Crispy2000Gt

looks straight forward but want to know, are there any secrets out there i should know. like the pig tails need to face the same way as factory but is it wise to do this if it my first time?

these are the sprins iv been eyeballing.. on sale too
http://www.americanmuscle.com/eibach...-7904gtv6.html

Crispy2000Gt

how would i do this and get a decent ride, short on budget. looking to "trim" the springs on my 2000 gt, thanks guys

Lem-06

everything ive heard about cutting springs is the most ghetto and dangerous way to lower your ride. It damages the springs and their ability to sit in their correct locations, the springs are designed to be the length they are on the car and cutting sections out can damage their rebounding ability. Hit a bad bump and the spring could come flying out into the side of the wheel

TL : DR-
Dont do it

Crispy2000Gt

iv only know one person to do this and the ride sucked BUT iv also heard people have a ok ride. say cut only one coil or so

Lem-06

the suspension is one thing you dont want to cut corners on and try to save a buck.
Just save up some cash and buy a real set to lower the car.
you wouldnt put cooking oil in your engine cause you got it free would you?

NewEdgeStang00

I had thought about this before because many guys with Mustangs just snip an inch off of the spring. But Lem is right, I don't want to risk damaging my car so I'd rather go with actual springs with a consistent spring rate meant for it's length. So far what I've seen is that ride quality is going to suck no matter what. You can do things to improve it but it's not going to ride like a Cadillac, unless you spend quite a bit.

There's a great suspension guide by Jazzer, and here's a great guide too where you can study and gain an understanding of how to attain drop+ride quality.
http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/t_suspension.htm

Harryman2002

There a couple guys on here who have done it with good results myself included. I've got H&R race springs with half a coil cut in the front and the car feels and handles exactly the same as it did pre cutting.
People seem to hate on it a lot because its got a "ghetto" reputation to it.
Check out the official spring cutting thread on SVTP.com. There are tons of guys on there who have done it with great results. Cutting one coil won't hurt anything.
2 or more is a whole different story though.

Norm Peterson

I would say that if you understand what you're doing by cutting springs down, you'll generally be OK. It helps if you have a little idea about metallurgy in general.

It's when people just hack away with no idea what they're getting into that the results are more likely to be unsatisfactory.

Things you should know about include
Springs get stiffer as they get shorter
You can make springs short enough to fall out when the car goes into rebound (or is jacked up by the frame for undercar servicing) if they aren't held captive, such as by the shocks running through them
Cutting the end off does not affect the metal in the active part of the spring unless you go out of your way to somehow add a huge amount of heat to the whole spring
You want the end you cut to fit into the perch the same way it was before you cut it


With a few measurements and depending on what the end coils look like, it is possible to estimate fairly closely how far the car will drop


Just heating and letting the car weight collapse the springs is truly ghetto and the results really are unpredictable.


Norm

Jazzer The Cat

^ ha haaaaaaaaa

I had this happen to me on my '85 GT I hadn't thought of this issue, until one day I was heading down the twisties to the beach when I could hear this scrapping sound. This happened to coincide with a somewhat harsher ride than only a moment prior. This too happened to coincide with a rather "light" rear-end over a large hump at some speed only a moment prior to this!

I got out of my car to find both rear springs had fallen to the side and the ends had make a little scratch/groove around the inside of my wheels and was riding on my bump-stops I had then designed/made some new shock brackets that were 2" longer to equal the length of drop I had. This extended the shocks down and avoided the issue in the future. It also made the car ride better... go figure

Crispy2000Gt

will do, i dont mind waiting for a sale and picking up a good set for around $200 but i dont know if the drop will suffice for the gap in the wheel well ,
dont want a huge drop but dont want to keep looking like a monster truck