Cutting springs while on car?!

[xXSVTmonsterXx]

A buddy of mine has a 99 Cobra. He doesn't want to remove his springs, or go through the process of having to get to them. He simply wants to remove the wheel, caliper, rotor, etc... compress the spring while the car is on his lift and cut.

When he asked me if this was possible, I immediately thought... NO. However, when I thought about it, assuming he was extremely careful, I wasn't sure anymore. I am by no means a "seasoned" professional however...

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 

[01yellercobra]

Not gonna happen. There's not enough room to get a cut off wheel in there. And I definitly wouldn't want to be working on a spring that's compressed.

 

[xXSVTmonsterXx]

Not gonna happen. There's not enough room to get a cut off wheel in there. And I definitly wouldn't want to be working on a spring that's compressed.

Any recommendations for him? He's looking to do the least amount of work possible. I've already tried reasoning with him and telling him to do it RIGHT ONCE.

 

[SWAMPMODULAR]

Yeah no thanks, but if he does please get video so we can see it let loose....

 

[SWAMPMODULAR]

Any recommendations for him? He's looking to do the least amount of work possible. I've already tried reasoning with him and telling him to do it RIGHT ONCE.

Do it right or do it twice, and he has a lift?? I did my IRS on my back for 8 hrs straight, damn not that hard to do!!:beer:

 

[01yellercobra]

Any recommendations for him? He's looking to do the least amount of work possible. I've already tried reasoning with him and telling him to do it RIGHT ONCE.

The least amount of work would be paying someone else to do it. Or just buy a set of lowering springs and swap them for the stockers. By the time you get the rotor and caliper off you're 95% there anway.

 

[01_Svt venom]

I would just take them out if i were him. It's really not that much work and like stated early after you take the wheels,calibers,brakes,etc off you have most of the work done.

 

[soccerman002]

Tell him to have at it, just make sure you have a vid camera on him the entire time.

 

[99COBRA2881]

In my experience its short cuts like this that take twice as long to get the job done.

 

[Un4GivN]

There's no need to compress the spring in any scenario I can fathom. You should be able to lower all four corners in less than 2 hours without a lift.

ETA: No need to remove any of the brake components to remove the springs either.

 

[GoatSlayer]

A buddy of mine has a 99 Cobra. He doesn't want to remove his springs, or go through the process of having to get to them. He simply wants to remove the wheel, caliper, rotor, etc... compress the spring while the car is on his lift and cut.

When he asked me if this was possible, I immediately thought... NO. However, when I thought about it, assuming he was extremely careful, I wasn't sure anymore. I am by no means a "seasoned" professional however...

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

TELL YOUR FRIEND TO STOP BEING LAZY OR CHEAP, AND DO IT THE RIGHT WAY:nonono:

 

[XyX]

can't cheapen an already cheap way to lower a car

 

[3B99SVT]

I grew up near San Jose. A trick I heard the low riders used to do is heat up the springs w/a torch. The heated section would lose its properties as a spring and the car would be lower. I'm not sure how easy it is to do all four corners the same, but if your friend is considering cutting the springs while they're on the car, he may also think heating the springs is an option.

But really, the rear springs are not a problem at all. Put a jack below the pumpkin (don't jack the car up from there though) and remove the rear IRS subframe bolts. Lower the jack a little and the rear springs will come out. Watch for connections, like the parking brake cable, abs wires, etc., while lowering -- they may need to be loosened up. The front takes a little more, but as others have mentioned above it's not really that hard or time consuming.

 

[Predatorbird]

Please tell your friend to do it and post the results!

 

[turbo2300]

I grew up near San Jose. A trick I heard the low riders used to do is heat up the springs w/a torch. The heated section would lose its properties as a spring and the car would be lower. I'm not sure how easy it is to do all four corners the same, but if your friend is considering cutting the springs while they're on the car, he may also think heating the springs is an option..

maybe in puerto rico its a good idea.

heating the springs is an even worse idea then cutting them. if someones gonna heat springs they deserve to have inspection stickers removed and be beaten. leave it alone before you heat

 

[Bad99SVT]

def do it the right way..i lowered my 99 cobra in about 2 hrs...i did the front first and flew through it...takes no time...just put a jack under the front control arm, take the brake caliper off, undo the sway bar endlinks, i think remove the abs sensor, remove the 2 strut bolts, and let the control arm go down slowly and pull the spring out...rear is just as stated above...pretty simple.

 

[Mystic-SVT]

OP, your friend must be one lazy/dumb bastard to not spend the extra 5 minutes taking each spring completely out. If he really thinks cutting the springs while still in the car then he shouldn't be turning wrenches whatsoever.

I grew up near San Jose. A trick I heard the low riders used to do is heat up the springs w/a torch. The heated section would lose its properties as a spring and the car would be lower. I'm not sure how easy it is to do all four corners the same, but if your friend is considering cutting the springs while they're on the car, he may also think heating the springs is an option.

Here are some cell phone pics of a set of springs I removed from a '02 Gt. The guy that owned the car bought it with them installed, he thought the car had lowering springs but just needed a new set of shocks. He said the car had a very rough ride and bottomed out the suspension on bumps...here is what I took out, HEATED SPRINGS!

These are the fronts springs, notice the difference in height and the distorted coils between the two. Remember, these came out of the same car.

These are the rear springs. When I jacked the car up and let the rear suspension drop the spring pictured in the left fell right out of the car, the other one was barely hanging in.

 

[Terminator-Fox]

:lol: :nonono: Jesus christ people are ****ing dumb and OP tell your friend to quit being stupid.

 

[BreBar21]

In my experience its short cuts like this that take twice as long to get the job done.

Seriously.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. Lazy doesn't even begin to describe it.

 

[2FNFAST]

The only thing thats gonna be small enough to fit in there and cut them is a dremel tool and you will waste 3 hours trying to cut through them with one. Take 5 minutes a corner and take them out and save the other 2 and a half hours. Or as some have suggested, record him doing it with his theory, could be entertaining.