Chopping springs..

[LowVeeDub]

Why the hell do people do this to their cars. It makes me cringe every time i read or hear about someone doing this.. What are your thoughts??:???:

[DUBING]

because they are too tight, and want there car fully SIK!

[geeza]

There's no need to get high an mighty lads, it might not be the right way forward but it dropped my very high front end, drives loads better with less floatness, I'm saving for a trip away at Christmas, I'll spend the cash after the reno's are finished and after the Euro trip - FYI i had a wicked MK1 GTI in the UK so See ya :)

[BL33SU]

best bang for buck mod :D

[geeza]

i used to have a mate who had a garage with all the kit, me and 4 friends all had MK1's GTi's, we slaved all weekend everyweekend just fixing, toying and really into it - it was ace, we used to drive to london and pick up MK1 GTi's for spares!!

My folks are still over there and my bro, we should just get together and sort out some GTi Ozzie imports!!

unfortunatly the best i could do in Australia is this, but i tell you something, a 93 MK1 is cool!! Its tighter, cleaner, newer, so its a good "project" car if you get my drift,

Keep the faith j:

[Jarred]

depends how much you chop the spring and what kinda of spring.

Shaped springs (upgrade sports springs) should never be chopped, cause that will completely ruin the characteristics of the springs. Stock springs are another case.

On stock springs, cause the coils are all the same design, (ie spring is conformed to one shape,) you can chop them, and create a lower spring. Lowered springs are fine except, for when you start missing out on coils. Thats the vital thing. Chopping 1-1.5 coils shouldn't have a neg effect, any more than 2, and the spring becomes too short (not enough coils) and will not give proper rebounding etc etc. that a spring of the same height but more coils would.

If you are a muzza; you're stupid. 5 coils is too much.(to any VL owners out there) As a temporary fix; cutting .5/1 coil is no prob. imo.

[vee_dub]

Why the hell do people do this to their cars. It makes me cringe every time i read or hear about someone doing this.. What are your thoughts??:???:

nah man its ok..it make ur vee dub LOW. NOT

[geeza]

your right, it can be done with good hands, my "mate" has multiple mental cars, 20" rims sitting around, he understands how they "sit" and know's what he is doing - you defo need someone in the know - i would not advise this without the proper expereince, as it can be dangerous and if not done correctly - they could pop out and you're off!! (the road)

And really, it this how all modded cars started, passionate people with tools that "modded" thier cars...not just buying off the shelf stuff which is done by "normal" people anyway - but sold mainstream???

[Lorenz]

Chopping springs is stupid IMO and should be avoided at all costs!

By chopping stock springs down, your increasing the stiffness of them (which can be a good thing yes!) but this also results in a very bouncy ride. If chopped to much, the springs can become uncaptive when going over a large bump and the end results arent too pretty. Can cause some serious damage.

Dont be a tight arse, spend the extra $$s for some custom or off the shelf springs. Industrial Springs here in SA make custom springs set to any height and stiffness for a very cheap price, or their off the shelf springs can be reset to any height and they are about 100$ a set (not very much in the grand scheme of things really!)

Meh, my 2c!

[BL33SU]

u cant complain that much for a free mod

[geeza]

sounds good, but in the new year there LOTS of mods planned, and yes they will be proper!!

new shock / springs, wheels, brakes, engine, interior

gonna make a sweet MK1 Cabbie!! didn't move to Australia not to have convertible!! :cool:

[VWEAPN]

if you dont have much of a budget and if its something worth less then 5g's. do it.

[KI11Z]

i havnt done it to any of my cars yet, but to others yes and see no problem with it? the jetta is chopped (previous owner) and the ride is fine! as far as safety, i havnt heard of the spring popping out with anyones ride, eventhough its wat everyone claims . . . :???:

[DUBING]

i just load the car full of bricks and drive arround, i feel it gives the ride a sporty feel..j:

[LowVeeDub]

I thought it would be very unsafe. Ive never ever done it to any of my cars. Wouldn't dream of it for that matter. With all the perfromance parts available out there i just think its a stupid and cheap thing to do, especially when there is other options. We all sit on here and clearly have great respect for our machines, yound and old. Then i hear of people doing this to their ride. But then again, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Good luck to all you choppers out there. *cough* tight arse's *cough*.....LVD

[rayray086]

There's always a risk involved with chopped springs. A member here has had an accident with chopped springs before though not in his car. I forgot who it was though...

[Jarred]

springs will only pop out if you're doing some major hard cornering (or really big bumps) and you've cut say 3 or more coils. After about 3/4 coils, you have to wire them in so they dont pop out. Def not safe at all to do a major chop.
I would only ever chop springs, just if I was showing my car, and wanted it lower. Wouldn't drive around normally on springs with mulitple coils missing. Just silly. Party cause of the way I drive. Which is also silly.

[Water Boy]

Why dont u just go and get your standard spings reset... Take em down to the local spring place, they heat em up and compress them... Dosent change the spring rate only lowers your ride... Dont see whats wrong with that :D

[Jarred]

cheaper to chop them if you're going to start spending money, buy proper stiffer lower springs with better rebound rates etc

[FknDubbin]

The dumbest modification known to man. If its an AutoSalon trailer car then fine but on the road its stupid and dangerous. The car will have a tendency to bottom out and bump steer. Springs can fall out etc etc. Dont be a tightarse and just do it properly or dont do it at all. If you have an accident and the insurance assessor sees you have chopped springs, you will get skull****ed for it.

