Cutting Springs (I know I am going to get a slapping for this post)

[ip 0]

Okay, before I start. I know this is controversial and I'm not really considering it. But, I am curious if anyone else has tried it.

A couple of U.S. vw sites have posts by guys who've tried cutting down the original VW springs (one complete loop of each coil) and reckon this provides a nice stance with a smooth ride. Opinion is divided among the respondants. Many claim this is a terrible and hugely unsafe plan. Others reckon it works fine.

The thing is, looking at the mechanics of it, I don't see a real problem. Yes, the car will be lowered but not by much. Plus, the effect of distributing the load across less coils means that the spring rate will be increased (the resulting spring will be stiffer as each coil will be slightly more compressed) and so danger of grounding the sump seems no more severe than running a set of stiffened 40mm lowering springs. The original springs are not progressive and so no part of the coil takes more or less of the load than any other (as far as I can tell). I guess, potentially, the extra load on the remaining coils my cause the spring to fail but that does seem unlikely to me. I also think that there is enough compression in the spring when the strut is fully extended that it shouldn't slip in its mount provided only one loop is removed. So, what is the danger here?

As I say, not a serious proposition, just keen to hear a few peoples thoughts.

ip

[S.i.m.o.n 0]

I did this once, cut 1 coil off made no diff to the look of the car but made it handle like crap

[ip 0]

Really what happened to the handling? Too soft/too harsh?

[S.i.m.o.n 0]

To soft was really bad i had done this on other cars in the past but the golf didnt like at all

[xyber 1]

Dont do it, alot of calculations go into designing a spring and if its changed in any way all those are thrown out the window and cock it right up and could cause them to dislocate and cause you many issues, ranging from a pissed looking car to you possibly cart-wheeling into something hefty.

You get yanks doing it on old muscle cars where lowered springs dont exist on the market

[rodney 17]

There is a suprising level of engineering in springs and shocks...

The diameter of metal and coil, with the number of coils and the type of coils....close together vs far apart vs combinations...

if you chop a lump out then it no longer reacts the same way. length of metal and disipation of forces etc etc.

So yes you can do it but then the coils will not react the same way. Making it to soft or to hard or not fast enough in reaction etc etc

It is not dangerous in the basic sense of the word.

BUT remember that they dont just stop the wheel bouncing. they also affect breaking distance and lane changing at 70mh on the motorway etc etc

hope it helps the discussion

[ip 0]

Thanks for the responses guys. As I say, this was not something I was planning to do (I've already lowered mine on H&Rs) but I was interested to see that the yanks consider this a normal mod. Makes sense with what yber says about old muscle cars though. I guess it's become normal to use this practice on other cars. Seems daft though with a prices they pay for proper after market parts.

RCF is bang on too, all these parts do include a lot more engineering than we would probably guess at. I was told recently that Ford employ a full time team of 20 guys in England just to design drive shafts for their european models.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

ip