cut springs front only?

89tird

Registered User
Hey guys im running 17 cobra r's in the back 255 50 17 and stock wheels up front, the 255 rub on the spindle in the front, so im going with 245 50 17 up front, my question is can I cut the front springs only? I liKe the raked look and hate it when the back sits lower. will i have vibrations or anything like that? loss oF performance?

with the setup i have now it vibrates after 60 mph but i still havent balanced the tires. should I cut the back too? is it something i could do on a weekend? I changed springs on my friends honda civic with spring compressors, do i need them here?

thanks guys
 
spgs

I have not cut sprinngs on a t-bird, but I have on several other cars. What ever you do up front, you will likely need the spring compressor. For safety if nothing else. It all depends on how far the lower control arm will swing down. If you do cut the springs, do it in complete rounds. i.e. one full coil or 2 full coils, not 1/2 coils. That will help the top of the spring to realign in the upper mount, and you do want it to realign. Same for the rears. I dont see how you would get those springs out without a compressor. And believe me, you dont want to get in a hurry and have a coil get loose on you. They can do one whale of a lot of damage or injury. Its always is better to be safe than sorry.
 
For rears all you have to do is have raise the lower control arm with a jack remove the bolt that holds the shock and the bolt for the upper arm then slowly lower the jack decompressing the spring till it's lose and can be pulled out.
 
What spindles are you running? The rubbing may actually be the wheels not the tires with a 17 X 9 Cobra R. I had the late model spindles on and had to use a spacer to keep the wheel from scraping the spindles. I was likewise ruuning 255/50/17's.

As far as the springs.....you do have an option besides cutting them.

Contact these folks

http://www.coilsprings.com/

Coil Spring Specialties
632 W. Bertrand
St. Mary's, KS 66536
(785) 437-2025
Fax: (888) 386-2027
info@coilsprings.com

Kevin Crane is the person I dealt with. Tell them the Spring Code from your drivers side "B" Pillar Tag for the front springs (first letters by the axle code...likely a J) and how much drop you want and they can make you custom springs. I do suggest though you get the springs "bare" and have them powder coated since their epoxy paint allowed the springs to rust in less than a year for me. I bought all four springs for around $340 a little over a year ago.
 
Im running stock spindles 93sc, I was thinking of cutting the stock springs first, if i mess up or dont like how it rides ill just get lowering springs then.

After searching all day for 245/50/17 for the front all I found was expensive michelins and non stock tires. So I just mounted the damn 255 in the front, sticks out a bit and rubs when coming out of the parking spot, but not too bad.
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what do you guys think?? I think if I lower the front it will rub on the upper ball joint.
 
Check this thread out with pics. http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75814&highlight=cutting+springs
Those are 17" saleen speed stars which are now on my car w/255/50/17s and they never rubbed on Darkside's tbird. I wish I would have just cut my stockers. It gives it a nicer look. I believe we did end up cutting the back springs down a bit on his car.

that came out good !! so i guess ill just cut 1 inch or 1.5 from the front when i get smaller tires.:cool:
 
that came out good !! so i guess ill just cut 1 inch or 1.5 from the front when i get smaller tires.:cool:
I think the 45 profile would look a little better and shouldn't rub. I got the General Exclaim UHP in 255/45/17 for $430 something shipped to my door from tirerack.com. They arrived the day after I ordered them. I just had a local tire shop mount them. I'm very pleased with them. They got excellent reviews. BTW, in the thread I posted above, Chris cut 1 and a half coils, not inches from his front springs. I don't remember if he cut half a coil or a full coil in the rear. I'd start with a half coil in the rear. It should give it a decent rake.
 
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that came out good !! so i guess ill just cut 1 inch or 1.5 from the front when i get smaller tires.:cool:

if you cut the front u have to cut whole coils, u cant do halves. 1 whole coil should be good for you, unless you've taken weight out of the front.
 
cutting the front springs and not the rears will not cause a vibration, but it will hurt the handling of the car. When you rake the front down, you effectively have more of the car's weight over the front than you did before, so it hurts the balance of the car. As for taking the springs out without a spring compressor, that is easy. Raise the car just high enough to get the wheel off and put it on jackstands. Now put the jack under the lower control arm to support it, and remove the center bolt at the top. Once you have that bolt removed, you can slowly lower the jack to release the tension on the spring slowly and safely. Once the spring is unloaded, remove the bottom shock bolt and the shock and spring will come out. To re-install, just reverse the procedure and use the jack to lift up on the lower control arm, using the car's weight to re-compress the spring.

Also one coil should be good. On my 91 cougar I cut 2 coils off the front and it was way too low, I had to put some spacers in there to bring the ride height back up a little bit. Now it sits pretty even with 2 coils cut off the front with spacers and 1.5 coils off the rear. If I had it to do over again though, I would probably just take one coil off each spring at all 4 corners and leave it like that.
 
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Those 255's are going to rub no matter what up front - youre dealing with a 10 inch section width instead of 9.5 with a 245 tire .. you need the 245's up front and 255's in the back.
Not sure why you were looking for a 245/50 tire, thats not a very common size, but it is a bit more accurate on the speedometer - theyre twice as expensive as most 45 series tires.
And as for cutting your springs .. have fun with that. :D I wont even give you any pointers on that one. Go for it.

- Dan
 
I was looking for that size because it was the closest thing to my 255 50 17 in keeping my speedometer close to accurate. I dont really care about the speedometer being off I just didnt want any vibrations which I was having with the 225 in the front and the 255 in the back.

Im going to cut 1 coils of all 4 corners and slip air lifts in the back to lift the rear a lil bit.:cool:
 
if you cut the front u have to cut whole coils, u cant do halves. 1 whole coil should be good for you, unless you've taken weight out of the front.


Just wondering why you cant cut half coils from the front. I cut one full from the rear and love the way it sits, the tire is a little tucked. I think one and a half coils from the front would make it sit perfect.
 
its the way the spring sits in the cups. if you cut 1 and 1/2 coils you wont get the spring/strut to line back up to the control arm and upper strut mount. the holes wont line up.

i ended cutting 1 coil from back and 2 coils up front. but i've also taken weight out of the front. i think its perfect height.
 
I was looking for that size because it was the closest thing to my 255 50 17 in keeping my speedometer close to accurate. I dont really care about the speedometer being off I just didnt want any vibrations which I was having with the 225 in the front and the 255 in the back.

Im going to cut 1 coils of all 4 corners and slip air lifts in the back to lift the rear a lil bit.:cool:

Dont cut the same off the rear as you do the front - the rear will be much lower and the air bags are not going to make up the difference.

- Dan
 
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