In my limited knowledge, cutting a spring removes the designed tapered end of the coil which curves towards flat. This puts a higher stress point on the area of the spring which transitions from the perch to the air. From what I remember, this was a popular “cheap” mod which was known for a relatively high rate of failure. The purists avoided it.
Thoughts after installing a rear set of 40mm Lowering Springs in Transit Connect
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Coil springs are very complicated suspension parts, lots of math goes into building them. The only springs I ever had that did what they were suppose to do are the ones made by BMR.. I bought two inch lowering springs for my 69 elcamino and decided to try the BMR offerings from some good press.. They went right on and put my 69 el Camino exactly two inches lower then stock. If you look in the manual they show you were and how to measure the suspension. They were dead nuts on and after two years there still dead on..
The ride is excellent.
The ride is excellent.
I think it’s a cool project.
For all the naysayers, this is basic hot rodding. Who cares that it’s a van, the first “hot rods” were never “intended” for that either. Meanwhile Speedkore is making a Hellcat Pacifica, with an appropriately named “Lilith” package that cranks the horsepower to 1,514. BoostedBoiz have their 1996 Honda “Rowdyssey” making 1,000hp. The man ain’t hurting nobody, let him enjoy it.
For all the naysayers, this is basic hot rodding. Who cares that it’s a van, the first “hot rods” were never “intended” for that either. Meanwhile Speedkore is making a Hellcat Pacifica, with an appropriately named “Lilith” package that cranks the horsepower to 1,514. BoostedBoiz have their 1996 Honda “Rowdyssey” making 1,000hp. The man ain’t hurting nobody, let him enjoy it.
I know I shouldn't have done it but I did it any way ! That is why I am not an Airline pilot.
There is NO reason to do this. If you want your van lowered, just increase your kill rate and you'll have more bodies compressing the suspension... or haul around a load of dirt or something... yeah, ossifer, it's dirt in those bags I have duct taped tight.
j/k, but, it's silly to equate a lowered van to a sports car. The main criteria for sports car is a lower center of gravity. Some will disagree. That's fine on a straight line drag strip but not so much driving roads with curves and lane changes.
At the same time, if you don't haul loads, then I wonder why a van in the first place, but I support your effort to do what you want to your own property, as long as it's well thought out and doesn't pose a danger to other drivers. I just don't have any reassurance that it doesn't, since not tested with a large sample size, so I feel like you are missing an opportunity here.
If you really like the better handling from dropping a van a little, and aren't hauling loads so that doesn't matter, you really need to look at replacing it with a lower center of gravity, lighter duty vehicle that comes from the factory already set up for better handling. No?????
Houseboat racing could be fun... as long as you don't actually live on it, and all participants can swim well.
j/k, but, it's silly to equate a lowered van to a sports car. The main criteria for sports car is a lower center of gravity. Some will disagree. That's fine on a straight line drag strip but not so much driving roads with curves and lane changes.
At the same time, if you don't haul loads, then I wonder why a van in the first place, but I support your effort to do what you want to your own property, as long as it's well thought out and doesn't pose a danger to other drivers. I just don't have any reassurance that it doesn't, since not tested with a large sample size, so I feel like you are missing an opportunity here.
If you really like the better handling from dropping a van a little, and aren't hauling loads so that doesn't matter, you really need to look at replacing it with a lower center of gravity, lighter duty vehicle that comes from the factory already set up for better handling. No?????
Houseboat racing could be fun... as long as you don't actually live on it, and all participants can swim well.
Researching an unfamiliar process/service and proceeding with plenty of caution is always a good way to approach these types of unknowns. Kudos for that!
Having said that, this particular scenario is starting to feel like it’s been made overly complicated and thought about too much.
It’s pretty straightforward honestly. You already knew only one end could be cut, so identify and mark that end before making the cut with an angle grinder or hacksaw. Heck, even a Dremmel tool w/ a few cut-off wheels would suffice.
File down any sharp or jagged edges once the cut is complete, and it’s done. Grab a beer and celebrate!
