I agree, don't cut your springs. I've also done it in the past and although it did get the right results (ride height, appearence) the cut springs never sat correctly on the seats and ended up damaging them. I then need to replace the whole strut and buy new springs to top it off.

Even popular brands of lowered springs don't go for that much. Just shop around. I got a full set of lowered Spax spring for a G100 Charade for $120. Fitting was free as I did it myself and wheel alignment $50 odd.

I am absolutly stuffed to figure out why you would A. cut springs or B. heat them so they sag !!!!!!!!!!!!!! some guys have given good advise here don't do it !!!!!!!! if you can't afford to buy them to the hight you want then save your dough ! I work for the RTA and I have seen so many stuffed suspension components not to mention cracked rails from stuffing about with springs oh and yes it is highly illegal and painting them won't help you hide your handy work all this has been tried before sure you may get away with it but prang your car and you may not get insurance hurt someone and you may end up in court and left with a big bill have something break and kill someone how could you live with it. Sorry for being a grump but please please do it properly huh

i thought i gave a good indication when i said, measure 2 inchs down the springs when all the weight is on them, count the amount of coils this is, then cut slighlty less to allow for the rebending of the top part of the spring

then to make it all legal, PAINT THEM YELLOW (or what ever colour lowered springs are in your part of the world)

i have cut springs before and had great results.....

the only real danger is if u cut them too much.. at full drop the springs can flop around and fall out of the seat...

ie: if u hit a massive pothole the shortened spring may not seat back in the cup properly making one side higher than the other..

so if u cut them so they are still firm in the seats at full length it will be fine...

interesting read fellas...

really the two crap things i think about cutting springs are

- the lack of staying in the seat because of the lip that is created

- the bump stop that it usually rests onas a result of too much cutting.

cutting your spring actually increases your spring rate so that it is stiffer, which is a good thing! its just that by doing it you are shortening the travel available which is a step backwards in handling.

not too sure about that comment about all the cars weight being on the tip of the spring, it still disperses throughout the srpring, just that the cup that it sits in doesn't hold it in there true so something like bending the end needs to be done.

i've cut many springs in my time and its a great cheap way to lower your car and give slightly better handling. i have never heard of any stories of damage or accident as a result of chopped springs

if you have the $100 odd just invest in some lowered king springs. otherwise chop well my friend!

Cutting coils off your springs is a
Coil spring are essentially a torsion rod....... Right? Just wound around a vertical axis so the torsional load can be spread over several windings of the spring. This is where your spring rate comes from.

The transitional area into the flat section on the top & bottom of your coil springs are there for a reason - To make sure the spring "work" is done by the coils.

If you go & cut your springs you effectively stop the spring acting in a torsional manner & start using the end of the spring you cut as a cantilever - This means all the car's weight is now being carried by one small section of the spring instead of the whole thing.

You mentioned you were "flattening"out the end you cut......
This is a step in the right direction, however to do it properly you should have a transitional area to a flattened base - The only proper way to do this is to have them heated & re-worked.
In which case, you may as well take them to a suspension guy & have them re-set..... Not all that expensive when you add up the risk!

The only other option I've seen is in some 4X4's they have a spring "seat" which is just a piece of steel machined to support the spring windings - No transitional area to flat base required.
If you had something like this you're safe to just cut the spring where you choose.

But please - Don't just go cutting your springs.
Trust me - I'm an engineer .

Stop!!! This not really the best option. Lowered springs dont cost that much do they???
Another option you can buy clamps that can raise or lower your car up to 2" any one else got these

I've learned from doing this to other cars many times that it works very well when done right. It would be rediculous to pay someone to do this when I could just buy some lowering springs. The point here is to save money until i can afford some coilovers.

Here are some things I've learned about doing this:

using a torch to lower the spirings often results in one side being lower than the other. (Never done it, just seen it)

Using bailing wire to hold the coil ends in the perches is a good way to keep them in place.

After you've cut your coil(s) off, use a torch to bend the last bit of coil back up so the bottom of the spring is relatively flat again.

The amount you cut off a spring is always smaller than the desired difference in ride hide sought. You can't just cut 2 inches off to get 2 inches lower. It's likely going to be less, that's why I asked the question here.

Since no one has really answered I'm probably going to cut 1 1/2 coils off and see what happens.

Cheers,
Daniel

Yeah u can heat the springs up & let the weight of the car lower down onto the blocks , I have done that to a different car before ,but u have to be carefull & remember not to get the oil, or gas charged chambers too hot cause they can explode on ya !!!! as far as heating the springs themself u also take the temper out of them , then they are not as strong.

I am pretty sure the reason why the spring we cut in thet Lancer snaped. It was because I think he nicked one of the coils with the grinder. It was a pretty messy job we did.