Spring clamps

[kinkyllama]

Sounds like a cheap and easy way to lower your car.


But how safe are they? how well do they actually work?

[BosnianLanos]

I know they use them to compress the spring when they are removing it from the car, and that Daewootech.net sells them as a lowering method.

Now no offense towards Daewootech.net as they are a great site and company keeping us alive in the aftermarket, but I doubt those little pieces of metal could hold a large high-tension spring like we have. I would use them for temporary lowering like going to a show or something, but for a daily driver, that could encounter the body-jarring pothole, or speeds in excess of 100 MPH, I wouldn't use them, I would spring (no pun intended) for the more expensive lowering springs as I wouldn't want one side of the spring clamps to break going 120 down a dark stretch of highway.

Just my two cents.

[kinkyllama]

I agree with you. I was told JcWhitney sells a spring clamp that they claim is safe to lower up to 2inches.. i was told not to go over 1/2 just incase. I was also told its safe on my springs also, there RS-R down springs.. already lowered my car 1.2 inches. I want my car a tiny bit lower but my only method is spring clamps and i dont see how they could work very well.

[AcingTeam]

I agree with you. I was told JcWhitney sells a spring clamp that they claim is safe to lower up to 2inches.. i was told not to go over 1/2 just incase. I was also told its safe on my springs also, there RS-R down springs.. already lowered my car 1.2 inches. I want my car a tiny bit lower but my only method is spring clamps and i dont see how they could work very well.

You're second method is to cut your sport springs (one coil will be fine). Should do the job.

[TheGreatAndPowerfulOz]

Another way would to have the springs actually squeezed smaller so they stay shorter and the car is lower.

One way to do this is to have Godzilla stomp on your car.




LOL

Cliff

[kinkyllama]

How much could that lower it? and how would that effect the ride? Id probably only do that on the front two springs

Alot of shows ive seen on drag racing when i was younger said stuff about people cutting there own springs and how dangerous it was


lmao OZ

[TheGreatAndPowerfulOz]

I can not see how cutting your own springs would be dangerous, unless they were talking about springs that had been cut so low that the suspension did not give flat traction on the road.

The other way that could make the springs dangerous is if they were cut with a torch. If they were over heated, they would soften and weaken the springs, thus making them not have equal responce.

A suspension that is so low that the camber is way off can be dangerous, espeically if you have no way to correct for the new height.

If the two front springs are cut to equal lengths, and the back are cut to match each other's length, there should not be any issue with safety if the suspension as a whole is not so low that the car does not have proper traction and stability.

Springs are very hard steel, so when you attempt to cut them, make sure you have tools that can do the job properly.

I'm not sure if this will help, but Pep Boys has a 1.6" lowering kit for the Lanos for $209. Maybe just changing your springs will do what you want.
http://www.7453217467431.com/products/p ... 4652330046

Cliff

[kinkyllama]

Im going to have a shop do it (my best buds dad) they owe me a free alignment from when they installed the springs and there installing front carbon fibre break pads so ill have them cut the springs as well.


Would it be okay if i just had the front springs cut a little bit and left the back ones alone?

[AcingTeam]

Cutting springs is not dangerous if you don't go over 1 coil. That would lower the car about an inch. It should be fine if you cut the front ones and leave the back ones alone, but would you like the looks?

[kinkyllama]

I dont know if id lower the front a whole inch without the back at all.. cuz then i dont htink id like the looks. But its front wheel drive so i do want the front lower than the back. Also sometime i load that back seat up with people every once in awhile, but aht isnt a big deal i can drive carfully.


Maybe ill have them cut the back just a little

[MMamdouh]

if you are going to do it then do it right... get an after market lowering springs.

cutinng springs doesn't sound like a good idea, i am not saying that i had personal experiance with it but in other Daewoo forums they said it is not the best solution for lowering the car if it was a "solution" in any way.

i am concerned here with the performance of the spring after it is cut... will it still function as it used to before cutting? will it be safe? those are my concerns here but in the end it is your car man, but please do what is safe bro... i don't wanna here about another Woo wrecked or some Woo driver got hurt.

MMamdouh

[kinkyllama]

Thats the problem... i have lowering springs and its not nearly enough. I need an anti-roll bar too but lowering it is any easyier solution right now too... i almost rolled my car twice already


I just want the front 1/2-3/4 of an inch lower. At higher speeds i can feel the air getting up under the car and theres still that "lifted" look when you get aftermarket rims (lowering it helps). Im not going to cut the springs at all untill i find out its 100% safe.

Cutting them sounds safer than a spring clamp though.. What if that clamp just broke? It'd be like a bullet and ontop of that it'd problem cause me to lose control

[GsiTurbo]

I would strongly not recommend using the clamps on the springs. A few years back, I used to have a Renault Fuego, and I did use clamps to lower the car. The result was a snapped spring while I was cruising on a highway and 120 km/h. I almost ended up hitting another car, as I lost the control of the vehicle for a few moments.

Cutting the springs would be a 'better worse' out of two. This may change the characteristics of the spring, and potentially create some undesirable effects, such as very firm ride.

[BosnianLanos]

I know cutting stock springs makes the ride very bouncy (firm suspension), and if you don't have good seats, seat belts, and everything firmly bolted down, one bump at high speeds could spit Daewoo all over the road.

I would imagine that cutting lowering springs would have a similar effect, but, cutting them would defeat the purpose of owning lowering springs.

Many Hot-Rod shops take a bad view to cutting springs, they view it as the easy way out, unprofessional, and cheap, as well as quite dangerous, some won't even do it because they risk is quite high, and they don't want to get sued.

Also, a car lowered 2 inches could spell potential problems...alignment, scraping, losing parts to mean speed bumps, and flooding. My advice is stick with your springs for a few thousand more miles, and by them, just the weight of the car will settle the suspension into a desirable height, and you may grow to like them. If this doesn't work for you, a custom airbag suspension could be the thing, while expensive, they are hands down some of the best suspensions for street cars.

As Mmamdouh said, if you are going to do it, do it right.

[kinkyllama]

Ive had these springs on for about 5k miles and they havnt gone down all that much. Im definitly not going to cut them if its dangerous (which it seams to be).

I need to find an roll bar adn stiffen everything up a little more before i know for sure if it needs to be lowered more. It kinda of "rolls" when you go side to side its not as firm as id like it to be which strut bar might help also