I'm pretty sure I'm going back to stock ride height for the winter. The H&R/AGX ride is great, but just a tad firm for my a$$.

Take a look at this pic of my car on stock springs.



Notice how the front sits slightly higher then the rear does. I actually don't mind the ride height, but the gap in the front is excessive and greater then the rear. That combination drives me nuts.

My thoughts are as follows.

Looking at the OEM front springs when the car is sat on them, the last two lower coils sit on top of each other. Some call these the dead coils. I believe Sprint owners chop one coil off the rears to make the drop even. I'm wondering if I take off "about" one coil from the bottom of my front springs if I'll get the ride height even or ever so slightly lower then the rear WITHOUT any ride change. I'm thinking the overall change in height to be about equal to the diameter of the coil itself or about 3/4 of an inch.

Any comments, thoughts or experiences?

Thanks

Tom

 

Please, oh PLEASE, tell me that ths is feasible. I don't mind the rear height, but the front is GROSS. Can ANYONE attest for the feasibility of this mod?
I would love to runn some AGXs or GR-2s on stock coils, with a little cut from the front...

 

Cutting coils will not only drop the ride height, but also make the spring a little stiffer.

As long as you don't cut tooo much, it shouldn't be that bad though.

I think the stock springs on the front are a bit on the soft side anyway, so cutting a coil might be a great way to firm them up just a bit, while getting the ride height where it needs to be.

Good Luck!

 

I've seen it done on a DSM (talon/eclipse) The car looked lowered but I'm not sure if it handled stiffer.

 

It won't be as stiff as a large diameter aftermarket unit, but it will be a little stiffer than the stock spring. It shouldn't be uncomfortable at all, though.

Good Luck!

 

Cutting dead coils should not impact the effective spring rate. I think cutting one coil (a "dead" one) should be fine, and give you exactly the result you want.

Just be sure you cut one whole coil off. This way the spring will still be "clocked" correctly.

 

Thank you Ben! I didnt' want to cut one whole coil off. I understand your point about the spring position. I think the most important position area is where the spring sits on the strut. Not so much where it sits up in the upper rubber spring perch. Actually H&R's aren't clocked the same as OEM. There off about 1/4 turn up top so I'm not concerned on where the spring ends up top.

Comments?

EDIT: I just finished reading about 50 or more posts on cutting springs. YES I SEARCHED A LOT I found only one guy with an I30T who cut 1-1/4 coils up front. He's on AGX's and stated in his post that his car rides perfect. Now I'm not so certain what he definition of perfect is, but his post confirms that this is probably the way to go for me. Remember I'm not looking for a lowered look, I'm only looking to make the car sit better.

 

If this works, yo uguys are my HEROES!

I am in the same boat as you, I just want a lowered height up front, not the rear...and I still like the ride, so staying on ST coils is prob the best thing for me...that and I am out of money...

 

Tom,

This seems like a realy good idea. Front fender gap sucks, it looks like I'm smuggling stuff in my trunk all of the time. Anyway, my only thought about this would be that it might affect the handling and meake the rear more likely to swing out due to more weight being put on the now-lower front. This is only a thought, not a statement. I really hope it works out for you.

 

or you could just get progress springs and agx's . I once again found a new love for this combo. if i go 2/4 or 3/5 i have the greatest handling **** around, then yesterday i went to 1/3 because its gettin snowy and the roads suck, and it feels a lil tighter then stock with super comfortable ride which is perfect. its nice to have a spring setup that is already a tad lower in the front, and becuz of the spring rate, the ride is purely what u want it to be depending on ur shock settings. if you have a spring that is way too stiff, doesnt matter what your shocks are on, its gonna be ruff and vice versa.

 

isn't cutting spring coils considered unsafe?
i don't know i'm just wondering.

 

As you already know, normally, it's not a good idea to cut any springs, but, from my experience, as long as you're cutting only 1 dead coil, I think you'll be OK.

I had a 1990 2+2 Z when they first came out. No one made springs specifically for the 2+2 so I bought a set of Eibachs for the 2 seater Z. Well, due to the gas tank on the 2+2 being in the very back instead of in the middle like on the 2 seater, the Eibach springs made the rear drop more than the front. So, looking at the front, I noticed that the front springs had about 2 or 3 "dead" coils, ie. springs sitting directly on top of each other. So, I cut 1 coil off the fronts. Result = nice even lowering with absolutely no difference in handling or ride quality.

I say, go for it. I doubt if the 1/2-3/4" lowering will noticeably affect anything other than looks - especially if you are still using the AGX shocks and struts.

 

I spoke to my brother at the body shop last night regarding the spring cutting. He told me flat out that cutting springs increases the tension. Then we started looking at the springs very closely to determine the dead or inactive coil area and what the results may be if we cut that out. I also did some more research on the web about cutting coil springs. I found a very interesting on a custom build car site that stated if you cut a coil by only 1/3 it usually yields little of no effect on it's tension. This because the mfg uses the last 1/3 or so for mounting issues. It's usually the area of the top or bottom coil that has no tension and sometimes sits flat. Well the OEM springs on the max show almost 1/2 of the bottom and top coils as being pretty flat. No tension area. I can see clearly how cutting into this may or may not cause mounting problems which can result in possible spring noises. But then again, it might not. I also discussed spring "clocking" as Ben mentioned and I think thats more important in a McPherson strut setup then a spring & shock setup. If the clocking is way off the spring may not sit straight on the strut assembly and could bind or even pop out of it's seat because of uneven pressure.

