aremann2

has any one ever tried spring clamps,seems like a lot less work and you have an infinite adjustment? don't know the pros and cons though.

Sonic05

I had thought about this, too. JCWhitney has them for $20. They fall under the "If it's too good to be true . . ."

They will not give you infinate adjustability. They would have to be installed in such a way as to completely compress the coils tight against each other. Otherwise, when the springs compressed going over a bump, the clamps would go loose, and suddenly your car would be higher in the air, and the people behind you would be needing new tires. :bang:

After reading this thread, cutting is the only way to go.

aremann2

I had thought about this, too. JCWhitney has them for $20. They fall under the "If it's too good to be true . . ."

They will not give you infinate adjustability. They would have to be installed in such a way as to completely compress the coils tight against each other. Otherwise, when the springs compressed going over a bump, the clamps would go loose, and suddenly your car would be higher in the air, and the people behind you would be needing new tires. :bang:


Sonic, good point on the infinate adjustability. Therefore I believe you would have to tighten them down completely to be safe

2005MustangGT

I'm not trying to say that cutting your springs is the easiest, simplist, cheapist way of lowering your car, but in actuallity it is.
-If you use coil spring compressors you will have to take the sping completely out of the vehicle as you would if you were to cut them...have you ever tried to compress just the outside of a coil spring???? your alignment is fugged up, beyond being able to re-align it....therefore not the easiest/simplest way of lowering a car
-also you are mentioning paying $20 to purchase these clamps, that means you are going to take the same rate of travel out of the spring as cutting it, (by compressing a coil to another coil, if you compress it on the outside of the spring and inside, which requires removal of the coil spring)....but not actually losing the same amount of wheel gap due to the spring's thickness....and you spent $20.....therefore the cutting is still the cheapest way b/c it doesn't cost a dime.
-Again, I'm not saying "do as I do", but my ways have been proven on every Mustang I've ever owned...hence the "ever owned" part, therefore I've sold other Mustangs w/ cut springs to other people who seemed to think they were fine also.
Maybe everyone here that owns Mustangs is just crazy w/ me....who knows?
-And oh yeah, by the way, Have anyone of you ever puchased anything from JCWhitney? They are the FleaMarket of car parts....JUNK!!!!
-Just my opinion, feel free to disagree w/ me.

acadian

I totally agree with you on JCWhitney. I got that same impression. On another note, I have had a slight change of heart. After looking at my car more (and maybe this is because I have 1" spacers on my wheels) it doesn't need to be lowered that much. I am thinking of instead of cutting one coil off the front and two off the rear, I will just cut one off the rear to level the car and drop the back about an inch. Also, I won't have to worry about taking off the front springs/struts and renting a compressor. This is one option for those of you not wanting to slam your car. And don't get me wrong... dropping the car almost two inches looks really good, but I am trying to take the easiest and cheapest route here. There are no auto parts stores in a 50 mile radius from me that rent spring compressors... I'd have to buy one for $35. But just dropping the back might actually work better for me. John, do you see any problems with just cutting one coil of the rear springs?

Maul_Piagua

Man you should have been there last night I was practicing my supershifting all night and let me tell you I was nailing those gears!!!!! :drive:

2005MustangGT

Hopefully one coil will level it out, couldn't tell you for certain.

gtstang

wow.. well it does look pretty nice.. hope there isnt any problems

acadian

And this may sound like a stupid question... but will I still need to get an alignment if I don't touch the front springs?

aremann2

acadian, I also only want to lower the rear to level the car out.


2005gt, I agree with everything you have said. I have never used these clamps before. I just wanted some opinions on them.Thanks for your response.I also didn't realize you still had to take the springs out of the car to use them!

2005MustangGT

I wouldn't think you would have to get an alignment if you lower the rear, It would be just like you had 2 fat chicks in the back seats...LOL
-aremann2-I wasn't trying to be an a-hole, but I use to work at an auto parts store, and we "sold" alot of them to people wanting to do the same thing, and we "refunded" alot of them as well. They aren't as easy as they are advertised to be.

acadian

LOL... that is true. But, without all that weight. I'll do this Saturday and post some pics Saturday afternoon for anyone who is interested in seeing before/after pics with just one coil cut off the back springs.

2005MustangGT

sounds good, I just hope that one coil is the perfect amount, and the rear doesn't look like it is sagging.
You might want to start w/ 1/2 a coil and drive it around a little.
I'm not 100% sure, but mine seems to have settled some since cutting them...but that is probably b/c I cut off 2 coils...who knows? Good Luck.

05SatinGT

Acadian, I was thinking the same thing. One coil off the rear only. Can't wait to
see your pics. Is a spring compressor necessary for the rear only? I was thinking
of simply supporting the axle, disconencting the shock / swaybar and gently lowering the axle (one side at a time) to unload the spring. What do you guys think?

2005MustangGT

there is no need for a spring compressor on the rear, just the front.

acadian

Yeah, that's the good thing about only doing the rear. You don't get it as low as you might want it, but no need for a compressor or alignment and takes a quarter of the time. And Bucky... I know with the front you had to cut off exactly one coil, but with the back, you can basically cut off as much as you want, right? You said half a coil, so I don't have to make sure I cut it at a certain spot?

2005MustangGT

Yeah, on the rear you can cut it off in any increment...1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 3/7ths and so on...The front is the only one that has to be a complete coil...at least I think the front has to be a complete coil....I know it sat funny w/ just 1/2 taken off, but maybe there is still a way to postion it w/ only 1/2 in the front.

acadian

I got off early from work today and had the time so I went ahead and cut my rear springs today. I took off exactly one coil off the top of the rear springs. I was going to just do a half and see, but the first spring is smaller and I thought cutting one coil off might not have even been enough. But it ended up being perfect. Exactly 3/4" lower in the rear now. And what's even better is I got lucky and now the amount of space between the top of the tire and the wheel well is exactly the same front and rear. So, for anyone else who wants to only cut the back springs, cut off exactly one coil off the tops of the rear springs and it will be perfect. It's dark now, so I will post pics tomorrow late morning/early afternoon.

2005MustangGT

sweet, can't wait to see the pics.

acadian

I took the pictures earlier today but my digital camera card reader was fried. I got a new one tonight and was finally able to upload the pics. I completely forgot to get a good before picture yesterday because I was in a rush to do the springs before I picked my wife up from work, but here are a few after pics. I cut off exactly one coil off the tops of the rear springs. It's very subtle but the rear is dropped exactly 3/4" and the car is now leveled out. I think it was definitely worth the hour and a half I spent. And it only took me that long because I don't have jack stands and had to put the rear on blocks, used the stock jack, and I only had a cheap dremel tool with cut-off wheels that broke throughout cutting the springs. You can't really tell a difference in the ride because it's so little. The ride might be a little stiffer, but it's very hard to tell. As far as handling, there is a little less roll when making tight turns. Very little, but I can definitely tell the difference. During hard exceleration, there is not quite as much drag on the rear. Overall, I am pleased, especially with the look with the car now being level.

Edit: And keep in mind when looking at the pics that I have 1" wheel spacers on the rear wheels only.