suspension question...

[SiR EG2]

what do yall think about cuttin aftermarket springs to increase drop? i dont wanna get coilovers because they are too boucy. i know that cutting springs are ghetto and cheap, but its definately performance < looks

[khaxnguyen]

cutting springs is worthless, get suspesion designed to go as low as you want. and bouncyness? well your gonna bounce no matter what if your gonna go cheap on your suspension lol

[seanrg1116]

Dont do it! it will competly compromise the integrity of the springs and they will ride like ****. just get some cheap ass coil overs or springs to go lower. or put some bags on it

[MR.EM1]

im riding on stock springs that were cut...its bounces FOR SURE but not as bad as you think...just cut em you never know till you do.

[mocha latte cupcake]

first: cutting your springs b/c you want to achieve a "lower" ride height is pointless and cheap, and you deserve to be laughed @ unless you have NO OTHER POSSIBLE CHOICE!

second: coilovers as in a Pair set IE: TEIN, JIC, HKS, will NOT bounce, b/c they are paired with a strut with the correct valving and spring rates to keep the ride "comfortable or able to achieve the desired affect by the manufactuer"

third: CHEAP coilovers aka Johnny racer OR even a decent coil over on a crappy strut will bounce you more than angelina jolies tities on a 4 wheeler on a dirt road. so save yourself the trouble stop taking the cheap way out and spend the extra 200 bucks on something that will last ALOT longer and give you what your really looking for

[isa2o3]

first: cutting your springs b/c you want to achieve a "lower" ride height is pointless and cheap, and you deserve to be laughed @ unless you have NO OTHER POSSIBLE CHOICE!

second: coilovers as in a Pair set IE: TEIN, JIC, HKS, will NOT bounce, b/c they are paired with a strut with the correct valving and spring rates to keep the ride "comfortable or able to achieve the desired affect by the manufactuer"

third: CHEAP coilovers aka Johnny racer OR even a decent coil over on a crappy strut will bounce you more than angelina jolies tities on a 4 wheeler on a dirt road. so save yourself the trouble stop taking the cheap way out and spend the extra 200 bucks on something that will last ALOT longer and give you what your really looking for

lol true. you forgot to put kyb. i got kyb and they my car never bounces.

[ash7]

I have done (and have ridden on) all things mentioned in this post thus far...

From experience i can say don't pinch a penny on suspension, it's more important than your engine by a long shot.

-jonathan

[BB1_Luda]

Ground Control Coilover Springs + KYB AGX gas shocks =

Function
Form

Do it once
Do it right

[suprapower]

why would you cut your springs?

[MR.EM1]

why not?

[Zeeb]

Its gay and makes your ride handle like poop. Coil overs ftw. Dont be a ricer.

[Zeeb]

I have done (and have ridden on) all things mentioned in this post thus far...

From experience i can say don't pinch a penny on suspension, it's more important than your engine by a long shot.

-jonathan

I agree on that, Suspension an braking to me comes first before engine work.

[mocha latte cupcake]

because that makes you a ricer... and your ride will handle very harsh if not like complete trash

[Truegiant]

because that makes you a ricer... and your ride will handle very harsh if not like complete trash

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate. Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected. There are several race car teams that will have the same spring rate but with a diff. height to acheive certain handling characteristics. Now with that being said most of the aftermarket springs available for the civic chassis are not a standard rate spring. There progressive. Cutting them will change the spring rate and height. Anywho.. i could go into further detail about this information but that is just a basic.

[Truegiant]

oh and now the flood of " i cut my springs and the ride sucked so your full of shiit" comments.. If you cut 3" of ride height the spring rate is going to be the same but the spring will bottom out because there are not enough coils to sustain the static weight on each corner of the car. blah blah blah

[Revmaynard]

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate. Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected. There are several race car teams that will have the same spring rate but with a diff. height to acheive certain handling characteristics. Now with that being said most of the aftermarket springs available for the civic chassis are not a standard rate spring. There progressive. Cutting them will change the spring rate and height. Anywho.. i could go into further detail about this information but that is just a basic.

This guy is talking about cutting his springs to save money, he's not going to have a camber kit! As far as a good riding DD I say go with coilovers or springs. I've been in a car with cut springs and it literally hurt to ride in it.

[mocha latte cupcake]

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate. Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected. There are several race car teams that will have the same spring rate but with a diff. height to acheive certain handling characteristics. Now with that being said most of the aftermarket springs available for the civic chassis are not a standard rate spring. There progressive. Cutting them will change the spring rate and height. Anywho.. i could go into further detail about this information but that is just a basic.

truly thank you... i was so unaware..however i have been doing this long enough and ridden in enough rice tastic spring cut cars to know how i feel about cars with cut springs... not to mention i've cut a few for friends... progressive gets stiffer as you go down...Remembering the principle, 'the less coils in a spring, the higher the spring rate' let the bouncing begin on your every day road...

