The wheel gap on my 86GT is huge. I looked at the rear springs and it looks like they are large diameter at the top and small diameter at the bottom. I am hesitant to cut the springs because sometimes cut springs make the car ride bouncy and rough. I'm thinking that the larger diameter coils at the top give a soft ride and the small diameter at the bottom give a stiff ride. If I cut one or 2 of the small diameter coils at the bottom, my ride should NOT be bouncy and stiff. Would this be right ? Anyone done this and know For Sure ?

Go to town on the fronts, but get lowering springs or a coilover conversion for the rears. I've seen people cut the rears on a rare occurrence, maybe someone who has done it will chime in if there is a method that works.

The reason for the bouncy ride is because most people do not change/ used properly valved shocks/ struts with the new setup.

[This message has been edited by nitroheadz28 (edited 11-11-2012).]

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: I looked at the rear springs and it looks like they are large diameter at the top and small diameter at the bottom. If I cut one or 2 of the small diameter coils at the bottom...

I'm pretty sure if you tried that you'd find that the bottom of the springs would no longer fit their perch on the struts. The bottom coils would now be the wrong diameter.

I cut two coils off the top of the front and rear springs on my '84. I have Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks/struts and an added rear sway bar. There is no jouncing or bouncing. The ride is definitely stiffer (no getting away from that), and the car handles great. However...

I wouldn't do this with the rear springs again. The problem is that the top of the rear springs are normally "flat". With coils cut off, the top of the spring now has the end of the cut coil protruding. It therefore doesn't quite sit the same way in the "hat" or whatever it's called. This results in occasional weird noises coming from the rear end as the springs flex and rub on the edge of the "hats". It's not unbearable, but proper lowering springs or better yet, adjustable coil-overs in the rear would be much superior.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-11-2012).]

I've got an 86 SE and for now just cut one coil off the rear, I still need to rebuild the front suspension and will cut 2 off... Cut only the top coil off the rear, never the bottom... It was a little weird getting them to sit right as mentiond above but I have never heard and squeaks or anything of the such... It looks awesome now, perfect! It rides a little stiffer but doesn't bottom out or anything, I highly reccomend it! I just used a cutting wheel, check out my thread for pics

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86 Fiero GTX project now tearing up the street, My build thread! 3800sc, interior, wheels, suspension and more! https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089483.html

One word "don't"
Unless you want to be in the same class as the bouncy ricer hondas that have crooked wheels.
There are so many reasons not to, and only one to do it, being cheap.

quote Originally posted by sardonyx247: One word "don't" Unless you want to be in the same class as the bouncy ricer hondas that have crooked wheels. There are so many reasons not to, and only one to do it, being cheap.

Cutting 1 coil isn't going to ride the bump stops, on the front you can lower the stop... An alignment solves the crooked wheels... Cutting coils has been around forever in racing... Looks better, handles better.

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86 Fiero GTX project now tearing up the street, My build thread! 3800sc, interior, wheels, suspension and more! https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089483.html

I just cut one coil off rear springs for my '86. I have a few sets of stock springs laying around so I thought I'd try to cut one set to see what happens. I have monroe sensatrac struts.

One coil off lowered it about one inch. With the suspension fully extended the spring is still tight (ie: it won't fall out of the top hat). It's not as tight as the full length spring but I don't see any problems. I think once more than a coil is cut off the spring may start to be loose when you jack the car up.

The ride may be a bit stiffer but it's hard to tell. When I took it for a drive my car never exploded and the wheels never flew off into oncoming traffic. Going around corners - you guessed it - the car went around the corner. I didn't notice any poor handling characteristics.

My $0.02 Canadian.

I cut my springs and have a less bouncy ride than stock, because I have konis on all corners. Bouncy is a result of soft dampers with regard to spring rate. Weather you buy aftermarket stiff springs or cut your own, you will need higher resistant dampers to control the spring. I had intrax springs with KYBs and this resulted in excessive bounce and unpredictable handling compared to my current set up.

Point is, done correctly, cutting your springs works great. Just make sure you get a damper up to the task. In my experience, if you increase your spring rate (ie cut springs or lowering springs) everything besides konis is a waste of money.

[This message has been edited by LZeppelin513 (edited 11-12-2012).]

I have new GM Delco shocks and stuts. I guess maybe only the rear springs are progressive (?) and the front are not [so the rear have large coils on top and small on the bottom - the front coils are the same size]. On the rear, did you guys cut the larger top coils or the smaller ones on the bottom ?

I'm about ready to cut off (1) of the smaller coils on the bottom - i sure don't want a bouncy or stiff ride though (?)

quote Originally posted by IanT720: Cutting 1 coil isn't going to ride the bump stops, on the front you can lower the stop... An alignment solves the crooked wheels... Cutting coils has been around forever in racing... Looks better, handles better.

