How much is safe to cut off eibachs?

[1993MTXSHO]

Hey guys, I have a 93 mtx, with the eibach koni setup. I have a little bit to much wheel gap in the front and rear and want to cut my springs. How much is safe to do? I read that there is only half of a dead coil on each spring. What I wanted to do is cut 1 coil off the front and .5 off the rear. Is that ok to do to these things. Iv searched and it seems like it is, but I jsut want to make sure before I make a commitment. BTW the springs have been on for years and have settled in all the way, so the cars nto getting any lower as it is now, thanks in advance

 

[SHOtime2511]

2 coils i believe,this should give you the ride hight of an un cut intrax/

 

[1993MTXSHO]

iv read that 2 coils is too much, that it can hurt the integrity of the spring and such. Im only goign to cut 1 off at most because it is a street car and I dont want it to low. So I should be safe with doign 1 coil off front and half off of the rear?

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

If you are worried about the 1 coil being too low, start with 1/2 a coil, see how it sits and the ride quality. If you desire more than cut another 1/2 coil off. The struts do not take that long to drop and disassemble. Its better to cut twice if you need to rather than cut the one time and have it too low in the back, expecially with passangers in the rear and then have to do it all over again.

You can also drop the strut in the knuckle alittle for like an additional 1/2" of drop.

 

[1993MTXSHO]

If you are worried about the 1 coil being too low, start with 1/2 a coil, see how it sits and the ride quality. If you desire more than cut another 1/2 coil off. The struts do not take that long to drop and disassemble. Its better to cut twice if you need to rather than cut the one time and have it too low in the back, expecially with passangers in the rear and then have to do it all over again.

You can also drop the strut in the knuckle alittle for like an additional 1/2" of drop.

Im not worried abotu 1 being to much as far as how low, im worried about it making the spring not perform like it should, because iv herd it only has onehalf of a dead coil.

 

[SuperchargedSHOguy]

Im not worried abotu 1 being to much as far as how low, im worried about it making the spring not perform like it should, because iv herd it only has onehalf of a dead coil.

Look into dropping the struts into the knuckle first then you do not have to worry about messing up the spring.
If you do not want to harm the performance of the springs then only cut alittle off. With the Konis you should still be fine.

 

[DDakRT]

Them Eibach's got 2 dead coils, and don't lower the strut down the knuckles, the bottom bolt on the Konis are close enough to the axel boot as it sits now.

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=68349
I started a recent thread about not being totally satisfy with the ride height of cut Eibachs.
I'l probably going to go with Intrax next year.

 

[1993MTXSHO]

so you guys think one coil off the front and half off the rear is ok?

 

[AREA 91]

That sounds good to me. Enjoy yourself.

 

[1993MTXSHO]

That sounds good to me. Enjoy yourself.

enjoy myself does that mean its not a fun job lol

 

[91greensho+]

if im not mistaken shouldnt you cut both ends of the spring? this is a progressive rate spring and an increase in load changes the spring rate throughout the travel. I think that each coil has a different tolerance, explaining why the coil starts off thin then progressively gets thicker then back to thin again. if you were to just cut the top off then the spring would not work as designed. cutting coils is easy on a specific rate spring because the rate will stay the same because its consistant lb/in in each coil. you would have to find out what coil carries what load via a spec sheet if you can find one or a spring tester. the konis should hold up fine but as a rule of thumb if you change the spring rate more than 20% then the shocks will need revalved since this will change the rate. but thats just my 2 cents

 

[1993MTXSHO]

looks like you can really only cut it off one side. The way the spring is if you cut the other side too thad be a nono if you ask me. Just looks like cutting one off where the springs in this thread were cut looks safe.

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=65176&highlight=cutting+eibachs

 

[twr]

if im not mistaken shouldnt you cut both ends of the spring? this is a progressive rate spring and an increase in load changes the spring rate throughout the travel. I think that each coil has a different tolerance, explaining why the coil starts off thin then progressively gets thicker then back to thin again. if you were to just cut the top off then the spring would not work as designed. cutting coils is easy on a specific rate spring because the rate will stay the same because its consistant lb/in in each coil. you would have to find out what coil carries what load via a spec sheet if you can find one or a spring tester. the konis should hold up fine but as a rule of thumb if you change the spring rate more than 20% then the shocks will need revalved since this will change the rate. but thats just my 2 cents

Put the sawsall down!!

Only cut coils off the top of the front springs. Cutting the bottom will result in the spring not seating on the strut properly or at all and will create a safety hazard if it can seat. Cutting (1) dead coil off an eibach will not effect springs rate or load bearing... it's called a dead coil for a reason.

 

[Shoaz]

I was gonna say, if it bleeds, you went too far.

But with springs that's not necessarily a good rule of thumb...

Yeah, cut only the dead coils off the top.

 

[rpmshotimeeh]

Off topic and not to highjack the thread but i was curious...i have moog springs now in there and my car sits like a monstertruck in the front even with 1 year to settle. I am curious how much can i cut off of these? i am not worried about struts blowing out just curious how much i can cut off...whatt like 2 coils in the front and 1 in the rear?

thanks
eric

 

[1993MTXSHO]

Off topic and not to highjack the thread but i was curious...i have moog springs now in there and my car sits like a monstertruck in the front even with 1 year to settle. I am curious how much can i cut off of these? i am not worried about struts blowing out just curious how much i can cut off...whatt like 2 coils in the front and 1 in the rear?

thanks
eric

Those springs sit higher then stock if im not mistaken, you could probably cut one off with no trouble but im nto to sure.


Also, the eibachs DO have at least one dead coil?

 

[DDakRT]

There's 2.5 or so? But yes, more than one, go take a peak up your wheelwell.

 

[1993MTXSHO]

yeah, it looks like there are two but Im not sure what is classified as a "dead" coil. Iv read that cutting 2 off is not a good idea. Im tempted to cut 1.5 now, because I want it lower then the 1 coil. Ill start with one put it back on and if its not enough cut another half off.

 

[DDakRT]

Yep, sounds like that would be the best bet. Good luck!

 

[1993MTXSHO]

well, I called eibach and of course they told me I cant do it, voids warrenty and all that crap. What the guy told me is I cant even cut off anything. He said the dead coils are there for a reason. He said cutting off a dead coil ruins the integrity of the spring. He said because its a progressive rate springs cutting a coil off will change the way the spring works. What thoughts do you guys have on that?