should i cut my springs???

lalasdaddysupra

New Member
Jun 24, 2009
6
0
0
lakewood
i had a question would cutting my springs be o.k??
and i was looking at the struts on my mk3 supra and was wondering how to take them off??
kinda new to supra so yeah....any help??
 

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
10,542
10
36
Moved from SME forum to general - this is way too basic.

To answer your question:

NO

I'll be blunt. Cutting springs is riceboy cheap ass bullshit. It's one of the dumbest things you can do to the suspension of your car.

The search engine on this site is your friend - this topic has been beaten to death (much like your kidney and struts will be if you do something that silly):

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94810&highlight=cut+springs

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90667&highlight=cut+springs

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60787&highlight=cut+springs

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59842&highlight=cut+springs

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58566&highlight=cut+springs

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55180&highlight=cut+springs

Now I know someone is going to come in here and say "it can be done correctly" or "I have a friend who did it" blah blah blah.. 99 times out of 100, cut springs are a disaster. They destroy the handling of the car.
 

Supraholics

.928 RWHP & Climing!
Apr 1, 2006
1,577
0
0
PA
www.supraholics.com
I heated the front ones on my white Supra only because I had a meet to go and the front INTRAX spring were still almost at stock height while the rear were perfectly lower.

I was told they have to seat for a while and eventually they'll go down to where they should be.

I wouldn't recommend people doing this. Springs are just too cheap NOT to buy a lowering kit.

I will though share my personal experience. The ride was just as good as the intrax if not stiffer. No harsh ride or bouncing. Cornering up to and around 60mph (I didn't do hard cornering past that speed other than HWY driving) was very good as well. One problem is that by heating the springs, you're making them smaller and when the suspension is fully stretched the springs will come loose and move around which is very dangerous.

Pictured below with heated springs. (only front was heated - rear were Intrax)

IMG_0954_SMALL.jpg
 

TurboStreetCar

Formerly Nosechunks
Feb 25, 2006
2,778
13
38
Long Island, Ny
Another war thread about this and again ill put in my experience. ive cut my springs in my car and it worked out fine. The ride quality wasn't punishment, the struts didn't explode, and it isn't bouncy.

Im not saying its the right way to lower the car and im not saying springs are too expensive. I did it because its what i felt like doing.

The reason the ride becomes shit isnt because of the cut spring, its because people that cut springs are doing it on cars with struts that have god knows how many miles on them.

The shaft is worn where the seal has been riding for god knows how many miles. when you cut the spring the seal is now riding on a different part of the shaft, most likely pitted to hell from being old and worn and destroys the seal on the strut.

After that seal is destroyed the strut looses the dampening ability to keep the car stable because the fluid leaked out and the ride quality becomes shit.

Cutting the spring increases its spring rate so the ride will be stiffer, and if the strut cant dampen the spring oscillations the car will be bouncy over bumps.

I cut about 1/2 to 3/4 of one coil off and it rides fine in my personal experience. Im not saying my struts aren't on the way out from cutting and all those things will eventually happen to my car, as they prolly will.

Though im buying coilovers for my car soon and i only did it because i was bored and wanted to lower my car and didnt have a grand to drop on suspension at the time, future plans are set in place.

Cut your springs if you want but be warned at what could come of it and why. Flame if you like, im only voicing my opinion on the subject.
 

RPSil13

New Member
Nov 30, 2006
464
0
0
Anaheim, CA
lalasdaddysupra;1361025 said:
i had a question would cutting my springs be o.k??
and i was looking at the struts on my mk3 supra and was wondering how to take them off??
kinda new to supra so yeah....any help??

i think OP is asking how to remove springs/struts and wants to know if they have to cut the spring to make removal easier
 

figgie

Supramania Contributor
Mar 30, 2005
5,225
16
38
50
Twin Cities, Minnesot-ah
nosechunks;1362163 said:
Another war thread about this and again ill put in my experience. ive cut my springs in my car and it worked out fine..

..And the quickest way to do the 1/4 is to toss your car off a cliff that is higher than 1320 ft.

The thing with cutting springs.

Do anyone here know how much to cut to not increase the rate of the spring by to much? Oh wait, you didn't know that cutting the spring affected the linear rate of the spring?

Do it right or don't do it.

Flaming? No! Stupid. Very!

lalasdaddysupra.

The shocks on these cars are easy.

3 bolts on top, one on bottom, disconnect the top arm and out it comes. No need to cut.
 

Guyana00

Droppin that JZ in soon!
Apr 18, 2007
1,208
0
0
Brampton, ON
If you're cutting it because you want to lower, I would tell you not to. Even if for removal, it doesn't change anything.

Even gooling the subject for more objective info will tell you not to do it. There are always people saying to do it though because they tried it and noticed no differences.

Either they just really didnt notice and are clueless or something is screwed up elsewhere making it not seem different.

As mentioned Lowering springs can be had as cheap as $100 for the four.
 

