Just got done cutting my stock springs and figured I’d do a writeup on it. I’ve received so much good info from these forums I felt I should give something back so here goes.
Front springs:
-First thing is to jack up both sides of the front and remove the tires. If you don’t jack up both sides you’ll have a hard time removing the ball joint connected to the struts.
-Next remove the bolt securing the brake line to the strut. Its behind the strut and number 1 in the picture.
-Then remove the two 18mm bolts at the bottom of the strut (number 2 in pic). Be careful because the rotor assembly will fall freely forward now pulling on the brake line. I secured mine up with a piece of bungie cable.
-Next remove the 18mm bolt connecting the ball joint to the strut(number 3 in pic).
This is how it should look now:
-Next you need to remove the 4 bolts holding the strut in place. Make sure to hold the strut in place when removing these bolts because it will fall freely from under the car when they are out.
-Remove the strut assembly and sit it on the ground.
-Now you will need to compress the spring with a Macpherson strut compressor. I had one but you can rent them for free from many auto parts stores.
-After its compressed remove the bolt at the top of the strut and remove the upper strut plate. Handle the upper strut plate with care because it can come apart easily and it will be a major pain to put all the bearings and stuff back together if it does. I learned the hard way.
-Take out the stock spring.
-Cut one coil from the BOTTOM of the stock spring. I used a dremel and it took about 3-4 mins to cut it off no problem.
-Put the cut spring back into the strut assembly but don’t put it at the stopper at the bottom. Put the end of the spring against the wall at the bottom of the spring perch that is a couple inches before the stop. Otherwise the spring will move when you are installing the upper strut plate and tightening the upper retaining nut. Sorry forgot to take a picture of this step.
-Install the upper strut plate and tighten the bolt. You wont need to compress the spring to get it back in. Just push down on the top of the strut plate and you should be able to get the bolt started.
-Install the strut back into the car.
-Install all the bolts you removed earlier in reverse order.
-Install the tire and that’s it. Repeat for the other side.
Backs:
-The backs are really a piece of cake compared to the fronts so I didn’t take pictures of it.
-Raise the car up and put it on jack stands.
-While on jack stands put a floor jack under the differential and remove the lower bolts from shocks and the lower sway bar bolt on both sides at the same time.
-Slowly lower the jack. The shocks should now be connected at the top only.
-Place a jack under the passenger side where the shock connected to and raise it up until the car is about to lift off the jack stand.
-You can now pull the spring out of the drivers side. The spring may need some coaxing with a pry bar but no big deal.
-Cut however much you want off the rear springs from the TOP. I cut off 1 ½ coils and it’s perfect to me. The back is about ½” higher then the front with 1 ½ coils and that’s what I wanted. 2 coils off should make it even.
-Install the cut spring back into the car.
-Lower the jack and repeat on the other side.
-Once your done place the jack back on the differential and raise it up so you can reconnect the shocks and sway bars.
-Remove jack stands and put your car on the ground.
That’s it. Hope this writeup is helpful to many people. I highly recommend this mod. My car looks and handles much better now and best of all the mod is free.
Here’s some pics of how she sits now. Enjoy!
Front springs:
-First thing is to jack up both sides of the front and remove the tires. If you don’t jack up both sides you’ll have a hard time removing the ball joint connected to the struts.
-Next remove the bolt securing the brake line to the strut. Its behind the strut and number 1 in the picture.
-Then remove the two 18mm bolts at the bottom of the strut (number 2 in pic). Be careful because the rotor assembly will fall freely forward now pulling on the brake line. I secured mine up with a piece of bungie cable.
-Next remove the 18mm bolt connecting the ball joint to the strut(number 3 in pic).
This is how it should look now:
-Next you need to remove the 4 bolts holding the strut in place. Make sure to hold the strut in place when removing these bolts because it will fall freely from under the car when they are out.
-Remove the strut assembly and sit it on the ground.
-Now you will need to compress the spring with a Macpherson strut compressor. I had one but you can rent them for free from many auto parts stores.
-After its compressed remove the bolt at the top of the strut and remove the upper strut plate. Handle the upper strut plate with care because it can come apart easily and it will be a major pain to put all the bearings and stuff back together if it does. I learned the hard way.
-Take out the stock spring.
-Cut one coil from the BOTTOM of the stock spring. I used a dremel and it took about 3-4 mins to cut it off no problem.
-Put the cut spring back into the strut assembly but don’t put it at the stopper at the bottom. Put the end of the spring against the wall at the bottom of the spring perch that is a couple inches before the stop. Otherwise the spring will move when you are installing the upper strut plate and tightening the upper retaining nut. Sorry forgot to take a picture of this step.
-Install the upper strut plate and tighten the bolt. You wont need to compress the spring to get it back in. Just push down on the top of the strut plate and you should be able to get the bolt started.
-Install the strut back into the car.
-Install all the bolts you removed earlier in reverse order.
-Install the tire and that’s it. Repeat for the other side.
Backs:
-The backs are really a piece of cake compared to the fronts so I didn’t take pictures of it.
-Raise the car up and put it on jack stands.
-While on jack stands put a floor jack under the differential and remove the lower bolts from shocks and the lower sway bar bolt on both sides at the same time.
-Slowly lower the jack. The shocks should now be connected at the top only.
-Place a jack under the passenger side where the shock connected to and raise it up until the car is about to lift off the jack stand.
-You can now pull the spring out of the drivers side. The spring may need some coaxing with a pry bar but no big deal.
-Cut however much you want off the rear springs from the TOP. I cut off 1 ½ coils and it’s perfect to me. The back is about ½” higher then the front with 1 ½ coils and that’s what I wanted. 2 coils off should make it even.
-Install the cut spring back into the car.
-Lower the jack and repeat on the other side.
-Once your done place the jack back on the differential and raise it up so you can reconnect the shocks and sway bars.
-Remove jack stands and put your car on the ground.
That’s it. Hope this writeup is helpful to many people. I highly recommend this mod. My car looks and handles much better now and best of all the mod is free.
Here’s some pics of how she sits now. Enjoy!
