cutting springs

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saabfan9
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cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:05 pm

hey drew I heard you mention you have cut the springs on your 99 i'm out in the garage right now and looking it over I cut 1 full coil and got about 1" now the next one becomes harder with the spring compressor in place I will not be able to rotate the spring on the other side I can not remove the spring top first again due to the spring compressors and the giant rubber bumper in the middle...this really only leaves cutting another complete coil wondering were this might leave the car....original ride height at wheel opening 29.5" ,1 coil cut 28"....now the first coil really lays on top of the second from there the gap between is huge.....bottom line will I be safe to take another coil?

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Jordan
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Re: cutting springs

Postby Jordan » Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:48 am

You should remove the spring completely from the car.

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SwedeSport
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Re: cutting springs

Postby SwedeSport » Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:31 am

Trick is to cut off the top of the spring, leaving the pigtail that fits the lower front perch intact so it seats properly.

the rear springs are not as particular.
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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:42 am

I thought about that but i'm not sure how to get the cut piece out..that rubber stopper/bumper is huge what 6-8"

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Jordan
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Re: cutting springs

Postby Jordan » Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:52 am

It comes out with the spring. Compress the spring and the top comes free of the upper seat.

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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:22 am

will I be able to tip the top of the assy. out? my compressor hooks the top and the rest all runs low so it gets a little tight with tie rod brakes hoses parking cable you know the story

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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:24 am

no problems, if you guys know that a second full coil would be ok to cut (progressive spring?)

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SwedeSport
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Re: cutting springs

Postby SwedeSport » Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:22 am

I would cut 1/4 coil at a time, put it back together and see. You can cut more off, can't put it back on...


My notchback project is sitting on 900 S springs that had 2+ coils hacked out of it.
It is nearly sitting on the bump stops. But I have other suspension to put in it, since its only setup enough to roll around.

On my tan 86, I have already cut the first bulb off the front bump stops, but the car will bottom out really hard, and without the rally skid plate, which I do have on the car, you run the risk of slamming the primary housing into something and destroying your box. It has SPG springs with one coil cut out, while it is not visually low enough to look cool, because I kept it a little higher to favor handling over looks.

Low looks Uber Cool, but it is not completely practical. Generally if you are just looking for a slow and low cruiser at the expense of ride quality, drop it onto the bump stops. But if you expect it to handle well, I would pay attention to the lower control arms. Ideally you want them to be parallel to the ground when you're done.

I plan to slam the 89T sedan onto the bump stops... I have 2 other cars that handle incredibly, and one that will be a comfortable ride.
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Re: cutting springs

Postby DrewP » Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:18 am

What Jordan and Swedesport said. The guide hat on top that has the bumpstop on it comes out with the spring, and cut a little off at a time to get it to sit where you want it.

My 99 has chopped C900 lowering springs (it's stiffff) so not really sure how much is too much to cut off a stock one, but they are pretty long and soft, so you might end up close to 2 full coils by the time you're done anyway.
"You can educate ignorance, but you can't fix stupid."

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saabfan9
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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:26 pm

so I was at the local parts store and I picked up these clamps to compress the springs (I know I know but why not give it a shot) clamped it all the way down so 2 middle springs are now touching.... anyway I got a whole 1/2" out of dicking around out there for nearly 2 hrs soooo bogus well I still have 5 inches of gap between top of wheel and fender.... after the 1st cut I didn't notice any change in ride quality i'm thinking I could get away with another full coil ...the stance of this car REALLY bothers me ... I like the look of that copper one that was for sale a year or so ago (no crazy 4x4 gap) Image Image Image

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Re: cutting springs

Postby squaab99t » Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:49 pm

saabfan9 wrote:[/img][/url] Image


Something does not look right. The axle seems to be too far aft relative to the wheel well. Did you swap the pillow blocks on the A arms?
You should measure the wheel base to see if it is just this image or is it really off.

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Re: cutting springs

Postby Jordan » Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:40 am

I'd put up a photo of the wheel well with the wheel off. Something never really looked right about that car. There must be some mismatch of parts.

I'm assuming this is what you are going for.
Image

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saabfan9
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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Thu Aug 15, 2013 8:03 am

yes it should look more like that.... in that pic it is because the wheel is turned slightly just kinda a bad pic combined with a wheel combo not normally seen .. but none the less you get the idea

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Re: cutting springs

Postby SwedeSport » Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:08 am

The springs you are trying to use came out of what car?


Yeah, I agree with Jordan... pics of the suspension with no wheels would help to at least determine if you have it together right.
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saabfan9
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Re: cutting springs

Postby saabfan9 » Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:45 am

all stock set up .. now i cut the bottom coil off and you can see (these are the before pics) that they touched well now with the 1st coil off i still have 5" of gap and really no noticeable change in hieght or ride quality, so now i'm looking at the 2nd coil, what do you think?... Image Image Image


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