No, but if you look at any spring, you'll see that the end turns have a shallower angle & the ends are often ground perfectly flat. This is done to spread out the spring's force over the widest possible area. Cutting turns, even if you grind the end flat again, puts all of the springs force on a smaller area of the seat. This WILL cause accellerated wear, enough to cause failure in extreme cases. It also concentrates the stresses in the spring wire, which could lead to catastrophic failure. Breakage will most likely occur at the worst possible moment, too.

Racing is different than street driving in that the components undergo very frequent inspection, so any unusual wear would be noticed before it become a serios problem.

I am a tool & die maker, & dies use a lot of springs. We occasionally have to cut springs for emergency repairs, but we always replace them with proper units at the earliest opportunity, because we know that they don't last.

Personally, I would never allow a cut suspension spring in my car...it's too likely to fail just when I need it the most.

[This message has been edited by Tekwiz (edited 11-12-2012).]

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: I'm about ready to cut off (1) of the smaller coils on the bottom...

Did you not read my post?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I'm pretty sure if you tried that you'd find that the bottom of the (rear) springs would no longer fit their perch on the struts. The bottom coils would now be the wrong diameter.

Three different Fiero rear springs. Take a look at the bottom coil on each spring. Do you think if you cut a coil off the bottom that the spring is still going sit correctly within the strut? Not a chance.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-12-2012).]

Cut only from the top on the rear, that's the only way it will work, it will also be stiffer sice your cutting off the soft coil.... I'm running KYB's and mine are nice and tight, no problems... Koni's are kinda overkill but I would love them!

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86 Fiero GTX project now tearing up the street, My build thread! 3800sc, interior, wheels, suspension and more! https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089483.html

quote Originally posted by LZeppelin513: I cut my springs and have a less bouncy ride than stock, because I have konis on all corners. Bouncy is a result of soft dampers with regard to spring rate. Weather you buy aftermarket stiff springs or cut your own, you will need higher resistant dampers to control the spring. I had intrax springs with KYBs and this resulted in excessive bounce and unpredictable handling compared to my current set up. Point is, done correctly, cutting your springs works great. Just make sure you get a damper up to the task. In my experience, if you increase your spring rate (ie cut springs or lowering springs) everything besides konis is a waste of money.

So you can afford Koni's all around but can't afford lowering springs?

PaulJK, just do it right and get lowering springs. Don't be cheap.
If you are going to be cheap, get lowering springs. Otherwise when you wear and/or break other stuff it will cost more.

quote Originally posted by Tekwiz: No, but if you look at any spring, you'll see that the end turns have a shallower angle & the ends are often ground perfectly flat. This is done to spread out the spring's force over the widest possible area. Cutting turns, even if you grind the end flat again, puts all of the springs force on a smaller area of the seat. This WILL cause accellerated wear, enough to cause failure in extreme cases. It also concentrates the stresses in the spring wire, which could lead to catastrophic failure. Breakage will most likely occur at the worst possible moment, too.

I just had another look at some stock springs I have in my garage. The ends are not ground flat. The final coil does have a bit of a shallower angle but looking at the one coil cut springs I tried in my car the "new" top coil collapses down on top of the coil below it. Just like the stock full length one does. I'm not trying to argue I am actually trying this to see what all the past arguments have been about.
When you say accelerated wear what exactly are you talking about? The seat? The spring? From what I am seeing actually on the car I can't figure where the problem would be. I can see if you cut off a large number of coils where they are spread out further it would cause problems.
thanks for any insight.

I've cut the springs on my 86gt.
1 in the front is a small improvement.
1 1/2 is a nice middle of the road drop.
2 is really low
3 is damn near on the ground and you have to lose the inner fender liners with stock wheels and tires.

You can cut any increment on the front and turn the top rubber perch accordingly.

No more than one on the top of the rear springs will sit nice.

2 coils cut (86GT, engine removed, nevermind the rake)

2 coils cut (88GT, 17" Scion TC rims)

This is 3 in front, stock rear. (86SE w/3" chop)


I can post more pics if needed.

Paul, Please use a cutoff wheel if you go this route, or a hacksaw if you want to get a good workout. Torching them will ruin your day. (they will turn brittle)

cutting coils is a "proceed at your own risk", but I've been doing it for decades without one failure.

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11 Camaro SS/RS
88 Formula CJB 5 Speed
86 Fiero GT 4.9 Auto
84 Fiero V6 4 speed
00 Silverado RCSB 4X4
08 Suburban Z71
09 Avalanche LT3

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: i'm sure i could fly a plane no problem.

I cut 1.5 coils all the way areound and don't regret it. Mine rides pretty decent. It's not as soft as factory but not bad at all.