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Cut front springs?


Brodizzle83
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Has anyone cut a set of front springs to bring down the front of their 1gen W-body? I have looked and looked and I cannot find any Monte Carlo lowering spring sets, new or used. If anyone has cut their springs, did it affect the ride quality? And how much of the spring did you cut/how much of a drop did it give you? Pics would be great! I am not about to build a $1000+ coilover kit for my car just yet.

 

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I’ve heard it makes the ride horrible, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. I went coilovers on the gtp but it’s a summer car that I’m keeping for a long time, the 06 I just went with springs because DD

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Has anyone cut a set of front springs to bring down the front of their 1gen W-body? I have looked and looked and I cannot find any Monte Carlo lowering spring sets, new or used. If anyone has cut their springs, did it affect the ride quality? And how much of the spring did you cut/how much of a drop did it give you? Pics would be great! I am not about to build a $1000+ coilover kit for my car just yet.

 

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I've been riding on cut front springs on my 1gen for a little over 7 years.  Here's the writeup I did.  FYI, I lowered the rear using adjustable coilovers.  I spent about $220 in parts for the entire rear setup and whatever a jy charges for front springs.

 

http://www.w-body.com/topic/47477-lowered-the-front-of-my-cutty/?hl=%2Blowered+%2Bthe+%2Bfront+%2Bof+%2Bmy+%2Bcutty

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I've heard cut springs ride better than the lowering springs, atleast the st springs. Turbo v-sick lowered his front that way i plan on doing the same at some point, also converting the rear to coil overs.

 

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I've heard cut springs ride better than the lowering springs, atleast the st springs.

I suppose the ride will depend on which code one is cutting, if it's one of the FE3 family the ride will become stiffer accordingly to the harshness code of those. If the cut spring is one of the FE1 then those coils will be softer than the FE3's after cutting. When one cuts the coil the spring rate goes up.

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Well it was adam on 1 of his tgp's so fe3 i think. Personally havent done it yet. I have lowering springs for my gxp just because canuck was still able to make them

I suppose the ride will depend on which code one is cutting, if it's one of the FE3 family the ride will become stiffer accordingly to the harshness code of those. If the cut spring is one of the FE1 then those coils will be softer than the FE3's after cutting. When one cuts the coil the spring rate goes up.

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I suppose the ride will depend on which code one is cutting, if it's one of the FE3 family the ride will become stiffer accordingly to the harshness code of those. If the cut spring is one of the FE1 then those coils will be softer than the FE3's after cutting. When one cuts the coil the spring rate goes up.

So am I correct that the FE1 is more of a "touring" suspension and FE3 is a "sport" suspension? I wonder what my '96 GP SE has...

 

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Do NOT use heat to cut them

Nope, I was gonna use a cut-off wheel...not a friggin' torch. Lol

 

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I've been riding on cut front springs on my 1gen for a little over 7 years. Here's the writeup I did. FYI, I lowered the rear using adjustable coilovers. I spent about $220 in parts for the entire rear setup and whatever a jy charges for front springs.

 

http://www.w-body.com/topic/47477-lowered-the-front-of-my-cutty/?hl=%2Blowered+%2Bthe+%2Bfront+%2Bof+%2Bmy+%2Bcutty

I think you are the one who posted pics of your car on Facebook right? I asked how you lowered it and you said you cut the springs. That's what gave me that idea. I cut the front springs on my '77 Dodge D100 truck and it dropped it a little bit without sacrificing the ride quality. Just one coil off each spring.

 

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So am I correct that the FE1 is more of a "touring" suspension and FE3 is a "sport" suspension? I wonder what my '96 GP SE has...

 

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The FE1 (soft suspension) is what you'd find under the base models.

 

To find out what your has been equipped with you may still be able to walk into a GM dealership & offer up the VIN to get a build sheet print out on the car.

 

 

 

 

This is the build sheet from the '90 SE we owned before the 91 was purchased.....

