I am planning on cutting my stock springs this SATURDAY, possibly sunday, I would appreciate any immediate responses, so i can get it done by this weekend. I want to drop the car 2inches in the FRONT and 2 inches in the BACK. I already searched and couldn't find anything about how much to actually cut to get this large of a drop. Is this too large of a drop? Will this increase my handling ability what so ever in any situation? and how much of each coil do I need to cut to make the drop? I am planning on using a Hack-Saw to make the cuts, although if neccessary I can make them via other means. I am planning on going to eibachs within a year, so this will be a extended temporary setup. Also, will this create any rubbing issues? i'm still running stock salad shooters. If you need any more info, post it, i'll try to reply promptly. I would appreciate it if I can get this issue resolved by this weekend so I can make the drop....Thanks,

 

I honestly dont think you should do it, I have cut springs on my 240Z which rides HIGH stock, and I cut 1.5 coils on the fronts. The Camaro is already fairly low in stock form, and the springs will not be anywhere near stiff enough to avoid bottoming out, with a 2" drop, nor will your shocks be able to take it either.

I would say 1 coil and no more, this will give you a nice little bit of drop, but without stiffer springs/shocks 2" is entirely too much, JMO of course. I have 600# fronts, and 140-160# rears with Koni DAs, and at 1.7-2" drop it is very, very low, but the springs/shocks will take it without problems. Still it is too low minus boulevard cruising with no potholes. Potholes scare the crap out of me because it is pretty dangerous this low, you could lose a pan, or just plain do some serious damage to the car otherwise. It is just impracticle overall.

Sorry for the rant

 

Well, if you have reason to believe it won't take that much of a drop I won't do it...especially since they'll have to be on there like that for a while. So, how much of a drop will cutting off a single coil give me? And, will I lose cornering performance in anyway? Thanks,

 

I have my stock springs handy, and looking at even a single coil your looking at a hefty 1.5" removed from the spring. This would probably put you at 1.3" drop or so. With that in mind I would probably shoot for something around the 1" drop area.

If you want to corner hard and have a lowered car you really should stiffen up the suspension. With a single coil removed you'd have about a 330# spring, not quite to 1LE area yet. 1 entire coil cut may be ok, I would shoot for about 3/4 though looking at how much a single coil removes from the height. This would still give you enough to obviously be lowered somewhat, but you'd have no ride height issues probably, and you'd still have a fair amount of travel. If you bottom out, not only will it hurt cornering, but it could send you into a wall or into a ditch.

Unless your using a large cutoff wheel with an air tool, make sure you get 4 because they will wear down. The springs I cut are much smaller in diameter than the Z28 springs, I used a dremel and a set of cutoff wheels I bought at Sears, and used maybe 3 of them. A saw blade really wont get the job done, and they will heat up so much they WILL break, unless you take about 5 or 6 hours to do each one, with 30 seconds 'cutting' and 10 minutes of blade cooling, cutoff wheels rock for this kind of job. It will throw sparks so make sure to get some eye protection

 

Well, it looks like I'll chop off a single coil then. Any last words or tips? I'll come up with somesort of cutting wheel, I have all sorts of options laying around my garage. After I do it, if it doesn't seem to be working out...it'll just be an excuse to buy some new springs now, as opposed to later. Thanks,

 

Hope you're still reading and haven't started cutting yet . . .

Best way to estimate the amount of drop without spring tables and lots of math is to measure the space between the coils as they are installed in the car, i.e. loaded. Measure the distance between the LCA chassis pivots and the spring seat, and between the chassis pivots and the lower ball joint. Obviously, a one inch drop at the spring will be more than one inch at the ball joint.

Here's where the loaded coil spacing comes into the picture. Say it's 2". And that the other measurements are 9" to the spring seat and 15" to the ball joint (front spring motion ratio = 0.60).

Cutting one coil will drop the spring seat almost 2". Out there at the ball joint, that becomes 2" divided by 0.6, or 3.33". You want 2", so cut (2/3.33), or 0.6 of a coil. Since the spring will gain rate as you reduce the number of active coils, you could safely cut 5/8 of a coil or so.

In the rear, the motion ratio is 1.0, since the spring is sitting right on top of the axle. IIRC, rear spring loaded coil spacing is a little larger, so let's assume it's 2.5" here. You want 2", so cut (2/2.5) or 0.8 coil out back. Same considerations of increasing rate apply here too, so you can cut a LITTLE more than that (though I wouldn't cut more than about 5/6 of a coil on the first shot).

What you want to cut with if you're going to use a hand hacksaw is a carbide hacksaw blade. You'll probably be able to find them in the ceramic floor & wall tile area at Home Depot or Lowe's.

Good luck.

Norm

 

Alright sounds good. Well, I 'm going to cut it next weekend...I'll let you guys know how it goes...thanks,

 

Not to be a jerk but how do you have a Z28 and a B4C? Do you actually have both option codes? Just curious. I personally wouldn't mess with cutting the springs-just wait til you can afford a set.

 

yeah, that was a typo....and i take it you did a tranny swap...all B4C's came with A4's...

 

Nope not true. I have the original window sticker from my car...
http://bellsouthpwp.net/4/5/454ss/MVC-719F.JPG

 

Damn, thats cool. That's the first M6 B4C i've ever seen. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the 4L60E included in the price of the B4C package? That's why I assumed you had done the swap. BTW, your car looks hella-clean...

 

uh, nm...i just looked at your window sticker...It lists the 6speed in the Specialty Vehicle Options list. So, apparently you could opt for the M6 as opposed to the A4...weird, you'd think you see more M6 B4C's rollin' around...

 

Thanks I bought it this past summer with supposedly 28k miles. Got any pics of yours? Don't see too many B4C's.

 

I don't think too many cops like to talk on their radios and shift at the same time! Once a cop in pursuit just about took me out on a country road, the road was straight too! Apparently they're a little busy!