Cutting front coils

MikeG · Feb 19, 2016

I'm 2/4 now with drop spindles on the front. I want to go 4/6. How much do I need to cut off the stock springs to achieve the extra 2"

R/T_Fire · Feb 19, 2016

There is a lot more to do than just cut springs.. gotta look into swaybar endlinks length, bump stops, going to a 4/6 will pretty much lay the lower control arm against the bump stop/bumpstop bracket.

also if your going to cut the springs cut a little off at a time till you get the desired height while keeping in mind all the other things I mentioned and watching for clearance issues.

But honestly I wouldn't go just cutting that much off without a little planning and testing.

My other suggestion is remove the spring and shock completely and put the truck at ride height with jack stands and use a jack to "dry cycle" the suspension to the desired tire position and then jack it up more to see where it will impact other parts like inner fender bump stops etc etc.

My truck has a modified belltech to about a 3/5 and I get inner fender contact on the right side.

MikeG · Feb 19, 2016

Shouldn't be any clearance issues as I have the same clearance as stock. I'm using a spindle drop on my front with stock coils so taking 2" off the coil should give me the same clearance as 2" front drop coils

bgray · Feb 19, 2016

1/2 coil in the front means 1", so 1 full coil for 2".

In the rear you will have to completely remove bumpstop bracket, and the stock control arms will likely hit the frame first. also the axle will be at least 1" off centered

I lowered my 15 RT 4/6, rode like complete ******* and the rear end geometry was way off. Added spohn rear bars, and trim the front inner linner(285/45r22) to get it to work properly(still rode liek ****). But the rear arms will still bottom out of frame.

I was never happy with my 4/6, but it was on a RCSB, so a QC/CC will ride better

Hemi450hp · Feb 19, 2016

Like said, anything more than about 5.5" in the rear will require you to cut off the rear control arm mounts and have new ones built and welded to the axle. Otherwise, they will hit the frame when the suspension bottoms out. I would only go 3/5, and leave it at that. The lower you go, the worse it rides.

MikeG · Feb 19, 2016

My rear will be full air ride

R/T_Fire · Feb 19, 2016

MikeG said:
My rear will be full air ride

Bolt in or Custom fab system? the front you may be ok, I have drop coils not spindles so I don't know from experience the clearance issues.

But If it works out let me know as I'm thinking of picking up a set of 2" drop spindles and 1" lowering springs from crown for a 3" drop with closer to stock steering and a-arm geometry... but not sure if that will really work like it does in my mind

MikeG · Feb 19, 2016

I have a local race shop that will be building the rear with a true 4 link with bags. They want me to get the front down first so they can get all the geometry correct

charonblk07 · Feb 19, 2016

MikeG said:
I have a local race shop that will be building the rear with a true 4 link with bags. They want me to get the front down first so they can get all the geometry correct

If you're going with a custom 4-link in the rear then it's a lot easier for you. The front can be done with spindles and springs, you'll want to look at the upper BJ because it can be at a fairly steep angle and will be prone to failure. You'll also want to be able to adjust the camber because you'll be well out of spec but if the shop is already doing a custom 4-link you might be able to talk them into a set of adjustable front tubular UCAs and you can fix the caster angle at the same time for better performance.

For the spring/shock you can actually talk to QA1 because there's a set of their coil-overs that will fit into a 4" lowered 2wd and remove the factory shock-in-spring but you'd need to custom order them with the proper dimensions and required spring handling capacity, then you can tweak the front height as required. Your contact point will be the lower control arm and the bumpstop frame mount, this will need to be 'massaged' to give you more clearance.

Without completely redoing all the frame mounts in the front you can go down 5-5.5" but things are pretty tweaked out that low on factory parts.

PassivAggressor · Feb 21, 2016

charonblk07 said:
If you're going with a custom 4-link in the rear then it's a lot easier for you. The front can be done with spindles and springs, you'll want to look at the upper BJ because it can be at a fairly steep angle and will be prone to failure. You'll also want to be able to adjust the camber because you'll be well out of spec but if the shop is already doing a custom 4-link you might be able to talk them into a set of adjustable front tubular UCAs and you can fix the caster angle at the same time for better performance.

For the spring/shock you can actually talk to QA1 because there's a set of their coil-overs that will fit into a 4" lowered 2wd and remove the factory shock-in-spring but you'd need to custom order them with the proper dimensions and required spring handling capacity, then you can tweak the front height as required. Your contact point will be the lower control arm and the bumpstop frame mount, this will need to be 'massaged' to give you more clearance.

Without completely redoing all the frame mounts in the front you can go down 5-5.5" but things are pretty tweaked out that low on factory parts.

Do you happen to know the part number or have any other info about this coilover?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

charonblk07 · Feb 22, 2016

PassivAggressor said:
Do you happen to know the part number or have any other info about this coilover?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

The 502 GM Front coil-over should work on the 2wd trucks. The BT Street Performance shocks are a 19.75" and the QA1 502 is a 19.63". You'd need to call them and give them specific measurements from your ride height as well as weights to determine the appropriate springs but the 600 series springs should work, but again, depends on your front weights between RC, QC, and CC.