Now, I guess it’s too late for my advice to do much good at this point, as it sounds like the job was just recently attempted and successfully completed. Nevertheless, the general concept has some merit I think - don’t fall victim to analysis paralysis, and don’t overly complicate something that isn’t that complicated.
And RV demolition derby.
Make rubber pad place it on top the spring, you can lift it back up by 10mm
I have cut springs (in my past), and it turned out pretty good. I had to upgrade to stiffer shocks to keep it from pogoing, as it will also stiffen the spring rate for the springs that you cut as well - many folks don't believe it, but it will give you a stiffer ride. Make sure to keep the steel cool while cutting to not change the temper, and round all your edges, maybe even grind a slight flat into where it meets the mount, and it works just fine.
What bunch of Debbie Downers... The guy wasn't asking to be critiqued, just wanting to share his project. Not everything is going to make sense to everyone. Does it affect you? Didn't think so. Don't worry about it. We should be happy that there still are people in the world who are willing and able to get their hands dirty. Support them, don't cut them down!
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update:
Been a while since I kept this topic running.. but those Cobra springs didn't last as long as I would have hoped. Typically springs either leaf or coil tend to sag over time. These Cobra springs did just that. So much so that everything we hit a bump the tires would make contact with the fender edge. since posting this we did a bit of research and located a company in KS USA who can create custom coil springs for your car/truck etc. My thought here was to acquire a rear set of coil springs that are 2'' lower than the OE springs,m but with a stiffer spring rate.
Totally speculation of how low can we go without causing any more tire wear. They designed thes springs to my spics and got them in 4 weeks later. I wasn't willing to do the front springs just yet. but those needed to be done as well very soon. for the next 6 months after installing the springs, we went ahead and contacted the spring guys and asked them to design the front springs for the van with the same ride height, but ad in the 20% stiffer spring rate. If I had to do it over again, I'd go 1'' lower at the rear and 3/4 lower at the front knowing these springs will keep the tires from hitting the fender edge.
About 4 months ago while driving to the airport, we hit a bump in the road which allowed one springs to dislodge and rest sideways between the upper and lower spring seats. We concluded that the OE shocks were the culprit as they have too much up travel. The odd thing here is for 6 months nothing the springs and shocks seem to work just fine. So I suspect the springs have settled a bit. plsu add in that the shocks failed or lived to their life expectancy.
For the next month, I search the net for a shock with a limited up travel. it got to the point where GAZ shock and A1 shocks wanted to build a custom set of shocks for the van. I just wasn't willing to comment to a custom set of shocks. i was able to acquire a data sheet that listed nearly all major brands of shocks with their respective specs. We couldn't drive the van or risk the springs complete falling out while on the road would would have caused the rear tires to be shredded.
I located the Monroe magnum 66608 shocks which have a down travel of 11.65 and an up travel of 16.88. Although the specs seem correct for the van, these shocks are not meant for the van. In fact they are meant for Class 3-6 truck shocks. So was it worth a shot to install these truck shocks on our transit Connect.. sure was. though not without some modification which weren't to bad to create.
We had to locate step down sleeves going from 3/4 OD to 1/2 ID and needed some thick washers to sue as spacers. The wife being smarter than I worked up the specs on paper while I draw out our vision of how the shocks would fit the van. it all looked good on paper but would it actually fit and work. Everything lined up and fit as we designed it.
No more spring pop out as these truck shocks holds everything in check. Sure the ride can be a bit harsh, but we enjoy it. So no cutting of springs was needed for this application. So now we're offering this set up to those Connect owners who want a lower stance and still retain the towing and hauling capacities. oh I believe these springs are listed as being 48mm lowering or leveling springs.
Been a while since I kept this topic running.. but those Cobra springs didn't last as long as I would have hoped. Typically springs either leaf or coil tend to sag over time. These Cobra springs did just that. So much so that everything we hit a bump the tires would make contact with the fender edge. since posting this we did a bit of research and located a company in KS USA who can create custom coil springs for your car/truck etc. My thought here was to acquire a rear set of coil springs that are 2'' lower than the OE springs,m but with a stiffer spring rate.
