How low is too low?

[kevin.poe]

Using HD coils and wagon coils works better since they make up for the spring rate difference of the lost turn on the coil by cutting it off.

Cutting a turn off of a coil spring increases it's spring rate by decreasing the number of active coils.

spring rate =
11,250,000 pounds/inch^2 X wire diameter^4
--------------------------------------------------------------------
8 X number of active coils X mean coil diameter^3

Kevin Poe

[Mike J]

Ira ~ my car is pretty darn low (I'll measure for you Phil, but I think we're pretty close) and I have cut my coils 2 in front and 1.5 in the rear. I wouldn't go any lower then this on the street.

Tony, my spring won't come out at full lift front or rear, but I do know what you mean. I try to avoid any large pot holes.

[Corvair95crazy]

To bad your not near me Ira, I have a extra column left over. And drop spindels are aftermarket.

Hello, new to this site. Drop Spindles for an F C. I am Very interested. let me know more Please. Also I believe I have the Lowest F C for now. We'll see.

[Vanman]

Is there a difference between a fc and a cars front suspension? Im still pretty new to Vairs and have never seen a car underside.

Hey 95 nice to have ya, post a intro and some pics (mostly cause I want to see pics). Then post your measurments up here viewtopic.php?f=169&t=422

[Mike J]

Ha Phil, I'm 49 inches from the deck ... new tires are over 1" taller too. Very close man. lol.

[Ira]

Okay so to get this car immediately on the street I thought I would just use the stock 13" wheels; I have all of the components to fully rebuild the drums and I've got the 13s in the shed.

Anyhow I'm planning on cutting the fronts springs 1.5 and the rears 1 as previously discussed....

Tire selection in a 13 seems to be limited, but I figure I can run a 185 or 195-60-13.

Next year I'll fit the car with 15" Torq Thrust Ds, but for now the 13s will work while I get the body and paint work completed.

So 13s and a 1.5 coil chop on the front... anyone foresee problems here?

Ira

[flat6_musik]

I have 2 coils cut off my corsa. I tried just one, but it seemed like it did almost nothing. I don't think the ride is too terrible either. But yeah, it's a little unnerving to hit HUGE bumps and have the spring come unloaded, but not too big a deal to me.

[CobraJet]

I like the idea of using S10 parts as it makes it easier to find replacements for things like disks and pads etc.

Since this thread is called "How low it too low", just how much ground clearance are we talking about for a street car? I've read about the roof heights, but what about ground-undercarrage? How low can one go and still have enough ground clearance to be practical to drive around on the street without bottoming out?

[4carbcorvair]

Depends on where you drive. If you are in an area that is pretty level/smooth, drop'er to the ground. If you live in a place like here, where a pot hole or frost heave will swallow a small car......

[Jason R]

I know the feeling of havving your car swallowed....I think really low is bleh but something a lil lower than stock is good around me

[azdave]

I want to keep the stock look to my 66 vert but I didn't like the nose-high attitude with the original stock springs so I chopped off one coil last weekend.

I cheated a little and did it while the springs were still installed. Nothing a Dremel tool, heavy gloves and safety goggles couldn't handle. A few cut-off discs were consumed in the process and nothing scary happened during the work.

With the wheels hanging and the front fully supported on jack stands I first cut the spring exactly at one coil so there was no way the cut coil could leave the area under force since the shock tube would prevent it from escaping . After the spring popped and lowered I then cut the scrap coil into thirds so I could get it out past the suspension easily using a few prybars to wiggle them out. It took me about 1.5 hours total to do the job.

Now it sits completely level and looks so much better. With just dropping one coil I can't tell a difference in the ride quaility and I doubt I will ever carry anything heavy enough in the front to make much difference with only one coil gone. In the near future I am rebuilding the front suspension and will have it all dialed in.

Before...

After...

[Motornoggin]

I cut 1 1/4 coil on my Corsa and I can't tell a difference. It's quite a bit stiffer, but didn't lower it at all.

[azdave]

I cut 1 1/4 coil on my Corsa and I can't tell a difference. It's quite a bit stiffer, but didn't lower it at all.

You might not have noticed the drop but it had to have dropped some height. It's not possible to cut 1.25 coils and not lose some height. The only way you could cut out over a coil or more and not notice a difference is if the coils were completey collapsed already (and even they you would still drop the height of the coil wire diameter).

Since my last post in Aug 2010 I also dropped the front of my pure stock 66 Corsa coupe in the same way as the 66 red convertible above. It looks much better with one coil removed from the front.

[Motornoggin]

I cut 1 1/4 coil on my Corsa and I can't tell a difference. It's quite a bit stiffer, but didn't lower it at all.

You might not have noticed the drop but it had to have dropped some height. It's not possible to cut 1.25 coils and not lose some height. The only way you could cut out over a coil or more and not notice a difference is if the coils were completey collapsed already (and even they you would still drop the height of the coil wire diameter).

Since my last post in Aug 2010 I also dropped the front of my pure stock 66 Corsa coupe in the same way as the 66 red convertible above. It looks much better with one coil removed from the front.

It didn't lower it a noticable amount. Of course, I'm using my fingers as a gauge between the tire and fender lip and that's not the most accurate measure, but I sure thought it would lower it more. One thing is how stiff it is, I bet I have something binding up. It rides like it's on the stops.

[UNSAFE]

How low is too low?

Too low -

Too high -

3482460328_0f03c5b224.jpg (122.78 KiB) Viewed 6316 times

Just right -

[Motornoggin]

I figured out it was indeed binding. I replaced the shocks and the tube diameter of the new ones was large enough that it was binding on the shock tube. Still didn't lower it as much as I was expecting, so the springs are coming out for a bit more cutting. I think I'll end up with two coilt cut off total.