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cutting factory fronts and mcgaughys rear springs?

4K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  Hornet 
#1 ·
Hey guys just curious, I have mcgaughys rear springs and it only dropped the truck about 3/4". I would still like to go a little lower since i want to run 285/50 or 275/55 with stock 20's. i dont like wheel gap at all. Has anyone had any experience with the ride quality with cut coils. I only want to drop the front about a 1" and the rear another 2", trying to get really close to level. the closer the better. Here is my truck now.
 

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#2 ·
Dumb question, but you did install them the correct side up right, they aren't upside down? I read people getting a flat out 2" drop from those springs.

I did however cut my rear springs on my '11 when I had it. No issues at all and couldn't tell the difference from stock.
 
#5 ·
I cut factory coil 2/3 a coil and removed a full coil from my BT rears (I have drop spindles up front). Still has rake....I'm cutting a second coil out of the rear.
 
#6 ·
Just to ask the other dumb question, but you removed/trimmed the factory bump stops, right? The 2wd McG's rear 4" springs gave my 4wd a 6" drop but I had to cut out the bumpstop brackets.

Also, have a look if you have any binding of the control arms or panhard bar. I'm very surprised you've only got 3/4" from those springs.
 
#8 ·
Yes and yes. Cut the springs with something that won't generate a lot of heat, so a sawzall or a cutoff wheel, NEVER use a torch. You lose minimal spring rate as the portion of the spring that's being cut is the tightly wound section at the top. If you have a set of drop coils, then you can only remove the side that is not a progressive rate wrap or you'll SIGNIFICANTLY affect the spring rate.
 
#10 · (Edited)
If you have a set of drop coils, then you can only remove the side that is not a progressive rate wrap or you'll SIGNIFICANTLY affect the spring rate.[/QUOTE]

A progressive spring is longer then a linear spring,with more wraps on one end,that's how you get a progressive rate.
A spring is a heat treated bar,the longer the bar the less leverage it takes to twist it,so i'm failing to see your theory Kurtis.
You have to twist the spring to flex it,that's the principle behind ride quality
Cutting the progressive side is usually the only side that is cut-able.
Cutting the progressive side won't adversley affect ride quality,also won't give the same amount of drop for the same length of spring cut off in comparision to a linear spring.
1 coil cut from a linear spring will adversley affect the ride quality as you've noticably shortened the bar,but 1 coil cut from a progressive spring won't affect ride quality as much as that same 1 coil cut off a linear spring,as the bar is significantly longer to start with on a progressive spring.So a 7" to 9" length of spring cut off a progressive rate spring is a smaller percentage cut,then that same 7" to 9" cut off a linear spring
Rick
 
#11 ·
I guess I should have been more clear, you have to trim from the tighter wound end, not the loose pig tail end on the progressive coils. You're right that the progressive side is the tighter coil, thanks for the clarification to an obvious error. All I was trying to say is that you can't cut from the loose pig tail or the spring won't seat properly and you'll cause issues.
 
#13 ·
This is my basic formula for cutting linear springs,ie:stock front coils.

Once i know how much lower i want to go,i turn that measurement into a percentage number,that i then use to cut the springs.

This is a generalization for illustration purposes,so i'm using easy to work with numbers.

Say the truck measures 40" to the wheelwell arch,and i want to lower it by 2".
2" is 5% of 40".
So i want to cut roughly 5% off the springs length.
Cutting springs isn't an exact science,so i usually measure the diameter of the spring,then multiply that diameter by 3.14 (pi) to get a rough measurement of each coil.
Then multiply that number by the number of coils to get the rough overall length of the spring.
Once i know the rough overall length of the spring,i then use my 5% number to determine how much length needs to be cut off the spring.

Like i said,cutting springs isn't an exact science,but this will usually get you fairly close on the first cut of a linear spring
 
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