R/T_Fire · Feb 22, 2016

charonblk07 said:
The 502 GM Front coil-over should work on the 2wd trucks. The BT Street Performance shocks are a 19.75" and the QA1 502 is a 19.63". You'd need to call them and give them specific measurements from your ride height as well as weights to determine the appropriate springs but the 600 series springs should work, but again, depends on your front weights between RC, QC, and CC.

I may have to look into this, I was eye balling a set of coil overs by ridetech for a full size chevy sedan like the biscayne or 70-74 ebody , but need to verify with ridetech what lengths are available. Then it would require custom s-arms and mounting which isn't that hard to fab.

Here is what I was eye balling Coil-Overs :: Application Coil-Overs :: 70-74 E-Body - 4-Link Coil-Over System - TQ Series - RideTech.com - Suspension Specialist - Online Store

charonblk07 · Feb 22, 2016

R/T_Fire said:
I may have to look into this, I was eye balling a set of coil overs by ridetech for a full size chevy sedan like the biscayne or 70-74 ebody , but need to verify with ridetech what lengths are available. Then it would require custom s-arms and mounting which isn't that hard to fab.

Here is what I was eye balling Coil-Overs :: Application Coil-Overs :: 70-74 E-Body - 4-Link Coil-Over System - TQ Series - RideTech.com - Suspension Specialist - Online Store

That would be a lot more work than just bolting in a set of the 502s in place with the correct spring, and a lot more money. A full set of QA1 coil overs should run you $1,000 and if everything can be measured up properly for your ride height you can get everything you want out of the adjustability without needing to do custom work.

Now that I'm not rushing to crawl my tired ass into bed I looked more at the QA1 offering again and there's also some options in the QA1 Ultra Ride coil overs with more shock length options and the full spring selection.

R/T_Fire · Feb 22, 2016

charonblk07 said:
That would be a lot more work than just bolting in a set of the 502s in place with the correct spring, and a lot more money. A full set of QA1 coil overs should run you $1,000 and if everything can be measured up properly for your ride height you can get everything you want out of the adjustability without needing to do custom work.

Now that I'm not rushing to crawl my tired ass into bed I looked more at the QA1 offering again and there's also some options in the QA1 Ultra Ride coil overs with more shock length options and the full spring selection.

I'll still look into them, Those RideTech units are the fancy cadillac models. They also have a average set for $500-600ish. But I'm looking for more than just ride height and mild daily performance.
I'm looking for a Auto-X, Pro-Touring performance set up which is why I will be going the More work and cost route. I want to be able to adjust the camber easily. Its a little over the top but still the same general idea.

But I'll look into the QA1's also

charonblk07 · Feb 22, 2016

R/T_Fire said:
I'll still look into them, Those RideTech units are the fancy cadillac models. They also have a average set for $500-600ish. But I'm looking for more than just ride height and mild daily performance.
I'm looking for a Auto-X, Pro-Touring performance set up which is why I will be going the More work and cost route. I want to be able to adjust the camber easily. Its a little over the top but still the same general idea.

But I'll look into the QA1's also

QA1 has their quad adjustable with a range of sizes at $600 ea if you're looking for ultimate adjustability. The D4601 would be for a ~2" drop

R/T_Fire · Feb 22, 2016

charonblk07 said:
QA1 has their quad adjustable with a range of sizes at $600 ea if you're looking for ultimate adjustability. The D4601 would be for a ~2" drop

Sweet, I'll take a look at them.. Might do those in the real near future and build the arms later.

Silver express · Feb 23, 2016

2013 ram 3/5 drop

I was wondering if anyone has tried the air helper air bag kits that are suppose to go inside your coils for towing in the rear but Instead has anyone tried taking the gas shock out of the front of the coils an using these instead to get a better ride with possibly a little lift because my front end is alot lower than I planned it to be. it's tucking my 295/50/20s an ride isn't awful but it's not great either looking for a simpler salution without having to change tire size or get diff springs an start all over .

charonblk07 · Feb 23, 2016

Silver express said:
I was wondering if anyone has tried the air helper air bag kits that are suppose to go inside your coils for towing in the rear but Instead has anyone tried taking the gas shock out of the front of the coils an using these instead to get a better ride with possibly a little lift because my front end is alot lower than I planned it to be. it's tucking my 295/50/20s an ride isn't awful but it's not great either looking for a simpler salution without having to change tire size or get diff springs an start all over .

An air bag is not a shock, it does not have any significant damping ability. In the mini truck crowd some guys get rid of their shocks completely with some of the air kits (not using air over shocks) and you can always tell the trucks that have as they will porpoise down the road after hitting a bump.

Silver express · Feb 23, 2016

I wasn't planning on using as a spring but I know they help with bottoming out is why they use them with towing I was wanting to do the same in the front to keep my a arms from bottoming out all the time thought they might help.

charonblk07 · Feb 23, 2016

Silver express said:
I wasn't planning on using as a spring but I know they help with bottoming out is why they use them with towing I was wanting to do the same in the front to keep my a arms from bottoming out all the time thought they might help.

What I was getting at is you need the shock if you don't want to be bouncing up and down going down the road after hitting any kind of bump. It's a very bad idea to remove the shock to install a helper bag. You would actually be a good candidate to try the coilovers since you can adjust the ride height with them, just not on the fly like a complete air bag setup.

You could always go full front air with the control arms from Michigan Metal Works and you could tuck all you want.

Cutting front coils

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