Has anyone here done it? And does it work out? I'm thinking about doing mine they cost about $1000AUD to buy here, far to expensive!!!

 

This is the worst way to lower your car. The spring is not the same all the way from one end to the other. If you cut it, you screw up the way it works and you will destroy the handling and safety of your car. And then what? You need to buy new springs anyway? You can't save money this way and all you get is a car that might look cool but drives like junk.

I know you might get somebody who's done it who will say that it's OK, but you'd probably want to go see their Crossfire and ride in it before you commit. You might find they either haven't done it, or find their car is a basket case and rides like a radio flyer wagon scraping a fart can all the way to Wal*Mart for duct tape.

It might be better to find a way to order the Eibachs (like on eBay) for $230 $US and have a friend in the USA send them to you. That's a lot cheaper than the $1000 AUD you're looking at. Or save your money until you have enough (For the springs, the shocks, the alignment, etc.) and bite the bullet.

Have you checked Old Man EMU (ARB) to see what they have? They probably don't do Mercedes SLK or Crossfire but it might be worth a check.

Don't forget when you change the spring size you have to deal with the shocks, sway bar connectors, front and rear alignment. This is not a lawn tractor! You need special tools and experience is a big plus.

 

ppro, I will have to disagree with you. The Crossfire does not have progressive springs. Here is the link to BrianBraves DIY on cutting your springs to lower your ride. He is VERY happy with this mod and several others have done the same. I will do mine when I install my Koni shocks.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...t=lowered+ride

MikeR

 

You're welcome to disagree. You confirmed one of my predictions. Three actually (you disagree, cite someone who has done it, but have not done this yourself). That's OK. Fair enough.

To kolevski - price a set of new factory springs. See if you're willing to spend the money to fix the damage from cutting the ones you have?

Back to the cited example:

First off, the thread confirms that the springs are progressive
You can't "see" progressive spring rates - it's about the metal, the manufacturing process, and the design.

and


and the owner's post-op observations support it

So let's review:

Progressive rate springs (do not cut) (not a matter of opinion - fact)
Degraded ride quality ("a little stiffer") (because the part of the spring that absorbs the little bumps was cut off!)
Person disagrees who hasn't done it personally. (do you take advice from people who don't have any experience?)

Further, nothing in the article talks about alignment, shocks, sway bar connectors, check straps, track bar adjustments, etc. And changing ride heights that the owner observed over time indicate that the person who did the work didn't properly set the control arms and introduced preload that eventually "wore" off as the car was driven. Which probably led to premature bushing wear, and given that he was cutting springs, may have cut too much off overcompensating for incorrect control arm installation...

Do the follow up with the owner and see - It's been a year - ping the guy and see how it's holding up. If he's honest I think you'll be surprised:
how is the tire wear,
handling etc.?
Is it "darty"?
How about nose-dive on hard braking?
Any suspension noise?
What about rubbing?
Any damage as a result (direct or indirectly) from cutting springs?

As I understand it, Eibachs give a 1 inch or 1.3 inch lower ride, and the tires barely graze fender liners under certain conditions. I'd hate to think what a 2 inch+ lowering does. The owner in the example also talks about dragging bottom...

Sorry if I seem like I'm being a jerk - that's not my intention - but if you want to make a quality modification to something like suspension, you really need to know what you're doing. These are not tractors. You can't just cut off coils. Well, no, actually I guess you can. It's just not a good idea.

My experience?

Performance suspension installed on the following cars and trucks:






NO SPRINGS WERE CUT IN THE FILMING OF THESE MODIFICATIONS!

 

Yeah Yeah I know - it's not a sports car...

Don't underestimate the complexity of "tractor" suspension!

 

I have been thinking for sometime about lowering mine, eibachs, konis, talked to several people on here about it...the few who have done it are happy w/ the mod...I also talked to my mechanic who does alignments as well. He will realign the car when I do this mod...it isn't cheap, it isn't for everybody...but those who have done it and done it rt seem to have had good luck w/ the mod...bringing everything down 1.3 in....will change some things, but is withing the parameters of others....do your research on the forum...talk to those who align cars, or race cars...I personally won't cut anything...eibach aren't that expensive...can always go back to stock if need be....

 

Doc before you lower your SRT talk to RPM(Ryan) I believe he had some problems lowering his SRT roadster. You may know him from Woodward.

 

Crossfires DO NOT have progressive springs. They do not have tapered ends either. When you cut the spring it sits in the mount just as it did before. Obviously you will have less suspension travel because your spring is shorter, but even if you buy aftermarket springs you have same issue. My car is not "darty". As far as alignment, It's only been done for about a week or two, so I cannot answer that question.
Most car suspensions are basically the same and work on the same basic principals. Remember, back in the day, hot rodders were the ones that were not afraid to try these things. That is why we now have shows like SEMA. You don't have to be a nuclear engineer to be able to work on your car. If it makes you feel better, buy some after market springs and put them on. I for one, am perfectally comfortable cutting mine. Thanks to guys like BRIANBRAVE for paving the way.

 

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I did it today cut nearly half a spring of each of the rears used the same rubber and it did nothing cant even tell, but car drivers perfectt. My only advice cut abit more then half a spring and maybe change the rubber.

 

I cut one full coil. Drive it a while and let it settle in before you cut further. It will come down some.

