97/Y33 cut stock spring experiment!!

[bullittandy]

I've begun the experiment. I'm on my way to rent a spring compressor-can people give some guesses as to how much to cut from the spring? I'm thinking 6 linear inches to start with but what's ya'll's opinions?
Modified by bullittandy at 4:53 PM 8/11/2006

[Falkdesigns]

I don't know, but attachment pics don't ever load, so I don't know what pic you put there, and I'm not gonna wait 10 minutes for it. I do know that Louis Cypher on here cut the stock springs and said they would bind over bumps, so he immediately ditched them for Teins (which he also cut, lol).

[zinkie13]

watch out for that mop on the floor! haha

[Rex]

Most people that cut srpings start with 1-1.5 full "ring(s)" and only cut more if they're looking to scrape pavement.

Keep in mind used springs will already be a little lower, so you may want to cut less.

How low are you trying to go?

Kevin - attacheds are loading fine for me right now. I wonder what makes them load slow at times?!?!

[bullittandy]

I've got one side done. Looks like about a 3/4" drop with one coil cut off. I drove it just now and seems similar-now on to the driver's side. I'll be back with pictures.

[bullittandy]

Before.

[bullittandy]

After.

This is one coil cut off the bottom of each front spring-nothing to the rear. 1" drop. Also the rear tires are 255/45/18 and the fronts are 245/45/18. There is about a 1/2" height difference between the two-adding to the effect.

The ride seems the same after a short cruise. No funny noises and no surprises. I'm anxious to try it on the highway and over speed bumps but in terms of aesthetics this was an unqualified success.

I changed the stock struts recently but this time I was able to leave the strut attached to the lower control arm and the lower control arm attached to body. I simply swung the strut out from under the fender. I did remove the brakes, ABS wire, tie rod and tension arms.

What do you guys think?

[Rex]

I'd give it some time to settle, and them maybe it's time for another cut ... but make sure you have more springs incase you go too far.

Of course driving on cut springs is danergous and irresponsible .

[bullittandy]

Of course driving on cut springs is danergous and irresponsible . [/QUOTE]

I know, I searched and then read the owner's manual and just realized that the side effects of such behavior is certain death.

[paranoidjack]

Of course driving on cut springs is danergous and irresponsible .

I know, I searched and then read the owner's manual and just realized that the side effects of such behavior is certain death. [/QUOTE]

^^haha!

You've got me interested Andy. Hmmmm. Did you go OEM with your replacement struts? I want to replace mine, but don't want to spend the $$$ for the AE adjustable ones....I'd prefer the stiffer setting all the time. I still wish there was a god damned 1.5" drop kit out there.

This looks great, but cutting the springs just doesn't seem right to me. No matter how much I read about it, it doesn't sit well. If all is well, and the manufacturer could have used less material, made the car look better, not compromised anything....why wouldn't they do it? On that notion you could extend that same spring two more coils and notice no difference and have no ill effects....but does that sound right to you? Not to me!

But it looks very well done Andy, keep us posted! Good luck with the certain death thing. Don't tell the Mrs. that you're in for certain death...insurance policies aren't very expensive to open!

[elwesso]

Man that looks great..... How it should have come stock!

Give it time to settle, after i put my cali custom springs on it settled another 1/2 inch or so...!!!

ALSO: FOR THOSE wondering about attachments, if you click on the file name so that it opens the link in a seperate window, they load super fast, not sure why theyre acting strange in the post bodies...

[kimrober]

Man that looks great..... How it should have come stock!

Give it time to settle, after i put my cali custom springs on it settled another 1/2 inch or so...!!!

ALSO: FOR THOSE wondering about attachments, if you click on the file name so that it opens the link in a seperate window, they load super fast, not sure why theyre acting strange in the post bodies...

Try use the Firefox browser. They seems to load up pretty fast and it auto-adjusts the picture size too!

[elwesso]

You mean, there are still people out there that use IE?

[bullittandy]

You've got me interested Andy. Hmmmm. Did you go OEM with your replacement struts? I want to replace mine, but don't want to spend the $$$ for the AE adjustable ones....I'd prefer the stiffer setting all the time. I still wish there was a god damned 1.5" drop kit out there.

This looks great, but cutting the springs just doesn't seem right to me. No matter how much I read about it, it doesn't sit well. If all is well, and the manufacturer could have used less material, made the car look better, not compromised anything....why wouldn't they do it? On that notion you could extend that same spring two more coils and notice no difference and have no ill effects....but does that sound right to you? Not to me!

