Cutting shocks part 2

Garwin Beukes - Last week we emphasized on all the negatives of lowering your vehicle by cutting coil springs and why it's a terrible thing to do. That said, Namibians will never abandon the notion. So today we tackle the how to guide on safely attempting this trending evil.

First up, if you're attempting the act you'll need to know how to remove your car’s shocks to perform the cutting on your coil spring. Once that's done and the grinder's out, don’t start cutting just yet. A safe place to start is by measuring how much you want to lower the vehicle. Then cut half that measurement off the length of the springs and reinstall them.

Then take her for a quick and fast drive, to get the springs well worked and seated properly. Now check your ride’s height.

REMEMBER YOUR SHOCKS TAKE TIME TO SETTLE. IT WILL GET LOWER AFTER SOME TIME!

If the car is still too high, repeat step one until you get the look you want.

Remember - you can always take more off, but you can never make them longer.

We limit the amount of lowering to two inches maximum - as a vehicle that has been lowered, the amount of travel left in the suspension before there is metal to metal contact, is reduced. Too much lowering can cause other parts of the vehicle to hit each other, and this would be a bad thing. So we stick to two inches at most to avoid this problem.

If cutting is the root you have opted for, be very sure that you cut exactly the same amount out of each spring.

Cutting off too much can and will be a nuisance (trust me).

I personally have (way back) owned four different cars that had their Coil-springs cut - here are a few extremes that you will face if you cut off to much - all of these depending on the distance between your bumper and the road as well as the distance between the tyre and the body.

• Can’t transport more than two middle sized people otherwise your car will scrape or the body brushes against the tires.
• Can’t make sharp turns because tyre rubs against body.
• Can’t properly go over a speed hump (especially in Swakopmund).
• Can’t enter a road that has an immediate steep uphill or Downhill.
• Will have to re-spray your front bumper every now and then.
• Can't drive in Rehoboth.

Best method will always be to buy original drop springs, if that still sits to high opt for adjustable coil-overs.

Next week we tackle the different (legit and safer) methods of lowering the height of your vehicle.