There's a lot more to consider then I thought. BUT I'm still willing to give this a shot to see if it's still possible to mod the OEM springs slightly so the car sits level. I'm going to cut 1/3 of a coil from the top and bottom. My clocking will be off by 1/3 which may or may not effect things that greatly. I expect a ride height change of about 1 inch which HOPEFULLY will make the Maxima at stock ride height APPEAR even at both front and rear wheel wells without any noticable change in the ride.

Wish me luck, pics will follow shortly.

Tom

 

Good analysis of the risks. Good luck, and please keep us posted. You know I will be doing this within days of your report of the results, if all goes well!

 

this is very interesting, good luck and keep us posted

 

Good Luck. Good insite. Can't wait for the picts. Very interested in doing this to my max.

 

If this 'shouldn't' change the tension on the spring, do you think it would be feasible for a total stocker to do this as well? I have the stock setup and would love to get rid of an inch of wheel gap without loosing my comfy ride, but would it kill my stock shocks? I would think it would be OK if the tension isn't worse right?

 

Where's all the flamers at? If I posted this I'd be torn to bits.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=118546

 

I would like to say your theory sounds about right. Lets wait till I do the real world test. I'm planning to do all this on Sunday. I'll try to measure everything as I go along. My butt Ride-O-Meter will be monitoring the comfy boost gauge at all stages of tuning.

 

When you cut your front coil its gonna make your car understeer more.

 

I am going to cut a coil of the front of my maxspeeds. I was wondering the same. Only doing this because of the speakers in the trunk making the rear sit down more.

 

If this whole Coil Cutting experiment works well, can you do a write up for a How-To?

 

Can you explain this a little better? I woudl think that only if the springs were SOFTER would it cause understeer. How would just lowering the car do that, IF the coils cut were truly DEAD coils?

I don't even have to read the thread, but I know what you are saying. It is just like the threads on running lowering springs w/ stock struts...9 times out of 10 you get flamed, but every once in a while someone posts that question and gets responses from people who have done it, and the results are not always bad. I am waiting to see how the cutting turns out...

 

I am back to stock springs now. However, before I put them back in, I cut one coil of the top of the front springs. I've had no problems yet, and the car rides great!

You can see pictures of the car on my CarDomain page.

Later,
-Nick

 

UPDATE:
Spent the last evening playing with the suspension again. Myself, my brother and one of his chassis buddies studied the springs. We also found the formula for calculating basic spring tension. After playing with some numbers, looking at how the OEM coils sat in the stut unloaded we came to the conclusion that cutting them would indeed produce unwanted results. There were a few issues. One was the lower spring perch angle vs. the spring after it's cut. The other was the increase in tension and it's effect on the cars' ride. There are no dead coils in the front springs. The rear is another story. You could very well get away with a cut coil up top in the rears without any sacrafice in ride. Just like some lowering springs, the OEM rear springs do have one or two coils that just sit on top of each other. But without a spring to match the tension up front, there's not much chance you could even out the ride.

After putting the OEM springs back in the Max, I have rediscovered how absolutely sweet these AGX's are again. The ride on the stock setup with AGX's is very firm yet completely smooth. Like glass almost. Handling really hasn't changed at all. I have no body roll, car corners just as flat as before. I can turn the AGX's up one and still have a perfectly smooth ride. All the bunny hop nonsense is completely gone. They soak up everything and keep the car level, without any of that funny car bounce at all. It's just rock hard and completely smooth.

We also measured before and after from the floor to the fender. My car came up about 1.5 inches in the rear and get this OVER 2 inches up front! Perhaps they will settle down a slight bit in the next few days.

Yes, I drive a 4x4 Maxima again, but I'll tell you guys something, I baught my car because it had a perfect blend of luxury and performance. Yes it does have a big gap between the fender and front wheel, but the ride on the factory springs coupled with high perfromance struts and a few other suspension mods is nothing short of sweet!

It's going to take a lot of consideration next spring when the 17's go back on as to wheather or not I lower it again. Perhaps just the Full Stillen Body kit in the spring will be enough to make the car look awsome at the factory ride height!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Tom

 

Do you really want to know how to cut a stock coil? theres not much to it. Ill be back later with a pic of where to cut

You can cut one coil off the front. Did you compare your H&Rs to your stock. You noticed how much taller they are? You should be fine with one coil. That should solve a bit of your anger

 

You just summed up the ride and handling improvements of the Motivational Engineering rear strut mounts on my H&R springs. I was able to crank up my rear AGX to 4 vs the 1 setting I had been riding on. It's 35 degrees out, I'm riding on a H&R drop, front Konis at 50%, rear AGX at 50%, and my car rides extremely close to stock. I'm so happy right now with the ride of my car. Gone to the bunny hopping and skiddish feel over bumpy turns. It just glides over nasty surfaces.


Dave

 

 

why the ?

 

Nick, have you sold those sprints yet? If not please let me know.....thanks, wayne

 

Wow Tom. Going back to the stock springs sounds so tempting now. I love my eibachs but if they aren't helping in handling to make a noticeable difference, then I don't see the point of having super-stiff springs. I hate the way it jiggles around everywhere on those bumpy turns.

How many coils would you have to cut on the front and back of the stock springs to get it at eibach height? A ride that soaks up those little bumps, stays flat on cornering, with a decent drop would be awesome.

 

Yep, they are sold. I'll be removing the link in my sig as soon as I receive the payment, which should be here Monday (just in case I don't get the payment...I won't have to put it back).

BTW, for those of you who missed it -- I have OEM springs WITH ONE CUT COIL IN THE FRONT! The car sits perfectly even now, and it still rides great. There are a few pics on my CarDomain Page. The link is at the left. Go to page 4.

Later,
-Nick

 

Great, now somebody sell me your sprints

Nick, if it doesnt go through just let me know. thanks, wayne