Heated Lowered Springs?

[kombreeze]

Ok for years I've only dropped cars by either direct replacement or cutting of the springs. Most of the time I would springs from a full size sedan to install in a compact to insure ride. Well Im about to buy my springs and I'm trying to figure out what kind of drop can I get away with so the million dollar question....I can't beleive I'm asking but I actually have never done it....How do I heat the springs to lower the truck. They are uneven do to spacers installed between each coil so I know I want to lower just don't know how much so I figured why not just heat them and play a bit. Temporarily since I'm converting to disk durring the summer and since I'm buying a new house the budget just got tighter. I've got a theme and I'm sticking with it...

[bobthecop]

Personally I would not heat springs to lower a vehicle, can't ever seem to get them level and of course the safety issue of taking the strength out of the metal.

[cdowns]

crash and burn aint much of a theme

[kombreeze]

The springs are being swapped out but in the driveway. Just not sure what stance I want with my wheel and tire combo. Thats why I want to heat the springs to determine that....I more than likely wont drive it like that....

[bobthecop]

Just remove the springs and use a jack to determine the height, as long as you are gonna pull them anyway.

[texanidiot25]

Just use a jack while you have them out. Heating them is tricky to get even. Even if it is just for looks before you get real ones.

[Rascal_one2001]

my brother did this to one of his trucks and had a piece of 4x4 wood in where the spring sits so he could have it at the correct ride height while doing mockup so we could move it around and the day he did it he didn't tell me and I took it down his road to do a burn out for one of my buddies and when i was doing the burn out the wood blocks slid out and the front end hit the pavement and messed up the pavement. I about pooped myself when it happend until i saw what it was then i just put the blocks back in and parked in in the exact spot it was in and my brother still wonders what happend to the far end of his driveway.

[nvrforgotten52]

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by Rascal_one2001

my brother did this to one of his trucks and had a piece of 4x4 wood in where the spring sits so he could have it at the correct ride height while doing mockup so we could move it around and the day he did it he didn't tell me and I took it down his road to do a burn out for one of my buddies and when i was doing the burn out the wood blocks slid out and the front end hit the pavement and messed up the pavement. I about pooped myself when it happend until i saw what it was then i just put the blocks back in and parked in in the exact spot it was in and my brother still wonders what happend to the far end of his driveway.

thats funny right there, and a bit messed up to....

[Boog]

How much is it worth to keep me quiet about this?

[magsnubby]

It's not all that hard. Just use a rosebud tip and don't concentrate the heat in one spot for very long. I heated one side at a time, let it sit and cool for awhile, then heated the other side. Get it to where you think it looks good then let it sit for a few days (don't move it just let it sit in the same spot) untill the springs settle. Repeat as needed. I heated the springs on my '71 just to see what it would look like. I was going to use dropped spindles and dropped springs but i wasn't sure how low i wanted to go. Or how much clearance i would have between the a-arms and the blacktop. So i just heated it up untill it looked good and went from there.

BUT.....if you're going to be driving the truck i wouldn't recommend torching the springs. I only heated mine because i wasn't going to be driving the truck untill i installed the spindles and springs and rebuilt the front end.