Is it possible to cut off spring perch and welding lower to lower the car?

[datsun280zx]

So i was bored in class and i thought of how there the coil sleeves ( cutting perch welding sleeve) and i thought is it possible to just cut the perch off and weld it closer to the bottom mount in turn lowering the car? Just an idea not saying im gonna do this, unless it works lol

[Dan Juday]

Sure. That's kind of how coilover kits work (excepting for spring length and rate). Keep in mind that the lower you go the more travel you lose. This is why we section strut tubes when we want to go lower than an inch or so.

 

Getto coilovers! As long as you don't go too far it's a better low-buck way of lowering your car than cutting off coils.

 

EDIT: Just so I don't get called on the carpet, anytime you lower a strut suspension you change static caster and camber angles. Small changes shouldn't cause you any problems though IMHO.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Dan Juday

[Leon]

Sure. That's kind of how coilover kits work (excepting for spring length and rate). Keep in mind that the lower you go the more travel you lose. This is why we section strut tubes when we want to go lower than an inch or so.

 

Getto coilovers! As long as you don't go too far it's a better low-buck way of lowering your car than cutting off coils.

 

EDIT: Just so I don't get called on the carpet, anytime you lower a strut suspension you change static caster and camber angles. Small changes shouldn't cause you any problems though IMHO.

 

I don't see how you lose suspension travel when you cut below the perch and weld it on lower. Explain?

 

You would lose ground clearance, yes, but suspension travel does not change. The relative distance between the strut tube top and the shock mount stay the same. The difference between coilovers and this is that there is no height adjustment. You also need to think about spring (and damper) selection because you'll likely need stiffer springs depending on how much ground clearance you decide to eliminate.

 

BTW, struts are typically sectioned when a shorter spring takes away too much bump travel.

Edited January 19, 2011 by Leon

[RTz]

I don't see how you lose suspension travel when you cut below the perch and weld it on lower. Explain?

 

 

If you lower the bottom perch, and use the same spring, the car will sit lower, agreed? The car is now lower and so is the upper perch/isolator/bump stop. The top of the gland nut remains at the same height, but now sits closer to the bump stop. That equates to less bump travel. Total travel hasn't changed. You are trading bump for droop.

[Snailed]

I don't see how you lose suspension travel when you cut below the perch and weld it on lower. Explain?

 

You would lose ground clearance, yes, but suspension travel does not change. The relative distance between the strut tube top and the shock mount stay the same. The difference between coilovers and this is that there is no height adjustment. You also need to think about spring (and damper) selection because you'll likely need stiffer springs depending on how much ground clearance you decide to eliminate.

 

BTW, struts are typically sectioned when a shorter spring takes away too much bump travel.

 

You're missing the basics here.

 

Think about what would happen if you removed the spring entirely. You loose ALL your travel, right? Lowering the spring perch, regardless of spring length, uses up compression travel. That is why people section struts, not becasue the springs might be shorter. You could put longer then stock springs on and lower the car 4 inches if the perch can move up and down.

[ozzzzz]

You're missing the basics here.

 

Think about what would happen if you removed the spring entirely. You loose ALL your travel, right? Lowering the spring perch, regardless of spring length, uses up compression travel. That is why people section struts, not becasue the springs might be shorter. You could put longer then stock springs on and lower the car 4 inches if the perch can move up and down.

 

Snailed is right. You will loose travel by lowering the spring perch. Think about it. The compressed spring length is not changed. The lower part of the strut is still the same length. That leaves the distance between the strut packing gland nut and the top spring perch.This is now shortened and in doing so you loose travel.

[datsun280zx]

Well if i decided to do this it would maybe be 1.5" and im not too worried about the travel. This would only be a temporary thing until i get a job to get some coilovers

[RTz]

im not too worried about the travel.

 

Maybe you should be. It's a performance oriented car and this is a performance oriented forum. Your car will handle better at stock height with the stock springs.

[Leon]

I don't see how you lose suspension travel when you cut below the perch and weld it on lower.

 

This is what I was assuming he meant. Obviously, you will lose bump travel if you cut the perch off and weld it in lower. What I was thinking was that he wanted to cut below the perch and drop the perch along with the gland packing nut threads. Although now I realize that is exactly what strut sectioning is. The shocks have to be shorter in this case, but this is well documented.

 

For some reason my interpretation of what he was talking about was that he wanted to section the struts without me realizing that I'm talking about sectioning struts.

 

Misunderstanding on my part, carry on.