Budget lowering

[cincy86]

Hey guys, I have a 1986 v6 Monte. All suspension is stock. How much should I cut out of the front springs to lower it 2 inches? I will be using spring clamps for the rear.

 

[clean8485]

I know that the title of your thread says budget lowering, but cutting and clamping springs to try to reduce ride height, especially to lower a vehicle 2" is not the best or safest way to go. If its possible, I'd shop around for some drop spindles for the front, and some proper lowering springs for the rear. You're going to have to partially disassemble the front suspension, in order to cut the springs, so changing the spindles really isn't any more work, and rear springs are relatively easy to replace, so if you're willing to spend some more money, you can do lower your car in a way that would be much safer. Just my $0.02.

 

[pontiacgp]

I know that the title of your thread says budget lowering, but cutting and clamping springs to try to reduce ride height, especially to lower a vehicle 2" is not the best or safest way to go. If its possible, I'd shop around for some drop spindles for the front, and some proper lowering springs for the rear. You're going to have to partially disassemble the front suspension, in order to cut the springs, so changing the spindles really isn't any more work, and rear springs are relatively easy to replace, so if you're willing to spend some more money, you can do lower your car in a way that would be much safer. Just my $0.02.

what is unsafe about cutting springs?

 

[cincy86]

I know that the title of your thread says budget lowering, but cutting and clamping springs to try to reduce ride height, especially to lower a vehicle 2" is not the best or safest way to go. If its possible, I'd shop around for some drop spindles for the front, and some proper lowering springs for the rear. You're going to have to partially disassemble the front suspension, in order to cut the springs, so changing the spindles really isn't any more work, and rear springs are relatively easy to replace, so if you're willing to spend some more money, you can do lower your car in a way that would be much safer. Just my $0.02.

I know that it is better to have drop spindles and lower it that way, but I don't have any money for that right now. One of my front coils is broken anyway so the car sits an inch higher on one side. I'm just trying to make sure I don't cut out too much. I don't see how it's unsafe though, I cut the springs in my old caprice and impala and it never hurt anything but the ride quality.

 

[pontiacgp]

I know that it is better to have drop spindles and lower it that way, but I don't have any money for that right now. One of my front coils is broken anyway so the car sits an inch higher on one side. I'm just trying to make sure I don't cut out too much. I don't see how it's unsafe though, I cut the springs in my old caprice and impala and it never hurt anything but the ride quality.

drop spindles do nothing for the handling of a car and if you use the stock springs with drop spindles that could cause tire rub. Cutting a spring raises the spring rate and regarding ride quality if you want a soft mushy ride then leave it stock

 

[cincy86]

I don't really care about the ride quality all that much, I'm just trying to change the look of the car. I won't be using spindles. I just want to take out the springs, cut them, and put them back in. Probably going to replace the ball joints while I'm at it

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Cutting the springs to adjust the ride height messes worse up the already bad suspension geometry these cars have. By cutting the spring, you reduce the amount of travel the suspension has and it will handle worse than stock. The suspension in these cars are so bad it takes big bucks and lots of knowledge to half way fix them. Best thing to do is replace the upper A arms with aftermarket ones designed for tall ball joints which fixes some of the geometry issues, then use stiffer than stock springs.

 

[cincy86]

Okay, I have some stiff v8 cutlass springs I will cut. Regardless of handling or ride quality, the car is going to get lowered

 

[ssn696]

 

[williamattop]

From my younger days, I seem to remember cutting one full coil off a front spring usually gives about 2-3 inch drop.