactly new either.

[Som]

:) Sorry! Didn't mean to poop at the party.

By all means, party on!

Som

[Bimmerman4Ever]

"At hand" may be a bit of stretch, since the last post in this thread was in 2012. :)

Som

Now why is there always a party pooper? :yawn:

[Som]

But on the topic at hand....

"At hand" may be a bit of stretch, since the last post in this thread was in 2012. :)

Som

[Bimmerman4Ever]

For what even decent used lowering springs would cost (you can definitely find them), I wouldn't cut them.

Personal opinion, if you're gonna lower, do it right. Make sure you invest in some protection for your oil pan.

Also lowering springs are designed to handle spring rates with less travel in mind.
Cutting stock springs will keep the same rate but will have less resistance and travel to handle bumps and dips in the road. And good luck with speed bumps.
Thus a bouncier ride and risk damaging your engine and transmission fluid pans. And will eventually blow your shocks and struts out.

I've seen used sets selling for as little as $100 and new sets for a little over $200
you just have to shop around
Of course Bilsteins are recommended but you can use other lesser costing shocks/struts like Monroe, KYB, etc..

[estoguy]

For what even decent used lowering springs would cost (you can definitely find them), I wouldn't cut them.

Personal opinion, if you're gonna lower, do it right. Make sure you invest in some protection for your oil pan.

[Bimmerman4Ever]

+1

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

I like the animated gif.


But on the topic at hand....
I would recommend saving up to purchase H&Rs or B&Gs. They really aren't that expensive if you shop around. Also people sell used ones when upgrading to coil overs. I've H&Rs on a few cars but if you want a little more of a drop get B&Gs.

H&R sports (91)



B&G S2 (85 E23)



You can see how the B&G drops it more in the front. Like H&R race springs would



The coils are about twice as thick vs stock




500SL I had with H&R sports (92)

[einstein57]

What nitro said. You can easily calculate the projected spring rate with some dirty math or plug in the information to a spring calculator.

[AndrewBird]

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.

Length of the spring has nothing to do with it's rate. It's all about how much force it takes to compress X distance.

The reason a cut spring has a higher rate is because there are less coils then stock, so each individual coil has to compress more for the total compression distance to be the same as stock. This is why the rate goes up.

A spring could be 10 miles long, but still have the same rate as a 3" long spring if it has the same number of coils and wire diameter.

[e30patalohas]

I just cut off one loop at the bottom of the front springs. It dropped the car around an inch which made my 1984 high-front-end 4 wheeler into an even or almost barely front raked stance. The ride is a little firmer in front and much better than before with less body roll and great feel. If I could get the back and front one more inch lower all around it would be PERFECT for me! Time will tell how this affects the dampers, Bilstien HDs atm. Cost = $0, easy and cheap but not ideal.

I guess I could play with the rubber spring seats, drop hats and bump stops to fine tune it more for little to no money. We will see.

I've heard it said that e30 M3 springs are pretty much stock springs with a coil cut out...true or not? Idk, but seems plausible.

[E30_Pare]

Hacked a coil off the front for dat race car. No complaints here.

[glnr13]

Why can't back springs be cut?

if you cut the spring you have no choice but to cut the pigtail off. there's one at the top and one at the bottom to help keep the spring in place.

i cut my stock rear springs... they started to slip out and were off kilter in a major way. is it dangerous? yes. could you do it? yes. is it recommended? no.