hmm... if I think about it, you both could be right. We've been discussing the nuances of linear springs, but this argument really doesn't apply. Think about it... If you are cutting your springs, then there's an approximately 100% chance that they are progressive springs. How can we be so sure? Cause your cheap *** is cutting springs which means... they're stock!

I mean, we could just be thinking of the two opposite ends... for example, if you cut the high end of the spring, the final spring rate will be quite lower. If you cut the soft end, the initial rate could be higher and is certainly going to raise upon further compression.

Of course, either way is retarded... and heating is even worse. I mean, some people will try to defend it with some off the wall theory, but reality shows that it sucks. People wrecking and all that, and terrible ride quality. Can't really argue with results (see TakumiJr's pics).

Case and point - friend of mine (who I will not name) had an EG 4 door on cut springs that had completely unacceptable ride quality and handling. Overall lowering is about the same as my Del sol (also an EG, so same suspension geometry) but I got Ksport progressives. Much less body roll, less nosediving on braking, less squat on acceleration (the bane of FF drivetrain) and much better ride quality.

In the end, cutting springs is pretty ricey anyway. You are doing superfluous modifications that are supposed to give the illusion of increased performance, but with no said performance increase. It's just for the looks.

 

Am I the only one to notice a pattern here? Everyone that wrecked did so by bouncing off the road or into another car. Cutting springs increases spring rate (generally), blowing the stock shocks. Then the car bounces around losing traction.

Combine those cut springs with decent shocks and everything should be fine.

 

^ i noticed it to, i know 2 people that have wrecked becuase of cut springs, and my older brother knows a few from back in the day.

 

I have some Friends that ride on cut springs and i wont get in the car with them. ive heard horror stories about cutting springs. id rather spend the money on legit suspention then risk my life, or peoples around me while driving. Just my 0.02

 

heating is just retarded. the danger in cut springs is them coming off the perches. GC on the other hand uses loose springs and no one really complains. why? well the danger in cut oem springs is a twisted spring on a flat surface. if you have perches that thread down you can cut the spring with no real risk. if you jump the rail road tracks the spring might not land on the perch if you have flat ones and twisted springs, this means bind. how can you fix this? well you could rig up some way to keep the spring centered and spend a few hours on it, or, you could just be careful until you get springs that don't have this risk

the biggest risk i can think of with cut springs is actually the idiots doing it. if your goal is to dump the car you have literally created the worst of everything. a car with no suspension travel, an easy ability to bind since you cut them so damn short and soft oem rates.

 

I agree with this. The people who don't care what their spring rates are the same morons that are lowering the vehicle "for the looks" (a rice move by my book)

There are people that lower their ride for performance. Those people demand exactness that requires a different kind of spring. However, most people just want a cheap quick way to basically "pretend". They cut them.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but, whatever. Bring it on. By my logic, slamming your car is just plain stupid. You're doing something to make it look like it has better performance but actually making it have worse performance. Go figure. Why don't you go put some big gaudy body kit on while you're at it?

People are sheep and they will believe whatever someone tells them that makes them feel better.

(end rant)

 

^i complety argee, slammed cars may look good, but i and most would rather handle better.
But not being able to get over anything, and constantly dragging your *** on the road gets old fast. My car used to be slammed.

 

Cut springs with koni shocks would be ghetto, but better than cut springs on the stock shocks. Just throwing that out there.

 

Well in the last FIVE YEARS since I posted last...

Last year I sold my EF, which had cut springs. The ebay coilovers sucked & it was a DD. However, I used '00 GSR springs cut to a sedate height, maybe 1-2 finger gap between fender & tire. Since they started out with a higher rate, and I didn't go crazy-low, it worked great. Stiffer than stock, never bottomed out, and had a perfect ride. I did have illuminas, full poly, a proper alignment, and the "fork mod" (shock sits low in front fork). Handling was better than the "450/350" rate ebay's, part of that may have been from the 22mm solid rear sway...

I cut them by removing 2-3 of the upper flat coils via chop saw, so the lower tapered perch remained. I also made sure I had a wet rag on the rest of the spring so it wouldn't heat up & loose temper. It was still hard to reinstall them, since they had to be compressed. With the correct OEM spring, you keep some preload. Most people start with a very weak stock spring on a heavy car...THAT is when it can be dangerous.

 

^^^this

 

Nice job on the zombie thread.

 

rough ride

 

I used to have cut springs on my car so i am in agreement that the ride was rough, however the car handled a little better until I blew my stock shocks a few years after.

 

I knew a guy with a neon that (i kid you not) ratchet strapped his springs tighter to lower the car. He had his buddy jump up and down on the trunk and hood to compress the spring as he tightened it ...

 

Back in the day, this was how we used to lower the front a lot of cruisers:


Combined with lowering blocks in the rear:


Before $20 ebay threaded spring perches, that was the $20 slammed solution...

 

Yeah, but much like the turtlenecks and gold chains that were popular with that crowd, hopefully everyone grew out of that ****.