cutting springs?

[1970shortbed]

my truck had cut springs when i got it and it wa ok ride but was loose when i went to stop esp a hard stop so i got all the proper spindles and such to set it up


i spent less that 1500.00 on dropping my truck front and rear that included disc brakes for the front and power brake booster plus shocks through McGaughys


i got all my stuff through a guy i know on a dodge forum his site it http://slammed1.com/ most of the stuff on his site is dodge because he owns a dodge but also has a old chevy to snd workes on a bunch of different stuff he is in arkansas

[Brad]

I agree with what everyone else has said here. I've cut springs and I've also heated them and have had 0 problems with either like everyone else. Cut like described above and you'll have no problems.

[68chevy68]

My buddy cut one coil out of his and personaly I don't think it rides well at all. It rides like crap.

[Rupdog]

if you're gonna cut coils, do it with a cold cut. no plasma, and no heating. just get a cutting disc or hacksaw.

heating the coil changes the metallurgy, which changes the characteristics of the spring's responsiveness. they will continue to sag over time, becoming eventually useless. you'll be lucky if they sag evenly. the PO on my camaro did this, and it eventually dipped in the front right.

also note that cutting a coil (even a cold cut) changes the spring rate. you're shortening the lenght of wire that the weight is distributed over, which makes it "bouncier" than originally designed. if you look at aftermarket "lowering springs", you'll see that they have fewer coils, but the wire diameter has been changed to compensate.

bottom line... cold cut is OK, but only 1 coil. expect it to be bouncier, and consider yourself all the luckier if it's not.

[sick69]

I hear everyone talkin about "rough ride, bouncy ride" just out of curiousity how much of this is due to long wheel base vs short wheel base?


Frank

[Frizzle Fry]

We'll my bags are on the way, but for the last 2 years I've had cut springs in the front with 2.5" spindles. The thing is; they are small block springs and I have a big block So that extra "bounciness" that people describe with cut springs was offset by the extra weight of a big block. I've ridden in and driven lots of old and new cars and trucks and I'll honestly say that this set-up rides very nice.

[sighlurr]

I found an exhaust shop here in Sacramento that cut the front springs on one of my old trucks for $30 per side. Dropped the truck down 1.5" and it rode great.

[68GMC454]

ive never cut them for trucks..but have converted a few air ride cars,,to coils, and had to cut the front coils to get them in..they ride good...thinking i will cut the front ones on my truck if i ever get to work on the truck...dont ask what air ride cars..would hate to get in trouble for likeing other brands..lmao
billy

[Warren]

An old stock car racer told me to change the height of their cars they would take the shocks off and then bang the car down, dont rmember exactly how he said it was done. I asked a friend that races and wins if that was possible and he said yes.

Too hard to find that guy but there is an old stock car racer in town here. I took him my carb after it was rebuild by a shop in the city. He took it apart, then put on a manual choke and it starts exactly as he said every time now. He also adjusted some screws with a vacuum gauge and when I drove it right away it felt different, more open. Saddly though it is easier to spin the tires now.

Will ask this guy about the height bounce method, the first guy I had no history with but he sounded pretty bright probably it was an accurate statement.

Warren