 

I don't understand why anyone would cut their stock springs when the Eibach Pro kit is under $250.00 and the handling / ride quality is so much better. Then you want to put $600.00 plus into Koni dampers. That just doesn't make good sense.
Springs are the foundation of the suspension. I guess some people want the lowered stance and don't mind bouncing down the road feeling every little bump in the pavement.
That's not the way want my Crossfire to ride. I have The Eibach Pro Kit with Koni adjustable dampers. I wish you could drive my car. it's like riding in a cloud on rails.

An alabaster cloud .... that is.

 

Cut all 4 springs. Total cost-$0.00
As far as ride, have you ever driven both? I have not , so I could not tell you if it is any different that with the Eibach springs.
I CAN tell you that I saved $250.00!!
Anybody out there that is not happy with the cut springs????? I know I'm not the only one to do this. If your not happy with the results you spend the $250.00 you were going to spend in the first place and go on. No loss except for your labor. Don't knock it till you've tried it!

 

Agreed.

You know - sometimes it's possible to decide without trying both. Every time I see a ricer going down the road on cut springs with the thrust angle all screwed up, rubbing the fenders, and the driver looking like a bobble head, I thank my maker that he gave me the ability to read and learn about things like car suspension. I don't need to ride in the car to know it's not something I want to do.

I have made significant alterations to the suspensions of several vehicles. In each and every case it was all about handling. In the case of the cars, one of the bi-products was the lowered stance. But that wasn't the primary reason for changing - it was for the improvements in handling, the lowering of roll-center, the tightening of the spring/shock combination for quicker response. These changes in combination with beefier sway bars up front and matching ones in the back. Different bushings, and so on.

I haven't heard anyone talk about changing their bump-stops after cutting the springs. I have read the "cut-springs" write-ups and find they all are missing several critical considerations in a suspension modification write-up. Just cutting the springs and rolling is, to me, insane.

In the case of the Jeep, it wasn't about height either. In that case it was about flexibility, load capacity, and with considerable added weight, preserving stock ride height (which keeps roll-center low). Other modifications there included sway bar mods, multi-valved shocks for more advanced shock responses to different driving conditions, and corrections for track bars, and wheel alignment.

Suspension theory isn't basic. When you make one change, it ripples through a number of considerations. All must be examined, and where necessary, accomodated.

What I find surprising is the profound lack of suspension travel on the stock Crossfire. I tried to drive across a "V" ditch on grass on the side of the road. I didn't have any clearance problems but the car literally was wobbling like a see-saw on two opposite wheels while the other two were clawing at air. The angle of the "V" couldn't have been more than 15-degrees. I can't imagine what it would be like with cut springs! Of course when you can do this with your "other" vehicle, I guess you kinda get spoiled....



It's wonderful that we get to do what we want with our own cars. I only hope my comments make those thinking of cutting springs go do some research (Besides on a message board) and make informed choices!



Sure, you can save $250. If all that matters is looks, then a free lowering job might be the ticket. But if you're going 120 mph down the road and hit an irregularity in the pavement, do you want to trust it to cut-off springs? That $250 savings could sure seem small in comparison to the potential outcome of an "off-road excursion".

 

How were the springs cut, with a torch, or my some other means? I always thought that if you used a torch, the heat generented would cause the springs to lose some of their "springeness". (don't know the technical term).

 

Here's some links that offer additional insight.

http://www.torquecars.com/tuning/suspension.php

http://www.se-r.net/car_info/suspension_tuning.html

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/te...t_4/index.html

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/te...t_1/index.html

 

Cut one coil and you have Eibach, cut 3/4 and you have what i have one year and no problems,
cut your springs if your not happy spend some money.

 

Well, the Crossfire is certainly no YJ. It has substantial suspension travel for a sports car, a good 5" at least.

What you are probably observing is the effect of the substantial antiroll bars, which Jeeps have very little use for when offroading.

Herb Adams' "Chassis Engineering" (1992) is the only suspension book I've read so far that even discusses cutting springs on automobiles. Adam is a proponent of cutting springs for various reasons.

From a chassis engineering viewpoint, I don't see any difference between an "aftermarket spring" and a "cut spring" except in terms of total length, sag, and spring rate.

Cutting a spring does two things - reduce total length and increase spring rate. In a properly set up car, I don't see how cutting a suspension spring has any adverse effect - it simply is what it is, and must be accounted for in the overall design.

I'm not entirely sure how an aftermarket set of springs would differ much from cutting ones springs, especially when taking into consideration a lack of suitable dampers, increased anti-roll bar diameters, and camber/front caster adjustment.

That said, aftermarket lowering springs usually have similar spring rates to stock springs unless otherwise specified - cut springs have higher spring rates. As part of a whole suspension design, I don't see why using cut springs with higher-than-stock spring rates would be a detriment to handling, as long as the rebound damping was changed to suit and the anti-roll bar rates increased.

 

I have not cut my crossfire springs, but i have cut springs on other cars before. Use a grinder or a chop saw to cut off the coils. Heat is a bad thing it will make the spring brittle and break. So keep it as cool as possible. One thing to remember is that the coil is on a lever ratio. This means that if you measue that you want 1 inch shorter this does not mean 1 inch off the the spring will move the stance 1 inch.