S197steve

Hey all, I just received my full Saleen Suspension kit from Stage 3 yesterday and was reading through the installation directions and it said I have to cut the stock bump stops down... rather significantly.

I've never heard of anyone doing that before and neither of my friends who have aftermarket shocks, struts and springs did it for their setups.

I don't really have any issues doing it, but does anyone know what the point of cutting the bump stops is?

moosestang

The point is to give you that little bit more of suspension travel before your frame makes contact with the bump stops. I'm not honestly sure I could tell a difference though. Maybe try it without cutting first, it's not going to hurt anything. I cut mine because they were almost touching the frame. I believe I cut my rears in half.

S197steve

Thanks Moose... that makes sense.

Like you mentioned, I'll probably just try it out without cutting them...

I assume by cutting them down and given more suspension travel it would improve ride quality by being able to absorb more impact over bumps and the likes?

tx_zstang

You can leave them as-is and see if they are contacting the frame, then cut them down some if they are. A nice little trick is to mark up the top of them with chalk or something, and then after driving it around, check how much (if any) of the chalk has marked the frame.
FWIW, I could feel the difference in bumpy roads; the rear felt like it was rough, while the front seemed fine (with my dspecs adjusted where they seemed best). Come to find out, the bump stops were hitting and limiting dampening travel on bumpy roads, making the rear a rougher ride. Trimming about 1/2" (down to the first indention) off the tops solved the issue; now the ride is much better.

S197steve

Cool, thanks Mike. I'll give that a whirl... I hope to get them installed one night this week and will try the chalk on the bump stops.

157dB

If the 'kit' was worth a grain of salt, new bumpstops
of the proper height would have been included.
Say what you will about Roush, but they INCLUDE new
bumpstops of the proper height with their suspension kits.

S197steve

I don't understand the logic behind that comment.

Roush kits cost 2 times as much as the Saleen kit... there most definitely isn't two times the performance. So I buy new bump stops, that $$ certainly isn't going to add up to the difference between the two kits.

degeze

My H&R Super Sport springs recommended I cut 1/4" off the front bumpstops due to decreased suspension travel. I only did it because I figured they wouldn't have added it in the instructions if it wasn't important. You could get away without cutting them but later if you need to resize them you will need to disassemble everything again.

IMO just cut them and not worry about it later.

deekum1627

what did you pay like 680 i think it was thats a good price how low does the kit drop it. aslo they did a test on saleen and roush and roush won in handling

tx_zstang

You can get to the bumpstops easily with the rear wheels removed. So they are not hard to remove; to cut, or actually, they are soft enough to cut right on the car.

I tend to agree though, that kits should include proper new bumpstops per expected lowering results. Cutting will do, but the full integrity of the bumpstop is compromised. They still work, but it can't be good for them having part of the top cut off.