Cutting factory springs?

[ugasouthernpride]

I am wanting to lower my PP 24’ Vert as well as level it. Why can’t I just cut the springs the desired amount?
I know that used to be done in the past. Is this still a practice?

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[roadpilot]

If you cut your springs, it will cause you to crash your car into a group of disabled children holding golden retriever puppies.

Seriously, there are only certain types of spring you can safely cut, but even so, it can/will change the dynamics of the suspension and may cause your OEM dampers to wear out sooner than normal. Personally, I would talk to the suspension experts and most likely swap with legit lowering coils and/or coil overs. But that's just me.

 

[ugasouthernpride]

Makes sense. Progressive rate springs would likely not do well cut.

 

[PBBLASTER]

Cutting a spring makes it shorter which makes is stiffer. When it's stiffer it will compress less and have more stress which shortens its life. Cutting a spring for lowering is the law of diminishing returns in action. .

 

[RLE55]

Cutting a spring makes it shorter which makes is stiffer. When it's stiffer it will compress less and have more stress which shortens its life. Cutting a spring for lowering is the law of diminishing returns in action. .

Yup. Springs are made and rated to handle specific amount of weight of the car, front and back. Mess with that is a recipe for trouble. It's best to let experts get involved.

 

[dusman59]

Get after market springs where real engineering went into their design. I was never a fan of cutting springs. Yes it was done back in the day because of the limited number of other options.

 

[Rocket Man]

don't do it cause it's ghetto. It's what you do to a shitcan, not a nice new car.

 

[robvas]

Of course you can cut them.

However the design of the spring doesn't always lend itself to cutting.

The spring on the left you can't really cut but the spring on the right you can.

 

[robvas]

Also most aftermarket spring companies will tell you to trim your spring to get the exact ride height for your application

 

[steveo1960]

On a $50k car I would just go aftermarket or Ford Performance. In addition to the previous advice if you use a torch to cut you risk fatiguing the metal. Back in the dark ages, we used to cut springs all the time but the reason was because there were few, if any, aftermarket kits. One had to find a car that had the type of springs desired and swap between the two and hope it worked. These days, call a reputable suspension manufacturer, tell them your goals and purchase what they suggest... best wishes.

 

[robvas]

Why use a torch? Cut off wheel will do it in five seconds

 

[smurfslayer]

The thing about suspension is, it’s a system, not an assemblage of individual components. You’ve gotten some really sound advice to not cut the springs. If you MUST lower the car, get decent aftermarket springs from a reputable vendor in consideration of the other suspension components you have.

In the Raptor community, some of the guys who swapped the stock Fox shocks out to the Fox Racing shock series with remote reservoirs started suffering hat fatigue and failure. Because they change out a single component which changed the ‘weak point in the chain’ and causing a breakage. I don’t have them, but apparently the shock travel isn’t a perfect match to the OEM and puts additional strain on the OEM component and if fails, very prematurely. <-- this is a very oversimplified description.

The point I’m trying to make here is do what the more experienced modders are telling you here, or, drive it more and see if there’s a problem you really need to address. Then, make changes to the suspension system, not just swapping out singular components.

 

[ugasouthernpride]

Why use a torch? Cut off wheel will do it in five seconds

Exactly what I was picturing lol

 

[ugasouthernpride]

The thing about suspension is, it’s a system, not an assemblage of individual components. You’ve gotten some really sound advice to not cut the springs. If you MUST lower the car, get decent aftermarket springs from a reputable vendor in consideration of the other suspension components you have.

In the Raptor community, some of the guys who swapped the stock Fox shocks out to the Fox Racing shock series with remote reservoirs started suffering hat fatigue and failure. Because they change out a single component which changed the ‘weak point in the chain’ and causing a breakage. I don’t have them, but apparently the shock travel isn’t a perfect match to the OEM and puts additional strain on the OEM component and if fails, very prematurely. <-- this is a very oversimplified description.

The point I’m trying to make here is do what the more experienced modders are telling you here, or, drive it more and see if there’s a problem you really need to address. Then, make changes to the suspension system, not just swapping out singular components.

sound logic. I have emailed Steeda. FP has not come out with lowering springs for the 2024 yet. I hope they do as I would like to keep everything Ford/FP. May just have to wait…but the higher front end and wheel gap is a bit annoying visually.

 

[roadpilot]

May just have to wait…but the higher front end and wheel gap is a bit annoying visually.

First world problems, right?

Patience ...

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