[Truegiant]

oh i forgot to mention that i was by no way condoning cutting stock springs on a civic. because most of the time people stick with the stock struts, blow them out, and that is what causes the bouncing. because the strut cannot equal out the oscillations from the spring. anywho..

[ash7]

Everyone bow down to TrueGiant, the Creator of the "smarter than everyone else in this thread, especially when it comes to understanding basic suspension theory" post. arrogance ftl

-jonathan

[b16ftw]

wow maybe ebay coilovers are bouncy. but if you got yourself a decent set of coilovers like tein or buddy club, it would likely be smoother than what you have now.. however, if you're looking to save yourself some money i was very satisfied with my skunk 2 coilovers. i wouldn't cut my aftermarket springs because when i bought my civic it was riding on some neuspeed springs that had been cut and it wasn't the best ride. skunk 2 coilovers fixed my problem.

http://jhpusa.com/

good stuff always.

[Kaiser]

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate. Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected. There are several race car teams that will have the same spring rate but with a diff. height to acheive certain handling characteristics. Now with that being said most of the aftermarket springs available for the civic chassis are not a standard rate spring. There progressive. Cutting them will change the spring rate and height. Anywho.. i could go into further detail about this information but that is just a basic.

Please stop posting on GenTech. Please. You have absolutely zero knowledge of even how a spring-shock combination works, do you?

Here's the basic idea: The weight of a body is placed on a spring, which given a certain strength, compresses based on the weight applied to it. The body placed on the spring, travelling on a flat surface with no acceleration, does not move. If forced to expand or contract however, the spring will act as a spring and expand and contract, typically over-exagerating the fluctuation in an attempt to keep the wheel beneath the body as close to the ground as possible, and while trying to stabilize the weight of the body.

Typically this unregulated expansion and contraction would cause a car to bounce and shake horribly as the body travels over an uneven surface. Thus struts and shocks were born. Both of these work in essentially the same way to minimize the amount of unneccessary travel by springs as the car traverses uneven pavement. The struts/shocks do not actually do the job of supporting the weight of the vehicle but instead control the speed at which the springs contract and expand. Struts and shocks have to be calibrated for a certain size spring, as a different size spring has a different length to travel for compression. A shock sitting partially compressed because of a shortened spring will also have issues functioning as designed, because the situation is obviously different. Essentially the shock is treated the same way as if the car was overloaded, leading to less control over the spring movement and lots of wear and tear on shocks.

The cliffnotes version of this is: Spring rate really has very to do with how bouncy the car's ride is or isn't. That's the job of the shock absorber/strut. If the spring is mismatched to the shock/strut, then you will have problems with your ride comfort and handling. Period. End of story. This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks. Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup. The problem is usually that people don't bother to actually adjust their shock settings.

[yudalicious]

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate.

wrong. one of the things that affects a spring's rate is the # of coils. cutting a spring changes this, and changes the rate. this applies to linear springs as well.

Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected.

I too, am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. This post particularly.

[yudalicious]

The cliffnotes version of this is: Spring rate really has very to do with how bouncy the car's ride is or isn't. That's the job of the shock absorber/strut. If the spring is mismatched to the shock/strut, then you will have problems with your ride comfort and handling. Period. End of story. This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks. Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup. The problem is usually that people don't bother to actually adjust their shock settings.

Not disagreeing, just thought I'd point out, this matching shock to springs thing, it's overrated imo. In general this is true, but its also somewhat of an art and there's some gray. more important, imo, is finding quality dampers that do the job you're looking for.

[RL...]

Anyways....Cutting springs is definitely not the way to go. Period. And if you can't afford to mod a civic..then that is bad...considering parts for civics are the cheapest, most readily available, and tried and tested...

[Truegiant]

Everyone bow down to TrueGiant, the Creator of the "smarter than everyone else in this thread, especially when it comes to understanding basic suspension theory" post. arrogance ftl

-jonathan

wow.. thanks for pointing out that i was just trying to give input about cutting factory springs. I probably should have elaborated on what i posted a little better. But there are so many misconceptions about cutting springs and coil springs in general. i would be more than happy to pull out my engineering books from class and take it to the basics.

[Truegiant]

Please stop posting on GenTech. Please. You have absolutely zero knowledge of even how a spring-shock combination works, do you?

The weight of a body is placed on a spring, which given a certain strength, compresses based on the weight applied to it.

This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks.

Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup.

Wow.. you know how to state the obvious dont you. Most of your entire post is filled full of bull****!

And I dont agree with your last statement. Explain to me why most race teams dont use a single unit system. oh yeah thats right.. because they need more versatility with the diff tracks. If you wish to discuss suspension geometry further, feel free to pm me. We can swap stories, theory, and the like. I will discuss my experience with the 4 race teams i have worked with, the race school i attended, and my engineering exp. from college and practical application. thanks.