My mate suggested this :S

[jase ek]

hey there

my mate suggested.. well offered that he could cut the springs on my aus spec sprinter..
there some lowered springs on it atm but i want roughly 3cms lower.. should i get springs for front and rear or trust my friend ? wats the negatives of cutting a coil or 2 off lowered springs ?

[RobertoX]

depends what you want the car for...

if you want it to handle better while leaving stock shocks forget it

if you want to slightly lower your car \really cheaply to stop it looking like a moon buggy then do it

[jase ek]

well what i plan is to.. get it low for now.. and get decent coilovers later..
but just makin sure.. is it ok for the rear lowered springs and front to remove 1 coil or 2.. as i notice the rear sits it self..
it wont fall out ?

[Javal]

Cutting springs FTL.

My corona has soft-roader style ride height and even i know not to cut the springs. Cause if you hit a bump on one of oyur late night hills runs, then you're gonna have to do alot more to your sprinter than get some new springs if you want to be able to drive... or even push it again.

My 2c

Javal.

[DRFT - 86]

yeh man hold out and be patient untill you can afford to put decent springs/shocks in and dump it properly ------------> do it once and do it right the 1st time........

[mattysshop]

you can.. if you cut 1 coil off the spring.. it will make it a bit stiffer also.. but make sure they remain captured... uncaptured springs... wheather it be cut.. or aftermarket you bute TRD ones.. if they are uncaptured.. they are quite dangerous...

[Course_Out]

Like Matty said, as long as they are captive its ok. Problems arise when people go cutting their springs in half. Keep in mind that most aftermarket lowered springs that are readily available (Kings, Lovells, etc) will probably be as low as possible while keeping the spring captive, so you will probably need shortstroke shocks to go any lower safely anyway.

[.wolfwood]

i wouldnt really do it, makes the ride so shit and handles gay. this is from experience. just save ya pennys and buy some new shit...

[VIC_AE86]

Go to fast over a bump and they will fall out..

Happened to a mate with a vl.. funny as sh*t..

[mattysshop]

thats cos it was a VL... mwaa hahahaha...

[selk]

aftermarket springs dont cost that much..... y bother

[exquisit]

springs r for losers....
slamm its down hard n ride only on bumpstops!!!

[Javal]

^^^OMG sik i dea uleh, imm gon do vat in de VL tuuurbooo, mi gawd, the hoez will luv it.

[jase ek]

Anyone know anyone selling cheap lowered springs in Brisbane ?

[OBE353]

mine had king springs in it already and i wanted it lower i took 1 coil off each spring, and obviously kept it so the spring still looks the same like where the coil starts n ends just minus a coil

and you can zip tie em in to try keep em captive, the ride was alot rougher but it reduced alot of body roll and imo handled better, the only prob i had was i hit a gutter sliding in the wet really hard and the backs slipt out a few coils (the springs were still in there just jammed) and the back sat rediculously low, but jack it up and re fit em and presto.

i dont condone chopping springs but if i had my time again i woulda cut em the 1st day i got instead of waiting like a few weeks......my opinion but

[Brenton 86]

I cut the shit out of mine 3/7 coils i think, its alot better than stock and its only temperary. But very uncaptive the rears pop in an out when u go up gutteres on an angle.

[.wolfwood]

^^ fuck that would suck balls

[[MET]]

FFS King springs are like $200 for a set of 4 if not cheaper, dont even bother choping them its uber ghey

[Brenton 86]

When i say "pop in and out" i just mean they are uncaptive they cant actually fall out because they are still taller the the bumpstops in the centre. But much stiffer than standard but i certainly wouldn't recommend it as a long term modification, but yeah much funner that stock boat springs. Its also gonna fuck out ur standard shocks real quick.

Youve gotta bin ur standard gear when you upgrade to a real setup anyway, so u might as well hack em out and break the shocks while your saving. Gonna end up in the same place anyway

[jase ek]

how easy is it to remove the rear springs ?.. whats involved ?
any tips i thank you now..

[Brenton 86]

youll need spring tensioners if they are stock height, but if you dont know anyone with them youll probly have to go to a workshop. I have heard some dodgie ways of tensioning them like clamps, rope?, twisting wire, but its just hearsay and would be a major fuk around i think

[peter_soj]

"I have heard some dodgie ways of tensioning them like clamps, rope?"
This is a very cheap and effective way of taking off your head. A workshop would be the best option

[jase ek]

ah ok.. so i just put on the spring clamps (not rope lol) and .. wine them down and remove em and then.. to reinstall it just do the opposite

[Bustin_86]

never had any problems with it, just be sensible with the amount of dumpage!

[jase ek]

thanks, will keep you guys updated.. im also going to zip tie the rears down to help

[driftae86]

changing the rears is piss easy.

- jack the car up by the body so both rear tyres are off the ground.
- take wheels off
- unbolt bottom of shock from brakes/diff housing/axle thing(not necessary but makes it easier)
- put spring compressors on the stock springs and compress them
- slide them out. (push down on brakes/diff housing/axle thing to make more space for spring to come out)
- dont bother compressing the aftermarket springs, they should be small enough to go in.
- press down on brakes/diff/axle thing to make more space, slide new spring in
- bolt everything up again.
- tada!

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/wink.gif

[jase ek]

sweet as... will do tomorrow http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/smile.gif

[[MET]]

the rears you wont even need to compress to remove or install just jack it up by the body and rip em out http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/biggrin.gif done 3 sprinters rears without compressing rear.

fronts are harder but still piss easy, cant believe people pay $200-$300 for pros to install its a 1-2h job, 4 hours for n00bs

[Brenton 86]

Just saw spring tensioners fs at super cheap, $40 pretty good price

I also drilled holes in the spring seats to zip-tie the springs on, an it actually worked, im quiet amazed that the cable ties dont just break with the weight on them be yea worked for me. But i think you might have trouble getting a drill in there, i did it before i put the rear end in the car.

[Andor]

What is the danger with uncaptive springs? They could come out or not seat properly? Would it be acceptable to tie them down so they dont move around. I heard about this being done to some rally cars.

[Brenton 86]

As mentioned above you can zip-tie them on. Uncaptive springs are very dangerous if they can actually fall off the seats. It would take a very large upward force to free them but if it happens expect to be in a neck brace for several weeks when the car comes down on bump stops

[jase ek]

did all today and yea.. its not at a stupid height.. saving for coilovers now http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/smile.gif

[Brenton 86]

.. its not at a stupid height..[/b]

Soft http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/tongue.gif

[bahnugget]

bahaha.. how much did u take off?