Cutting coil springs?

[Ratrod94]

if i cut the coil springs on my 66 Galaxie 2'' will that throw off my inlinement?

 

[meteorman]

2" cut springs

I cut my 63 Mercury Meteor about 2" on the front springs. I didn't have any problems. I rebuilt the front end and had it aligned at a shop that specializes in older cars. It seemed to be fine. you may need shorter shocks, but other than that, it's pretty simple.

 

[RPM]

if i cut the coil springs on my 66 Galaxie 2'' will that throw off my inlinement?

Yes it will, maybe so much that there is not enough adjustment to correct it. You will just have to try it and see.

 

[gonegonzo]

I'm interested in this post as well . I'm at that stage on my build too .

I was thinking of cutting 1/2 of a coil off the spring until I had the right stance . My buddy told me as I've seen several people mention on Rat Rods Rule , to just buy a dropped spindle kit .

That's probably the best thing to do but hard for the Rodder on a budget to justify price wise . If cutting the coil is safe , will it hurt anything ?

Thx ,
Gonzo

 

[oldracer22]

Lowering a car by cutting coils off the spring will change a-arm angles, changing all the front end geometry, such as caster, camber, toe, roll centers, etc. As RPM stated there may not be enough adjustment to get the geometry back to correct.

 

[blurooster]

as a rule I have never had a problem getting back the alignment when a full coil was cut. as oldracer22 stated there are a lot of forces effected.

 

[Old Iron]

First off, are you saying cutting 2", 1 coil or dropping the car 2" ?
If you're wanting to drop the front of the car 2" at the bumper ? it will require about 1/2 to 3/4 coil to achieve this as the lower a-arm spring perch, is positioned approximately 60 to 70% closer to the ball joint than it does to the frame pivot point.
When you make a spring length change it makes about a 30 to 40% more change at the tire to road contact point. In other words, the tire moves up and down 30 to 40% more than the spring and the frame moves 60 to 70% farther than the tires.
You can see from the animation that any front end adjustment or parts change, requires the alignment be reset. The alignment is more exaggerated in real life too.

http://www.ratrodsrule.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=94553&stc=1&d=1362153856

 

[RustyNCA]

as a rule I have never had a problem getting back the alignment when a full coil was cut. as oldracer22 stated there are a lot of forces effected.

I'm thinking the same thing. It will without a doubt require a re-alignment of the front end. I always start at one coil (unless I am not trying to go very far) and put the car back together, set it on the ground and see what I ended up with. Then that gives you an idea of how much more to do.

I don't get it realigned till I am sure I done up front. And there are some cars where 2" of drop will be beyond what the alignment shop can fix. Heck for some shops, they can't figure out what to do with it at all.... so make sure you get a guy that has an idea of what he is doing.

Hope this helps....

Cheers

As a visual example....

Here is the wife's 65 TBird Stock...

Here it is with one coil cut, nothing done in the back yet.

Here it is with a quarter more coil cut in the front.

And here is the finally finished product.... 1.25 coils cut up front and 2" drop in the rear...

 

[old man dave]

That T-Bird is hot.

 

[Bamamav]

It also depends on the placement of the coils as to how much drop you get when you start cutting it. I always cut 1/2 a coil to start with, put it back together, let it settle before I cut more. It might take more cut off, and it might settle just right, you never know until it settles. You want full weight on the springs, engine, all fluids, etc. Jack it up and let it down a few times, roll it around, drive it down the road. Some coils will settle in a few days, some take a month or longer.

Lot of work taking it apart and putting it back together, but it beats ruining a set of coils by cutting off too much to start with.