Totally speculation of how low can we go without causing any more tire wear. They designed thes springs to my spics and got them in 4 weeks later. I wasn't willing to do the front springs just yet. but those needed to be done as well very soon. for the next 6 months after installing the springs, we went ahead and contacted the spring guys and asked them to design the front springs for the van with the same ride height, but ad in the 20% stiffer spring rate. If I had to do it over again, I'd go 1'' lower at the rear and 3/4 lower at the front knowing these springs will keep the tires from hitting the fender edge.
About 4 months ago while driving to the airport, we hit a bump in the road which allowed one springs to dislodge and rest sideways between the upper and lower spring seats. We concluded that the OE shocks were the culprit as they have too much up travel. The odd thing here is for 6 months nothing the springs and shocks seem to work just fine. So I suspect the springs have settled a bit. plsu add in that the shocks failed or lived to their life expectancy.
For the next month, I search the net for a shock with a limited up travel. it got to the point where GAZ shock and A1 shocks wanted to build a custom set of shocks for the van. I just wasn't willing to comment to a custom set of shocks. i was able to acquire a data sheet that listed nearly all major brands of shocks with their respective specs. We couldn't drive the van or risk the springs complete falling out while on the road would would have caused the rear tires to be shredded.
I located the Monroe magnum 66608 shocks which have a down travel of 11.65 and an up travel of 16.88. Although the specs seem correct for the van, these shocks are not meant for the van. In fact they are meant for Class 3-6 truck shocks. So was it worth a shot to install these truck shocks on our transit Connect.. sure was. though not without some modification which weren't to bad to create.
We had to locate step down sleeves going from 3/4 OD to 1/2 ID and needed some thick washers to sue as spacers. The wife being smarter than I worked up the specs on paper while I draw out our vision of how the shocks would fit the van. it all looked good on paper but would it actually fit and work. Everything lined up and fit as we designed it.
No more spring pop out as these truck shocks holds everything in check. Sure the ride can be a bit harsh, but we enjoy it. So no cutting of springs was needed for this application. So now we're offering this set up to those Connect owners who want a lower stance and still retain the towing and hauling capacities. oh I believe these springs are listed as being 48mm lowering or leveling springs.
Send up some pics of the van as a whole? It’d be neat to see what you’ve accomplished. Plans for wheels and tires?
WHAT? Raised yes, lowered.... heck no way. Lowered, massively performs better in every way, but deep snow.
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As requested:
19''x8.5'' ET40 Axe Wheels w/ 245/40/r19 Nokian G4 tires. 2 finger gap at the front and rear with this current set up.
Visited UTZ potato factory a few weeks ago.
Custom 20% stiffer / 2'' shorter rear coil springs w/ Monroe (class 3-6) truck shocks. Wasn't thrilled with the black shock bodies, so I painted them yellow. Had to design step down sleeves in order for the shocks to fit and work on the van. going from 3/4 OD to 1/2 ID x 2 3/16th sleeves. Then used thick washers as spacers to keep the shock centered. if push came to shove, we could have drilled out the upper shock mount for the single rod type shocks. but didn't come to that.
Front has 20% stiffer springs but same ride height as OE and Bilstein b6 struts which will soon be replaced
1° Hardrace rear camber plates will be installed by a youtuber mid/late June (if not sooner) and will appear on his youtube channel. some have said why use the hardrace camber plates? the issue is, the dead axles on the van have been welded on by the factory at whatever angle.. in fact the drivers side rear has too much toe in.. the only way to correct this and not use camber plates is to get a new or used rear axle, cut off the mounting plates and reweld them back onto the axle at the desired angle.
Again, it's just a plate with gussets holding it in place, cut these off and reweld them to the desired angle. Not worth doing in my opinion as the dead axle is $500.00+ or more. So there's nothing on the market that can adjust the camber on the rear axles other than the hardrace plate. I guess if someone was to donate the rear axle, I could get the mounts angled correct at the shop. Plsu they would powder coat the axle afterward.
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