[Golf Houso]

All the drift boys do it, it can't be that bad. My car has proper Eibach springs in it but if I had a sheitbox MK2 I'd definately do it.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO BRUVAH!

[BL33SU]

lol calling mk2's ****boxes haha

[GermanwithaVdub]

All the drift boys do it, it can't be that bad. My car has proper Eibach springs in it but if I had a sheitbox MK2 I'd definately do it.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO BRUVAH!

a bunch of bogans with vl's do it so it must be safe... sounds like great logic

[DubSteve]

a bunch of bogans with vl's do it so it must be safe... sounds like great logic

BUHAHAHAHAHA post FTW :D

[FknDubbin]

All the drift boys do it, it can't be that bad. My car has proper Eibach springs in it but if I had a sheitbox MK2 I'd definately do it.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO BRUVAH!


None of the drift boys do it. Ask any serious drifter and he will tell you hes running coilovers.

[Golf Houso]

I'm talking about the tighta***es in the ae86's and the silvias, they chop their springs, usually before they buy some sort of better suspension. I watched "Drift Bible" and he recommended it, as well as using 2nd hand tires from junk yards hahahhaha...

I think you people are getting a little bit too old and taking this all too seriously to remember your more youthful days with less than desirable cars.

[ScienceVR6]

The car will have a tendency to bottom out and bump steer. Springs can fall out etc etc. Dont be a tightarse and just do it properly or dont do it at all.
Hey, i was fitting SSL and SSSL king springs to commodroes at my last job, professionally made king springs fitted by professionals. On a commodore with IRS, the SSL (super super low) springs just sat in there under the weight of the car. jack it up and the springs fell out. To fix this we had to fit short body shocks that reduce susspention articulation.

Most new cars have captive springs and progessive coils, so taking out one coil may couse the spring to not seat right. VE commodores are realy hard to lower because the rear design has captive spring that need to sit perfectly before you let the car off the jack or hoist, sometimes you would need to hold the spring throught the wheel while lowering it!

As for golfs, provided the springs are of a constant diameter, i would have no worries cutting them. they cannot fall out. they are held in by the shocks that run through them. I wouldn't cut my own, i don't want it that low, but it wouln't be unsafe, provided the shocks are in good condition.


Wow thats the longest post i've done in ages!

[FknDubbin]

As for golfs, provided the springs are of a constant diameter, i would have no worries cutting them. they cannot fall out. they are held in by the shocks that run through them. I wouldn't cut my own, i don't want it that low, but it wouln't be unsafe, provided the shocks are in good condition.


Wow thats the longest post i've done in ages!\

MK4's and 5's are a different set up at the back. They will fall out, they will ruin the shock absorber quicker and they are not a constant diameter. They are tapered springs.

[FknDubbin]

I'm talking about the tighta***es in the ae86's and the silvias, they chop their springs, usually before they buy some sort of better suspension. I watched "Drift Bible" and he recommended it, as well as using 2nd hand tires from junk yards hahahhaha...

I think you people are getting a little bit too old and taking this all too seriously to remember your more youthful days with less than desirable cars.

Im not old. im 23. Even when i was 16 i thought of chopping springs as an idiots way of lowering cars and i still do today. Its got nothing to do with being old. Its just stupid.

[Golf Houso]

I never said it was a good idea, or the way to go. But under certain circumstances its a viable option and if done properly can get the desired effect wihtout seriously compromising performance or safety. Most people that opt for cut springs don't have the income for any mods let alone hundreds of dollars for springs, try to keep things in perspective.

Oh and yeah 23 is old, to me... hahahaha

[DubSteve]

When I was 17 I had a Pulsar don't ask... Anyway it had cut coils I took them out and put in King Springs, even though it was lower the new Kings felt 1000 times better even though they are known to be hard!

Now I'm 21 and it has never occured to me to ever cut springs, I think its wrong and terrible!

http://www.newfoundlandmotorsports.com/site/viewtopic.php?t=19335&sid=dbf886692cfe7c45adc67ab8cfb0b9f4

[GermanwithaVdub]

lol all threads about this type of stuff are always like:

its fine

no its not

its fine

no its not

you're an idiot

you're a moron

and so on and so forth

BUT just for the record... its stupid because proper lowered springs are cheap anyway :D

[The_Hawk]

While I'm all for doing it right... free < cheap when it comes to $$'s

[KI11Z]

. . . BUT just for the record... its stupid because proper lowered springs are cheap anyway :D

problem is they never go low enough! Then its coilovers or bags = $$ that some peeps dont wanna part with . . .

[WABIT]

that answer couldnt be answerd any better, even if it was answerd by an automatic self adjusting answering machine

whoo.... say that 10x fast

wabit

[blutopless2]

thought i would clarify a few comments on here....

chopping a standard spring does NOT make it stiffer as you are not changing the number of coils in the shorter distance.it only changes the ride height of the car.

"resetting" a spring changes ride height and stiffness as you have the same number of coils in a shorter distance.

personally it would not happen in my cars as i think its dangerous. but that's my opinion.

[Golf Houso]

Duh... of course they don't make any difference lol... Its just to be loowwaaahhh, theres nothing to do with performance or common sense here, just how low you can go without paying too much...