Cut springs, now have problem

[Goober02]

Read through the archives about cutting springs so I decided to undertake this project. Cut springs with a dremel and cutting wheel with no prob. Car is lowered and looks great. However, the right rear spring keeps popping out once in a while.

Does this happen to all of you too?

What to do about it?

And, is there a danger?

It doesn't seem to move anymore than this but I don't like driving it this way. I found an excellent pic on the web to represent exactly what I'm talking about. Check it out:

[Guest Anonymous]

I am runnig H&R's that are short but do not have the problem. You can install a steel cable to limit the travel and keep the spring in.

[Arizona02]

(nt)

[Goober02]

Thanks guys.

Delk, I'm not sure I know what you mean by putting a wire. To what and where? How would it hold it?

Also, I tried the 180 bit and it pops out even more. I turned it against the dampener stop to help with the popping out but it still does it there. It does it even more if I spin it out 180.

[Mike Self]

last few inches so that it's flat in relation to the remainder of the coil. Look at the pieces that you cut off and you'll see what I'm referring to.

In your picture the newly cut spring end isn't sitting down on its perch as it should; it's sticking up in the air. I think when it's unloaded it slides sideways and pops out, 'cause it's not resting firmly on its seat. You'll note that both upper and lower seats have notches in 'em to hold the spring in a specific location. Yours aren't seating in those notches.

Find a friend with a torch, heat up where they should be bent and bend 'em 'till they match the old, cut off ends. That should solve your problem.

cheers

mike

[Maximillian]

Oh the horror of cutting springs. Long ago (1987) I was at a club meet at the BMW HQ in Munich standing alongside a E9 CS with an engineer from BMW when the owner came up and proceeded to tell us how he had cut his springs. The engineer went on a 20 min. rant about how many hours they (BMW) had into engineering the suspension to be just right and asked what the guy did for a living. He was a doctor, to which the engineer went on to reply how would he feel if he (the engineer) started performing surgery on people without any formal training. It got kind of tense but I saw his point and remember it to this day whenever anybody starts talking about cutting springs.

JMTW,

Max

Maximillian

800-950-2002

[robspeed]

Oh the horror of cutting springs. Long ago (1987) I was at a club meet at the BMW HQ in Munich standing alongside a E9 CS with an engineer from BMW when the owner came up and proceeded to tell us how he had cut his springs. The engineer went on a 20 min. rant about how many hours they (BMW) had into engineering the suspension to be just right and asked what the guy did for a living. He was a doctor, to which the engineer went on to reply how would he feel if he (the engineer) started performing surgery on people without any formal training. It got kind of tense but I saw his point and remember it to this day whenever anybody starts talking about cutting springs.

JMTW,

Max

Maximillian

800-950-2002

ive cut my springs and it works great! Bimmer magazine tests confirm that it just raises spring rate about 20%. i love it with bils HDs...

in that picture it looks like the cut part of the coil is still wrapped around the perch bottom. the end of the coil should fit the stamped perch the same way the uncut spring did. hope you figure it out!

[trangieboy]

Robspeed,how many turns did you cut off your springs ??

Mal.

[Guest]

wait a minute!!!!!!!!

that picture looks like you left the cut piece on the spring

seat and it is just loose. the part to cut is the top where

the top spacer can be rotated to accomadate the new

position of the cut end. if this is the case then replace the

spring with a new one and cut it if you want or go buy

CC 827 MOOG and cut the small tail off the one end

and install it. this is a progressive spring that lowers

the car 3/4 to 1 ". the seat end will not move if you plane

flat the bottom of the moog part.

"tieing down a car" refers to attaching something like a

restraint to each end of a spring to restrict full travel and

to keep springs in and on there seat or perch. many tie

down jobs are performed with radiator clamps and a tubeing

cutter to slot the perch.

good luck

stone

stone racing co

[BillWilliams]

with shocks/struts engineered for shorter springs/shocks.

Bilstein HD for normal springs and some shortened springs, Bilstein Sports only on cars with shortened springs or shorter springs.

Maybe your spring travel allowed by your shocks is too long.

Do they pop out while driving or when you jack the car up?

[robspeed]

Robspeed,how many turns did you cut off your springs ??

Mal.

I cut about 1.75 off the front and 1.0 coils off the rear. i used red-dot springs off a '73 by the way..

[robspeed]

with shocks/struts engineered for shorter springs/shocks.

Bilstein HD for normal springs and some shortened springs, Bilstein Sports only on cars with shortened springs or shorter springs.

Maybe your spring travel allowed by your shocks is too long.

Do they pop out while driving or when you jack the car up?

contrary to popular myth, Bilstein sports (for 02s) are only shorter in the rear, by a mere 10mm. same length up front as HDs. source: Bils USA..

[Goober02]

It's always been my understanding that cutting springs is a no-no. I know on some older water cooled VW's I've had the springs eventually bend.

But, I read so many posts in the archives about it and having no probs that I figured the strength of these springs was strong enough to allow me to cut them.

Stone - that pic is a sub pic. It's not the actual car. My car does not have the coil spring that was cut just sitting there. Mike S, I think that is what you saw sticking up in the air.

BillW - it only pops out (so far) when I jack the car up. If I put it in place and drop the car slowly it lands nicely into the dampener ring and I think the pressure is enough to prevent it from popping out. The car, however, seems to have some negative camber now. Not sure if it was like this before.

I kind of wish I hadn't done this now. So, if it doesn't pop out while I'm driving am I ok until I buy some proper lowering springs?

[BillWilliams]

Shorter springs will fall out when jacked up. You can wire them in place if you like. That is normal.

The car will have negative camber with shorter springs.

You are good to go.

We are learning to ask the "service writer" type questions.

[Slavs]

Be careful. Try not to heat the springs to bend the ends flat. There is a chance you can heat them too tight and loose the spring rate. The heated spring ends can become very brittle and break off. Metric Mechanic outlines how to cut sock springs, although I would refrain from doing this.

Slavs