Enraged

A HG job took HOW long??
Mar 30, 2005
1,845
24
38
Victoria, BC, Canada
i ran cut springs with koni shocks, was ok. but as has been posted, springs are so cheap, it's worth saving the extra money and doing it properly.
 

lewis15498

Don't blame ebay cheapass
Sep 28, 2008
1,397
1
0
Raynham, Massachusetts, United States
There seems to be a direct correlation between people that want to cut their springs and people that cant seem to use the search feature. We've been over this so many times. It is NEVER a good idea to cut your springs.
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
38,728
0
0
62
I come from a land down under
lewis15498;1362264 said:
There seems to be a direct correlation between people that want to cut their springs and people that cant seem to use the search feature. We've been over this so many times. It is NEVER a good idea to cut your springs.
As always there's a proviso....
If you can dress the end of the spring back to it's stock shape AND you have shocks valved to the new spring rate there's nothing at all "wrong" with cutting springs.

After having said this most here don't.
 

lewis15498

Don't blame ebay cheapass
Sep 28, 2008
1,397
1
0
Raynham, Massachusetts, United States
IJ.;1362266 said:
As always there's a proviso....
If you can dress the end of the spring back to it's stock shape AND you have shocks valved to the new spring rate there's nothing at all "wrong" with cutting springs.

After having said this most here don't.

As usual your right, but seriously, find me one person who has done this.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
0
0
43
Fort Worth, TX
Considering the springs where originally cut at the factory when they're made...

Also depends what you cut them with.

What I find so amusing is how many of the ricers cut their springs when aftermarket spring for Hondas are half the price of ours...
 

iwannadie

New Member
Jul 28, 2006
981
0
0
gilbert, az
RPSil13;1362169 said:
i think OP is asking how to remove springs/struts and wants to know if they have to cut the spring to make removal easier

So many replies later and it still seems like no one read this post or the OP about removing the springs. He didn't ask anything about cutting to Lower the car. He asked if he could cut the springs to get them off the car easier.

No, you shouldn't cut the springs to remove them. Go rent a spring compression tool from the local auto parts place and do it that way. The springs are under a lot of tension even once you remove the struts from the car. You don't want to cut a spring thats under heavy tension.

It's pretty easy to remove the front and the rear are only a few bolts holding them in. The only problem I ran into with the front was I didn't have a breaker bar. A quick trip to sears and a brand new breaker bar later the front was off.

Also, don't cut your spring to lower the car :1zhelp: .

~edit... maybe he wasn't asking if you should cut them to get them off lol, I re-read. I wasn't paying attention, playing the new ghostbusters game.
 

Satan

Supramania Contributor
Mar 31, 2005
1,594
0
36
Tampa
Autozone has them on the free loaner (w/deposit) program, so no excuse (dunno if it was mentioned earlier). Be extremely careful tho. they are not always the best and once, the compressors "slid" around the spring to the other side where the other compressor was at... Trapping and FLATTENING one of my fingers in the spring itself. I had a large screwdriver nearby and was able to wedge into the spring and pry far enough to pull my flat-@$$ finger out. Took 2 Vicodins and alot of ice (and alcohol ;-).... I had to put a couple of holes in the nail, to get the blood out and make less painful. Still ended up losing the fingernail and it eventually grew back.. I got off lucky.

Messing with springs is very dangerous, so make sure to have someone around and use the RIGHT TOOLS!!!!
 

InFrnt0fU

Lurking Supra Socialite
Satan;1362339 said:
Autozone has them on the free loaner (w/deposit) program, so no excuse (dunno if it was mentioned earlier). Be extremely careful tho. they are not always the best and once, the compressors "slid" around the spring to the other side where the other compressor was at... Trapping and FLATTENING one of my fingers in the spring itself. I had a large screwdriver nearby and was able to wedge into the spring and pry far enough to pull my flat-@$$ finger out. Took 2 Vicodins and alot of ice (and alcohol ;-).... I had to put a couple of holes in the nail, to get the blood out and make less painful. Still ended up losing the fingernail and it eventually grew back.. I got off lucky.

Messing with springs is very dangerous, so make sure to have someone around and use the RIGHT TOOLS!!!!

Dude...Ouch!

Bottom line, get the right tools...or have the money to have it done right. Half ass-ing anything Supra is just not right IMO.
 

88guy

use to go 280KMH :(
Jun 13, 2009
180
0
0
Victoria BC Canada
Poodles;1362295 said:
Considering the springs where originally cut at the factory when they're made...

Also depends what you cut them with.

What I find so amusing is how many of the ricers cut their springs when aftermarket spring for Hondas are half the price of ours...


Always worth a soild laugh or 2.
 

Hmong_1G

Name the Place and time.
Dec 31, 2008
280
0
0
California
No need to cut the springs. Get a strut compressor and coil compressor. There is two different tool from vatozone. Do it right with the right tools.

PS. cutting the spring isn't recommanded, as most factory and other springs are cold wound. Any heat addressed to them will surely throw off the rate. This is very true no matter linear or progressive rate springs.

Before going ahead with the removal make sure the struts and shocks aren't leaking and doesn't have more then 1 inch play (shock rod).