Cutting Coils

[jpedro]

Hey all, I know its not recomended but this is a budget project and i must enforce "budget" I dont usually like doing things the Cheap way, but in this case i must.  I have a 1990 VW Jetta 4Dr with a turbo 1.6L  i want to lower it, but alls im going to do is cut the coils down. how much can i do this and what will it do to the front end? i have some friends that are crazy into low riders and what have you and have done this plenty, but i thought id ask myself and see how much i can go, i want to go as low as possible without really having to mod anything else. any tips would be mostly appreciated. again i know this isnt the right way, i know it can be done but what are the limits of it. thanks in advance

jped

[rabbitman]

When I put mk2 jetta springs on the front of my rabbit it sat about 2-3 inches high so I cut off 1.5 coils and now it sits at the stock height.

So I'd guess it would lower the jetta about the same amount.


One thing I've heard is it'll wear the struts out faster since it changes the strength and stuff.

[gldgti]

Hey all, I know its not recomended but this is a budget project and i must enforce "budget" I dont usually like doing things the Cheap way, but in this case i must.  I have a 1990 VW Jetta 4Dr with a turbo 1.6L  i want to lower it, but alls im going to do is cut the coils down. how much can i do this and what will it do to the front end? i have some friends that are crazy into low riders and what have you and have done this plenty, but i thought id ask myself and see how much i can go, i want to go as low as possible without really having to mod anything else. any tips would be mostly appreciated. again i know this isnt the right way, i know it can be done but what are the limits of it. thanks in advance

jped

cut it so its just longer than the maximum stroke of the shock absorber, so you have to apply resonable force to squash the spring in order to assemble the shock. Dont make it so it rattles around if the shock is fully extended, or you may well DIE in an accident. As long as hte spring is long enough to be under some decent preload when installed, it will be OK.


Fortnately the standard springs are usually much longer than the strut.

but onestly, its a crappysolution.

[homerj1]

I not sure how limited your funds are, but, I was looking at these guys for springs for my Mk3.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110508903131&viewitem=&_trkparms=clkid%3D8601490947101772312

I've cut coils before on my Tr6 as a temp measure - but when I later installed "real" lowering springs on the same rig, I found they worked a lot better then the cut coils.

[lovinthedeez]

I have cut springs on my mk2 and absolutely hate it. 

[Rabbit on Roids]

i just went to real sport springs finally. its amazing the difference.

[theman53]

I have been looking for a while. I don't want to lower I want to have bulletproof suspension. Here are some "cheaper" things I have found, but have no clue what they are like. Here are my outdated Ebay links to the ksport and vento coilovers. I really like the look of the ksports, but will probably get some new springs and Bilstein struts.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270527046858&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COILOVER-VW-JETTA-VENTO-ADJUSTABLE-SUSPENSION_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem45f103c2aeQQitemZ300396298926QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[rodpaslow]

I did that on an scirocco I used to have and it you hit a med size bump instead of you'r car just moving slightly once over the bump, because you have extra extension on the shock it will move up and down.

Like said before, not the best solution!

[calebessent]

I cut two coils off the front springs of my Rabbit about 6 months ago. It dropped about 3 inches. It used to be sky high! Now I don't have any gap.

My situation is radically different than yours, though. Rabbits made in the US are notorious for having really soft, non-progressive springs. Since they've been cut, the suspension is stiffer but not uncomfortable. I haven't had any problems with my struts, so far, but I'm not expecting them to last long. Your results could be very different than mine. Your Jetta's suspension is much different.

I've heard people say "each coil removed (360 degrees of spring) will drop a car about an inch and a half." YMMV.

Be prepared to re-align your suspension, too. Otherwise, you will shred your tires in a hurry. You can have this done professionally, or DIY. If you're on a strict budget, cutting springs is a gamble because you might realize in 200 miles that your tires are toast.

DO NOT REMOVE THE SPRINGS WITHOUT SPRING COMPRESSING TOOLS. You will start to loosen the nut on the top of the strut, and the spring will suddenly shoot out at your face at 100 mph. You can kill yourself. I know, I know. You can grab the spring and it feels like there isn't any tension in it. There is! *** up now and you will have to factor in the hospital trip into your budget.

-Cale

[Rabbit on Roids]

I cut two coils off the front springs of my Rabbit about 6 months ago. It dropped about 3 inches. It used to be sky high! Now I don't have any gap.

My situation is radically different than yours, though. Rabbits made in the US are notorious for having really soft, non-progressive springs. Since they've been cut, the suspension is stiffer but not uncomfortable. I haven't had any problems with my struts, so far, but I'm not expecting them to last long. Your results could be very different than mine. Your Jetta's suspension is much different.

I've heard people say "each coil removed (360 degrees of spring) will drop a car about an inch and a half." YMMV.

Be prepared to re-align your suspension, too. Otherwise, you will shred your tires in a hurry. You can have this done professionally, or DIY. If you're on a strict budget, cutting springs is a gamble because you might realize in 200 miles that your tires are toast.

DO NOT REMOVE THE SPRINGS WITHOUT SPRING COMPRESSING TOOLS. You will start to loosen the nut on the top of the strut, and the spring will suddenly shoot out at your face at 100 mph. You can kill yourself. I know, I know. You can grab the spring and it feels like there isn't any tension in it. There is! *** up now and you will have to factor in the hospital trip into your budget.

-Cale

my grandpa decided to take and unscrew the strut nut on his rabbit, im definitely glad i was not standing in front of that thing. i was standing in the engine bay, and when that thing exited the fender well, it hit the ground, and then stuck there. were not talking soft mud either, were talking gravel. it literally could have killed someone. and to this day we never found the nut that flew off the top of the strut.

[rabbitman]

You can use the weight of the car to decompress/compress the stuts, it's lots faster to pull the strut top and strut as an assembly and use a spring compressor.

On mine I pulled all that and the hub, just pop the tie rod and ball joint out and undo the big axle nut and off it comes.

[Dirtrag2]

i had a VW Fox that i cut the springs on, i cut 1 full coil off to great results. the car sat about 1.5 in lower and the handling was amazing. the only draw back was the premature strut wear ( bout 18 months )

keep in mind that the Fox, like the rabbit sat high with soft non progressive springs, i dunno how well this will work on a mkII jetta 

[jseeley]

i know you said it's a budget project, but $40 bucks for new lowering springs is not bad...

http://www.racelandus.com/p-96-lowering-springs-vw-golf-jetta-ii-mk2-16-18-gti.aspx

[snakemaster]

i cut mine 3 years a go struts still spot on  i took off my strut and took it out side stood on the spring when the strut was laying on its side and slacking the middle nut with a rat*** and on the last thread the shock took of 40 feet but i was still standing on the spring , it takes big balls ,i done this to 10 to 16 struts  did loose a spring cup one time it just ping away , but dont try this you may kill some one or your self

[79rabbit4dr]

Hey all, I know its not recomended but this is a budget project and i must enforce "budget" I dont usually like doing things the Cheap way, but in this case i must.  I have a 1990 VW Jetta 4Dr with a turbo 1.6L  i want to lower it, but alls im going to do is cut the coils down. how much can i do this and what will it do to the front end? i have some friends that are crazy into low riders and what have you and have done this plenty, but i thought id ask myself and see how much i can go, i want to go as low as possible without really having to mod anything else. any tips would be mostly appreciated. again i know this isnt the right way, i know it can be done but what are the limits of it. thanks in advance

jped

I remember reading somewhere that you have to cut the coil under water or have some way of cooling the spring so it doesn't change that makup of the metal and give you that "honda civic" bounce.