I used OEM strut inserts which are about $120 per for the front plus about $80 for the rubber parts. I have to say that I didn't notice any difference with the new suspension. You've got a good point about why wouldn't Infiniti do this to start with. I think it's a combination of marketing and comfort/ease of use. We (Nico) are relatively rare in that we want more from our cars. The vast majority of Q45 owners couldn't car less about the fender being 1" closer to the top of the tire. In contrast it was driving me nuts!The other consideration is comfort/ease of use. This point is made by way of analogy. I have a 91 Mustang LX 5.0. It runs on 87 octane fine but if you bump the timing from the stock 8 degrees (maybe even 6) to 14-16 you can get another 10-15 Hp and Ft Lb torque. Of course you have to use premium which most people would balk at. I'll report back any ride/handling issues that arise.

Also-Thanks!

[johngalt]

Try use the Firefox browser. They seems to load up pretty fast and it auto-adjusts the picture size too!

It happened to me in Fx as well - both 1.5 and the Bon Echo 2.0 Beta.

You mean, there are still people out there that use IE?

You mean you're still using Windblows?

[johngalt]

You've got me interested Andy. Hmmmm. Did you go OEM with your replacement struts? I want to replace mine, but don't want to spend the $$$ for the AE adjustable ones....I'd prefer the stiffer setting all the time. I still wish there was a god damned 1.5" drop kit out there.

This looks great, but cutting the springs just doesn't seem right to me. No matter how much I read about it, it doesn't sit well. If all is well, and the manufacturer could have used less material, made the car look better, not compromised anything....why wouldn't they do it? On that notion you could extend that same spring two more coils and notice no difference and have no ill effects....but does that sound right to you? Not to me!

I used OEM strut inserts which are about $120 per for the front plus about $80 for the rubber parts. I have to say that I didn't notice any difference with the new suspension. You've got a good point about why wouldn't Infiniti do this to start with. I think it's a combination of marketing and comfort/ease of use. We (Nico) are relatively rare in that we want more from our cars. The vast majority of Q45 owners couldn't car less about the fender being 1" closer to the top of the tire. In contrast it was driving me nuts!The other consideration is comfort/ease of use. This point is made by way of analogy. I have a 91 Mustang LX 5.0. It runs on 87 octane fine but if you bump the timing from the stock 8 degrees (maybe even 6) to 14-16 you can get another 10-15 Hp and Ft Lb torque. Of course you have to use premium which most people would balk at. I'll report back any ride/handling issues that arise.

Also-Thanks!

I have to say posts like yours give me an idea of what I can do later on (once I have 'certified' that all is well with my car mechanically) to make it look, as I call it, meaner. I am not about the rice stuff, don't need to car to make 745 horses or do a 12 second quarter, but I want it to look mean and kick luxury car arse. If I get dusted here or there no biggie - I ain;t joining a street gang and won't be drifting and probably will never get my car near a show for any sort of competition, but there are certain things that I wan, purely because the aesthetics to me are what I care about.

The ride height on this car is one. Some of the body work too, as I have seen the real CIMAs and still drool over them - and finally, little things here and there that I want ot eventually modify to make my Q really my Q.

Knowing me, however, rather than cutting a spring, I will opt for replacement springs.

Ooooh, that sparked a question for the gurus: being a touring model, with the active suspension (am I saying that right? Having the switch from 'comfort' to 'sport' is the active suspension, right), would reducing the spring height affect that whole suspension thing? Although personally I have found that I prefer to drive it in sport mode exclusively, I have found that every once in a while it is nice to drop out of it and get a smoother ride, especially with the seats full on a long trip.

[paranoidjack]

Ooooh, that sparked a question for the gurus: being a touring model, with the active suspension (am I saying that right? Having the switch from 'comfort' to 'sport' is the active suspension, right), would reducing the spring height affect that whole suspension thing? Although personally I have found that I prefer to drive it in sport mode exclusively, I have found that every once in a while it is nice to drop out of it and get a smoother ride, especially with the seats full on a long trip.

it doesn't adjust anything with the springs. The dampening of the shocks is altered.

[maxnix]

being a touring model, with the active suspension (am I saying that right?

Not really. the G50 Active is the only semi-active (hydraulic assist for rapid transitions in individual wheel load) suspension.

The FY33 t and ae models only switched the damping valve in the shocks. Still passive damper control.

[Q45tech]

The G50 active only uses 88 lb/in vs standard 146 lb/in front springs [with an extra 125+ lbs in front] thus without any pressure in shock/accumulator it is slammed on the bumpstops. Where ever spring bind occurs -3.5/4.0 ".

The typical spring is compressed from 16" free length to a ride height of 8" leaving about 3.5" of max compression before spring and shock bind.

Remember average shock only has a 7" TOTAL STROKE [+-3.4-3.0 ideal].

With different models take a moment to measure total shock/strut stroke length...............meditate on this number and divide by 2.