Cutting Coil Springs

[EBottema]

Hey Guys-



Okay, here is my dilemma. I've got a 82 Mercedes 300TD wagon 5cyl turbo diesel. These vehicles were equipt with a rear coil spring suspension and a hydraulic shock that raised the vehicle approx 2 inches upon start up. This is called a SLS suspension made of a pump on the engine, a huge reservoir bottle, 2 steel lines running to the rear of the car, 2 remote reservoirs, a accumulator/sensor and two hydraulic shocks. Estimated cost to replace whole system is over 2k in parts and the whole setup is an overcomplicated worthless joke. I got a perfect taller coil that will fit the car and i installed them with shocks. Car is too tall, rides great and everything is perfect other than height. I looked in the spring spec book and there are no other out of the box springs that are correct width that are short enough. So im at the point of getting custom springs made (too much $$) especially when the new ones i put on are perfect but too tall. I've never cut a coil spring before, how bad of an idea is this? I know you need to keep heat away from coils obviously. Any tips on best way to cut? The bottom of the spring is square end and top is tangengal (sp?) and the square bottom is not stacked so cutting one full coil off should get me approx 2 inches lower (what im looking for)... . what do you guys think?



erik

 

[nickleinonen]

if you do cut springs, a cut off grinder is the best choice, and with a bucket of cold water, cut some of the spring, and dunk the cut in water, then cut some more and dunk it... keep doing so until it is cut off... i have had to cut coils with a torch before also, and when i did that, i had a barrel of cold water that we stuck the spring inside of, with just the part of the spring being removed showing, and quickly snipped it off and let the coil drop into the water after to cool it down...

 

[GAmes]

Do not cut the full coil off all at once, I did that on my 67 chev p/u and then couldn't get the floor jack out from under the frame. The spring collapse rate changes with height. I used a metal cutting blade on my skil saw.

 

[EBottema]

I plan on taking the entire spring out and cutting it on the bench. How much stiffer was your ride cutting the coils on that truck? Can you give me an idea how much you actually cut off



thanks

erik

 

[JayWm]

Depending on the total length of the spring and how many coils it consists of, I'd say that taking 2 inches off is gonna really screw up the spring rate. I think you'll find that its going to be way too stiff.



I am an alignment tech and every vehicle I've ever worked on that has had cut coils rode like crap and the owners were never happy with the outcome. Keep in mind that if someone came to my shop and asked us to cut the springs we would not do it. I usually see this being down by those that want to lower a vehicle without spending the money for a proper drop kit. In your case, I don't know what else to tell ya other than I think you'll be unhappy with the results. Can you find a slightly shorter spring and then create a spacer to get the correct ride height?



Jay

 

[GAmes]

I'd say the ride is a little softer, and alignment wasn't difficult... ... . which doesn't matter to you I guess. I'd recommend taking off about a quarter circle at a time until you get the result you are looking for. To do mine I had to pop out the lower ball joint to get the spring out, I have no idea how difficult it is to R&R yours.