 

*note the FE3 sport suspension & the springs RPO code used with that option*

 

 

vcbchF3.jpg

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Excellent! I'll have to run to the GM dealer on Friday and ask about the build sheet. I'm sure I could get a set of FE3 springs out of a GTP in the yard.

 

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I've lowered 3 or 4 first gens by cutting the springs. All were FE3 cars. I always cut one coil. You will need to have the car aligned after lowering. There is no perceptible difference is ride quality. I also had a first gen GTP with the ST lowering springs. It just bounced off the bump stops going down the road. I'd say it rode like an empty grain truck, but I think it rode worse than that. Complete garbage. Cutting a coil is the way to go.

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Fwiw (though I know this isn’t the point of the thread) my GTP with coilovers and super stiff springs rides better in general than my 06 with lowering springs, but I think it’s my preference for a tight ride. I always remembered hearing that cutting springs was a ghetto/unsafe/incorrect way to lower modern cars, otherwise I probably would have done it on a lot of my cars :lol: too late now!

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Well good news...I have FE3 springs! Now...has anyone done a measurement on exactly how much lower their cars are with one coil cut off?

 

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I can't remember how adam lowered the front whether springs or he cut a coil from each. I think taking 1 coil is similar to intrax spring which i believe is what got2b gm has on his i think3ae55ca99ee3b473c9d29479406a3855.jpg

 

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One coil of a spring's height will be different from car to car, even if they are both FE3 because they're like a bazillion years old and have led different lives.

 

But there's good news, all you have to do is sneak in with a tape measure and measure between two coils to find out what one coil will drop it. If the distance is 2" and you want 1" of drop cut 1/2 of a coil, or 3/4 of a coil for 1.5" and so on.

 

Just make sure you measure it compressed by the car's weight and not with the wheels suspended or you'll end up slammed like a Miami Beach mini truck......

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Fwiw (though I know this isn’t the point of the thread) my GTP with coilovers and super stiff springs rides better in general than my 06 with lowering springs, but I think it’s my preference for a tight ride. I always remembered hearing that cutting springs was a ghetto/unsafe/incorrect way to lower modern cars, otherwise I probably would have done it on a lot of my cars [emoji38] too late now!

Dare i ask what springs you have? Ive got a set of springs from canuck 2.5 front 1.5 rear and 4 new bilsteins. Waiting to install til i get camber bolts and new lower control arms

 

 

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One coil of a spring's height will be different from car to car, even if they are both FE3 because they're like a bazillion years old and have led different lives.

 

But there's good news, all you have to do is sneak in with a tape measure and measure between two coils to find out what one coil will drop it. If the distance is 2" and you want 1" of drop cut 1/2 of a coil, or 3/4 of a coil for 1.5" and so on.

 

Just make sure you measure it compressed by the car's weight and not with the wheels suspended or you'll end up slammed like a Miami Beach mini truck......

That's a legit way of knowing how low it will drop? That's awesome! I need to put all 4 new struts in and then do it. Then drop the front and order a lowered leaf spring from that place in Canada. Or maybe I should do the rear first and then cut the front springs until it's an even drop with the rear? I dunno...not gonna happen anytime soon though.

 

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Dare i ask what springs you have? Ive got a set of springs from canuck 2.5 front 1.5 rear and 4 new bilsteins. Waiting to install til i get camber bolts and new lower control arms

 

 

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on which car, the 06 has ssc springs that already had a few thousand on them, but on the coilovers I think I’m running 350/450 combo
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That's a legit way of knowing how low it will drop? That's awesome! I need to put all 4 new struts in and then do it. Then drop the front and order a lowered leaf spring from that place in Canada. Or maybe I should do the rear first and then cut the front springs until it's an even drop with the rear? I dunno...not gonna happen anytime soon though.

 

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Theoretically you could find an FE3 car with a little sag in the back, look at the pics of my GS. There's about two fingers between the tires and body just from age.

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