Who has cut or just removed rubber from the stock springs?

[trey193]

I love the way my car transfers weight and rides with the stock ride height so I dont want to lose any of that, also the 03 stance is much better than the GT's and Cobras of the past, I was thinking about cutting a coil off the rear and and about the same off the front, I figure I would still get the feel of the stock springs, along with the weight transfer, and get maybe an inch lower ! Whats everyones thoughts on this, I could go buy H&R if I wanted but I am sure I would lose some of the transfer and some ride as well, but just wanted to know if anyone has taked this approach?

 

[Steve Snake Driver]

Removing the rubber would probably not be the thing to do. I would guess that you would get a terrible amount of noise directly into the car through the unibody.

 

[11secCobra]

i would like to hear more about this too...sounds like a good idea

 

[NastyWS6]

Removing the rubber is going to give you a lot more interior noise from the suspension. In regards to cutting a coil on the springs I would NOT do that one. If you do it will completely screw up the ride quality and the weight transfer because you will be dramamtically changing the spring rate of them by doing so. I would just buy the aftermarket springs and go from there, or I can GUARANTEE you will hate the ride of your car.

 

[KevinB120]

NASTY IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY DO NOT CUT COILS!! leave ghetto mods for ricers:thumbsup:

 

[Poisonous Mods]

Why not spends some time reading up on some threads. Theres alot of options. Fm basic spring set ups to full on adjustable coil over kits.
If its ride height go with coil overs since they can be adjusted in height.

Kevin...u said it. Nice ride deserves some nice mods.

 

[Silver 03 Cobra]

I just posted that a couple of days. I have had three IRS Cobras. I always bought Kenny Brown springs. I have read post after post from people saying you would get a bad ride if you cut a coil off the springs. To that I say BS. My buddy Mark did the solid axle swap on his 03 with his wife's vert GT. The vert springs really jacked up his 03 in the rear. We called Kenny Brown to order a set of GT springs. I was going to put the rears in Mark's 03 and the front springs in his wife's GT. Her GT really squatted with the IRS from the added weight of the vert from Mark's coupe springs in the IRS. KB said they were in stock and would ship. Where have I heard that a million times. After a week we called and they said they were wrong and that they were out and it would be two more weeks. Mark said cut the springs since I had her car sitting on jack stands. I wouldn't waste money on Eibachs and I was unsure what the BBK springs would do. I cut the fronts his wife's GT first. It rode darn good.

Then I cut the springs on his 03 although they were lighter GT springs on the solid axle. It rode really good and no bouncing. It looked so good I decided to do my rears. The front on the 03 is about right. I cut one coil off the bottom. It puts the tires about 1.25 inches from the fender lip. It looked like lowering the rear transferred enough weight that the front rose slightly so I cut 5/8 coil off the front by cutting the bottom coil also. My cars rides nearly close to stock with very little road vibe through the steering wheel. It firmed up very slightly but really you couldn't tell if you rode in it from stock. Do it and save yourself some money. If you didn't want to mess with the front, you could cut 5/8 - 3/4 coil off the rear and that should level it up pretty close. I sanded and painted the ends and you would never no they had been cut. Remember you have to get the rear re-aligned because of the IRS. The toe and camber have to be set.

 

[trey193]

Yes Silver I have cut many springs before all with good results just never attempted it on an 03, a buddy of mine was the guinny pig yesterday he cut 1/2 coil off the rear and removed the rubber, the car now sits level as can be and overall looks much better, nothing suffered it rode as it did before, although we didnt know about the alignment issue! Thats the route I am going, these cars already sit good, I didnt think cutting a minute amount would make the car suffer in any area and I was correct, thanks for your post! You did keep the rubber right?

 

[Silver 03 Cobra]

I kept the isolators. I would think you would want to do that to keep the springs from wearing the frame or spring seat. The lower spring seat will fill with sand. I don't care how clean the road or how little you drive it, it will fill around the isolator and spring with sand. The isolator will keep the sand from chewing everything up. If you look at your isolators you will see how the same is eroding the rubber. My drive is gravel about 80 yards long. I always hoped to have a concrete drive especially when I saw how much sand and gravel got in the spring seats. My buddy has a concrete drive and he has around 4k on his 03 and I couldn't believe the amount of sand in his seats. Most is picked up off the highway. You would gain much by removing the lower isolators. the top ones are about .38 to .5 thick. You could get a machine shop to cut you a thin one 1/8 thich to go on the top and gain a little.

I saved the stock springs from my 99 Cobra. They are quite a bit smaller in diameter on the cross section of the coil. I guess the rate is a lot lighter. I started to stick them in and try them but was afraid of the results and figured I would have to pull them out.

 

[trey193]

HEy one last time we are gonna cut my springs tomorrow on my 03 I think we are gonna take a 1/2 coil of the back and see how that sits with the front and then go from there. How much total did you take off the front and rear and did you keep both the upper and lower isolators front and rear??, just want to make sure before we do it. My buddy took off a 1/4 coil off the rear and threw away the isolators and his sits almost level, maybe a tad higher in the front but a huge improvement over stock. Also about the alignment issue with this little amount his tires are wearing fine in the rear, do you think this little amount still warrants an alignment?? Thanks a bunch and appreciate any info or tips! Take Care! Trey

 

[Silver 03 Cobra]

I sent you a PM Trey. One other thing if you didn't catch it in my post below. Cut the bottom of the rear spring and set it in the lowest position on the spring perch.