Trying to get low

Cant say I'm a fan of cutting coils. Was hoping there was a way to do without going that route.
I'm going to be getting under it this weekend to do the front and measure for my exhaust. I'll have to evaluate the situation and see what I can come up with.



What do you mean? I am bagged, they're stuffed inside the coils

I have the 6" springs in the back of my Burb without the spacer but I still have the Autoride functional and the air bladders inside the springs.

Without the bladders and before I adjusted my Autoride links it sat lower but would bottom out over bumps. This was WITH the free travel mod.

I ended up cutting a notch in the crossmember between the frame rails to give the panhard bar bracket on the axle a little more room (you could see marks on the crossmember where it had been making contact). I also trimmed the "ears" on the panhard bar bracket so they didn't stick up past the bar itself.

Here is a pic of the area as it was from the factory...

You can see the squared off "ears" of the bracket on the axle and where they had been making contact with the crossmember above.

This is after I notched the crossmember...


And this is after I trimmed and rounded, and essentially got rid of the "ears" on the axle bracket...


I have the Spohn adjustable panhard bar... not sure if you could trim that much with the stock bar in place or not.

As far as going lower than the 6" springs... I think your ride quality will suffer tremendously, not from the coils being cut... but from the axle hitting the frame more frequently. I'm not sure there are many options other than cutting the coils or heating them (which is worse, IMO) without raising the upper spring perch which would take a ton of work (lifting the body off the frame).

Either way... I hope these pics help you out.

I just cut a half coil out on my nbs. Worked perfect. Sat lower with no ride difference

Thanks kbus, I appreciate the pics. Gives me an idea of where and how much to remove.

This is similar to what I had to do to my 2dr with 4/6-5/7 drop. I had to notch every crossmember and frame. Its just a part of the fun of modifying.
I could notch the frame if I had to but, I'll look at it this weekend and see what's the best route to go. I was thinking coil-overs and TBSS bags. Not a huge fan of air but, the shockwaves are a nice compact package.

NeverSatisfied said:

I just cut a half coil out on my nbs. Worked perfect. Sat lower with no ride difference

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How much did it drop it?

I understand not wanting to cut coils. As an old school method, it really affected the ride because some of the cut coil(s) were active coils so cutting them raised the spring rate. With anything ike the 5305 coils (I believe I have that number correct), there are a few "dead" coils that are just compressed and resting against the next coil. They are acting just as height spacers so cutting them wouldn't affect the ride at all. I'm sure you already know, but the ends of the coils are "pigtailed" and are a smaller diameter. If you were to cut, you'd have to look at the diameter of the coil you're cutting and see if it would fit inside the pocket since it would be the new end of the coil. The amount of drop would be equal to the wire size (thickness) of the coil multiplied by how many coils you remove. Rough estimate is 1/2"-5/8" per coil.

iamdub said:

I understand not wanting to cut coils. As an old school method, it really affected the ride because some of the cut coil(s) were active coils so cutting them raised the spring rate. With anything ike the 5305 coils (I believe I have that number correct), there are a few "dead" coils that are just compressed and resting against the next coil. They are acting just as height spacers so cutting them wouldn't affect the ride at all. I'm sure you already know, but the ends of the coils are "pigtailed" and are a smaller diameter. If you were to cut, you'd have to look at the diameter of the coil you're cutting and see if it would fit inside the pocket since it would be the new end of the coil. The amount of drop would be equal to the wire size (thickness) of the coil multiplied by how many coils you remove. Rough estimate is 1/2"-5/8" per coil.

Click to expand...

I gotcha and understand completely.
I'll have to look at the pocket where the coil sits to see if its possible to this. I'll definitely check it out while I'm under there this weekend. Its more than likely the easiest route to go.

992dr said:

I gotcha and understand completely.
I'll have to look at the pocket where the coil sits to see if its possible to this. I'll definitely check it out while I'm under there this weekend. Its more than likely the easiest route to go.

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I wish I was ready to lower mine. I have a set of "mystery" coils that I'm gonna guess would yield at least 4" of drop yet might retain nearly-stock ride quality and load capacity.

Oh, if you do cut, a band saw or (ugh) hack saw would be best to keep heat to a minimum. If you use a cut-off wheel, just don't bear down on it. Let it slowly eat at it. And don't cut across the diameter of the wire, cut across the diameter of the whole coil so that the end wire tapers to a flat.

iamdub said:

I wish I was ready to lower mine. I have a set of "mystery" coils that I'm gonna guess would yield at least 4" of drop yet might retain nearly-stock ride quality and load capacity.

Oh, if you do cut, a band saw or (ugh) hack saw would be best to keep heat to a minimum. If you use a cut-off wheel, just don't bear down on it. Let it slowly eat at it. And don't cut across the diameter of the wire, cut across the diameter of the whole coil so that the end wire tapers to a flat.

Click to expand...

What're you waiting for?

Good point. I'll use my band saw

3/4-1" drop is what I got