B.L.Z.BUB Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 just as a hypothetical discussion, say in some alternate universe I decided to cut the springs on my ke70 to lower it, does anyone have a theory of how many quarter/half/full coils that should be removed front and rear for approx. 50mm of lowering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiP Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Don't ask stupid questions. It is illegal and all the smart members wont respond. Lower it properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Go measure the distance from the suspension to the bump stop. At the rear its probably only 100mm, and you want to halve that. So the spring will have to be twice as stiff to stop you hitting the bump stops all the time. That's why you can't lower a car successfully by cutting springs if you want more than about 20mm off. If you do drop it 20mm then you will not be able to load the car as it was designed, 4 people and luggage... I say "successfully" because you can run a car on the bump stops if your spine will take it, but that puts all the bump stress on the tyres and they just let go instantly, and THAT's why Govt's make it illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Go measure the distance from the suspension to the bump stop. At the rear its probably only 100mm, and you want to halve that. So the spring will have to be twice as stiff to stop you hitting the bump stops all the time. That's why you can't lower a car successfully by cutting springs if you want more than about 20mm off. If you do drop it 20mm then you will not be able to load the car as it was designed, 4 people and luggage... I say "successfully" because you can run a car on the bump stops if your spine will take it, but that puts all the bump stress on the tyres and they just let go instantly, and THAT's why Govt's make it illegal. alternatively just cut off the bump stops! even with stiffer springs, at the height that most of us want to run our cars the bump stops need to be "modified" so the car doesn't bottom out on them. cutting stock springs isn't such a good idea, no gains will be had apart from the car being low. it will handle worse than it did before. grab some stiffer springs out of a falcon or something and cut them to your hearts content. and the only way to do it properly is by experimentation. cut a bit, test, cut a bit more off etc. alternatively do it properly by buying shorter springs that don't need to be cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OniBerserker Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 why do e7 owners have to be so cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.L.Z.BUB Posted October 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 cheers ke70 dave. ill grab the falcon springs. do they have to be from a particular year/model? I kinda thought the chop check method would be the answer, its just tedious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hosedogg Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 main problem with cutting springs especially if you don't get the hieght right the first time is the fact that your heating the spring up and everytime it gets heated up it effects the spring. they also tend to start sagging after a while especially if they have been heated up quite a bit from cutting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLO-030 Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 grab some stiffer springs out of a falcon or something and cut them to your hearts content. and the only way to do it properly is by experimentation. cut a bit, test, cut a bit more off etc. The only proper way is to not be a tightass with suspension or anything that keeps you ass off the ground and pointing in the right direction. Just buy new springs, Its an *E7*, there are plenty of off the shelf springs that are uprated in most heights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggus Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 be prepared for alot of bouncing an your gana be fighting with the sterring whee,l oh and you will be going through tyres alot quicker than usual lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hosedogg Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 ae86 suspension fits straight in does it not? and i'm sure there is heaps of aftermarket suspension for them. even at decent prices also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob83ke70 Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 main problem with cutting springs especially if you don't get the hieght right the first time is the fact that your heating the spring up and everytime it gets heated up it effects the spring. they also tend to start sagging after a while especially if they have been heated up quite a bit from cutting Are you kidding me??? what do we cut springs with??? I've NEVER seen anybody cut them with the gas axe, and thats about the only way you'd get enough heat into them to affect the spring steel, even then if you knew how to work it, you might not get enough heat into the spring to affect it. if you chop them with a cut off wheel on an angle grinder it will NEVER heat the spring enough to soften it. You ONLY cut a bit out of the END anyway. But do feel free to spread anything you like all over the internet, it keeps it fun trying to work out myth from truth. Robert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLO-030 Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Are you kidding me??? what do we cut springs with??? I've NEVER seen anybody cut them with the gas axe, and thats about the only way you'd get enough heat into them to affect the spring steel, even then if you knew how to work it, you might not get enough heat into the spring to affect it. True ^^ However you do get the guys that get the ol gas axe out and try lower springs by getting small sections hot and squashing the spring bit by bit. They do that to the whole spring then only to find out that the spring collapses as soon as there is any weight on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezzaclub Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Ah- both those are solutions, it depends on the shape of the spring ends. If the spring has a constant pitch at one end you can just slice it off with a grinder and it will fit back on the strut. But if the spring is variable in pitch and flattens towards the ends you will have to re-shape the last half-coil with a gas-axe and that will kill the 'spring' in that length of steel. Old springs tend to be constant pitch and newer cars have variable pitch and diameter. That's a lot of why new cars have far better ride and handling capabilities than those 30 or 40 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.L.Z.BUB Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 so does anyone know a good ratio front to back and what model falcon springs i need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas_ae71 Posted November 1, 2009 Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 (edited) cutting stock springs isn't such a good idea, no gains will be had apart from the car being low. it will handle worse than it did before. there are worse ideas. cut springs are an improvment. however small. basically just causes a bit less body roll. be prepared for alot of bouncing an your gana be fighting with the sterring whee,l oh and you will be going through tyres alot quicker than usual lol yeah maybe if they are cut so low they are botteming out on the stops. i cut mine so i had more suspension compression but they where still there. passed a RWC (in tassie). Are you kidding me??? what do we cut springs with??? I've NEVER seen anybody cut them with the gas axe, and thats about the only way you'd get enough heat into them to affect the spring steel, even then if you knew how to work it, you might not get enough heat into the spring to affect it. if you chop them with a cut off wheel on an angle grinder it will NEVER heat the spring enough to soften it. You ONLY cut a bit out of the END anyway. But do feel free to spread anything you like all over the internet, it keeps it fun trying to work out myth from truth. Robert. same, i would always recommend using one of those super thin cutting wheels. so even less heat is generated. 2 full coils off the springs front and rear give a reasonable drop without too much negative effects. not grinding low but enough so it doesnt look 4x4 spec. also think about it, what is putting the same rate stiffer springs in the front and rear going to do? look at rates commonly used F / R 6 / 4.5 7 / 5 8 / 6 (thats in KG/mm) so lets say your cut falcons are around 4kg.. 4/4 is going to be much less then ideal in theroy. it may also give it bad oversteer on the limit, not cool or controllable oversteer either. DO some research into it. look what other people have used and what they use the car for. Edited November 1, 2009 by tas_ae71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts