stopherjones

I searched for threads on really how to cut front coils to lower my car and found enough bits a pieces to convince myself to attempt....

My '74 here is almost complete from a 2 year frame on build. I removed A/C parts, installed aluminum radiator as well as aluminum intake. Needless to say, the car "rose" in the front. More than I could handle...






So after enough Coronas I decided it was time to make this height issue go away. I did learn a few things that I think will help someone attempting this.

One is make sure you jack the car up as high as you can with floor jack and obviously secure with jackstands. The other is to be prepared to fix other stuff....(we all know one thing leads to more)

This is my starting height....Same on both sides..


Wheel removed and sitting on stands


Caliper removed and then rotor pulled


Notice the vise grips clamping brake line


Remove the sway bar link bushings and long bolt...1/2" deep well socket with 9/16" needed for head...


I then pulled the shock..top nut over the top A-Arm then two small bolts at bottom of shock. Of course this led to more....Shocks were toast, bolts at bottom were toast...you get the idea...lol




I then placed my floor jack under the lower spring pocket of lower control arm


Remove the cotter pin from upper ball joint castle nut...Of course once again the cotter was rotted and I had to play angry to get the pieces out....


Remove the castle nut down to where it still has full threads engaged and take a hammer and hit upwards on the ball joint. Didn't take much to break them apart...


Slowly lower the jack to allow the lower control arm to disengage the upper ball joint and let it all the way down.


The spring did not try to jump out and when I removed the jack. At this point the spring could be moved around by hand in its pockets..


I pulled the spring out and measured...


The tight coils were installed towards the upper control arm...I could not decide which end to cut. I opted for cutting one complete coil from top of spring




One coil cut removed about an inch of spring length...


I put the spring back in and placed jack under lower arm to raise it up..



MAKE SURE SPRING IS ORIENTATED CORRECTLY, THE POCKETS HAVE TAPERS IN THE SEATS TO ALLOW FOR COIL ENDS. MAKE SURE UPPER IS CORRECT!!


I then reconnected the upper ball joint and simply installed my wheel on the hub with no rotor or caliper....I did not like the result, car only dropped about 3/4"...

I removed the wheel and then removed spring again and I decided to cut another coil off, this time from bottom. So you have read correctly, I removed two complete coils on from top of spring and one from bottom of spring....





After cutting both driver and pass...Shortening my springs by almost two inches I have achieved the ride height I was looking for. Looks aggressive and with my wheel and tire combo with black car I'm beside myself....

Alan 71

Hi sj,
Very interesting 'how-to' pictures.
The cut certainly had a great effect on the ride height appearance.
Have you driven the car much yet? I'm curious if it's affected the ride quality? (Not that they had much 'ride quality' to begin with!!!).
Regards,
Alan

AGVI

Looks much better now man!

MotorHead

Nice job if it stays like that. How much have you driven it. It will usually drop even further after a couple of days of driving it around. Mine went so low I had to buy new springs, I hope yours stays like that. What size are the wheels and tires and do they tuck in under the fender when moved up ?

stopherjones

I have not driven much since yesterday's marathon suspension work. I put about two miles on... Definitely made a difference in handling...Seems a little loose...

The wheels and tires up front are 18" x 8" with 245/45/18, they do tuck in without rubbing, so far...

I am just getting done with interior and paint/body on this project. My winter plans included complete suspension rebuild. You could see from pics it is horrendous....

I did this to see what it would look like and also to see what springs to order for future replacement.

I have a set of 10" bolts to lower the rear, however it has dropped a little on it's on...we'll see if that needs work after a few weeks of driving...

larrywalk

First, it looks very nice, but might be a tad low for tire clearance at full jounce.

Second, there's a reason for the drop distances...
When the first coil was cut from the upper end which has the coils spaced closely, because, at that end, the coils actually touch each other, so that cutting one full coil would shorten the compressed spring by the diameter of the coil's wire; however, since the change in tire position changes by the ratio of the length of the lower control arm divided by the length of the spring perch to LCA bushings, the car lowered by approximately twice the diameter of the coil's wire.

Third, cutting the coil from the other end had a much larger effect because the compressed coils are farther apart, and then multiplying by 2, the drop was much more significant.

Lastly, I would not reuse any rubber brake line which had been squeezed shut by vice grips due to the potential to damage the internal reinforcing fabric. It's a whole lot easier to cap the end, or even use a golf tee to close off the open end. And in most cases, the brake system need not be opened at all - just hang the connected caliper by a coat hanger to avoid putting the brake line in any sort of bind.

larrywalk

Hammering on the end of a ball joint stud, even with a nut still on it, will often ruin the threads if it's really tight. A better method is the twin hammer method... With a heavy backup hammer on one side of the knuckle, hit it smartly with another hammer on the opposite side of the knuckle from the ball joint stud, which, in effect, squeezes the stud out of the knuckle. Since the castle nut was only loosened one or two turns, the ball joint stud pops free with a bang, but keeps the parts together so that the spring can be unloaded carefully.

diehrd

Any ball joint only requires 1 hammer hitting the knuckle hard , the ball joint will pop out with one or 2 good smacks every time , I know it seams like no that cant be but trust me I have done it 100 times and it never fails to separate with one good solid smack

Mike6811

You've done a lot of good work and the result looks great, but there must be an easier way to accomplish this, albeit more expensive.

Tim H

Well if anything the pics of those wheels on a black car is great reference material!!!

Doug1

I don't think so, other then the hassle of pulling them out a second time. if he replaces the springs with something more expensive, they have to come out anyway.
btw, nice job, and if it does go too low, for about 10-12 bucks they sell spacers that get turned in with a half inch drive in between the coils which will raise it, or get it perfectly balanced in case the sides measure a little different

Mike6811

I do remember those spacers from the 60s and 70s. Was told that they eliminate some travel. Could this be true?

Doug1

firm it up and slightly raise, 4 in a pack, about 10-12 dollars at auto parts, kinda pricey for what they are

AirborneSilva

When I was into jeeping you could get spacers made of poly or aluminum to put on top of the spring, wonder if that would work. They do come in different sizes.

daanbc

Nice job I have taken alot of weight off my front end also. And will be doing this job in the near future. I will do what you did first, Just cut one coil and replace. Then drive the car and let it sit that way for a couple weeks. Just to make sure it doesn't drop anymore. If it doesn't, I will then go with the second cut. Again thanks for the pic's....

jb78L-82

This is the method I use as well and have for years on many cars beside the C3. Never had an issue! I got the tip years ago from a mechanic friend who rebuilds wreaked Volvos. It works beautifully, is quick, and has never damaged the threads.

Just replaced struts and shocks on my 2008 Chrysler 300 with 4 bilsteins and the upper front control arm where the ball joint needs to be detached actually has a spot on the control arm to hit it with a mallet!!-leave it to a Mercedes designed suspension for that feature.

BTW-Once again, the Bilsteins have transformed the ride and handling of the 300-unbelieveable, just like they did on my C3 and 94 Mustang GT convertible-just an aside.

Hope this helps!

resdoggie

Considering lowering my front end also. Is there a reason why the spring can't be compressed with a spring compressor tool?

GDaina

Just wondering why not use the F-41 coils? Those coils are much much shorter and gives you the perfect height without cutting...

Rich's'78

I used them on another car and they managed to break the spring. They were Moog's top of the line springs - just too much localized load.

REELAV8R

Nice write up and pics. End results looks good.