Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: unlucky mark mv6 on 29 August 2009, 20:26:20
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Just been told by a mate of a cheaper way to lower your car by having the springs compressed,for around £15 a corner.Anyone had any experience of this. :-/
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The only way i can think of to compress a spring is to put clamps on or by heating and both ways are dangerous in my opinion as ive seen a car forced off the road by a spring clamp snapping. TBH for a saving of £60 its just not worth it.
lee
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With some cars the springs can be cut with a cutting disc & lowered, this also makes the spring stiffer.
I've done this in the past :y
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The only way i can think of to compress a spring is to put clamps on or by heating and both ways are dangerous in my opinion as ive seen a car forced off the road by a spring clamp snapping. TBH for a saving of £60 its just not worth it.
lee
Yes,i know what you mean lee,but these are compressed by a proper company who deals in these kind of things,and done with proper machinery,so really they would have to be in safety guidelines i would have said. :-/
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With some cars the springs can be cut with a cutting disc & lowered, this also makes the spring stiffer.
I've done this in the past :y
Done that on my last car which was a vectra,but could only do the back,as the coils on the front springs were different sizes,but looked good on the back though,without rubbing etc. 8-)
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The only way i can think of to compress a spring is to put clamps on or by heating and both ways are dangerous in my opinion as ive seen a car forced off the road by a spring clamp snapping. TBH for a saving of £60 its just not worth it.
lee
Yes,i know what you mean lee,but these are compressed by a proper company who deals in these kind of things,and done with proper machinery,so really they would have to be in safety guidelines i would have said. :-/
Guess so but i would still rather put proper lowering springs on than risk it tbh. And with the fact that omega rear springs snap quite often it would probably work out more expensive in the long run(asuming its on the mig).
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The only way i can think of to compress a spring is to put clamps on or by heating and both ways are dangerous in my opinion as ive seen a car forced off the road by a spring clamp snapping. TBH for a saving of £60 its just not worth it.
lee
Yes,i know what you mean lee,but these are compressed by a proper company who deals in these kind of things,and done with proper machinery,so really they would have to be in safety guidelines i would have said. :-/
Guess so but i would still rather put proper lowering springs on than risk it tbh. And with the fact that omega rear springs snap quite often it would probably work out more expensive in the long run(asuming its on the mig).
Yes mate i have heard its a common thing on the migs.
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IMHO I don't think you should take shortcuts on brakes or suspension. Save your pennies and get the best spring kit you can afford. I've always found Eibach to be the best and they do progressive rate springs that vary stiffness according to your driving. Re tempered springs won't do this.
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Just been told by a mate of a cheaper way to lower your car by having the springs compressed,for around £15 a corner.Anyone had any experience of this. :-/
Don't do it - get a proper set of springs
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yep.. if properly heated springs can be compressed but at the cost of decreased life time and reliability..(done that)
cutting them is a better approach to a degree..
but best bet is always original kits.. many problems will be solved at the beginning..
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omega springs are pigtail type springs
cutting not an option realy
Doug
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omega springs are pigtail type springs
cutting not an option realy
Doug
Yes,already looked at that option doog. :y
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IMHO I don't think you should take shortcuts on brakes or suspension. Save your pennies and get the best spring kit you can afford. I've always found Eibach to be the best and they do progressive rate springs that vary stiffness according to your driving. Re tempered springs won't do this.
the std oe ones are dual rate as well :)
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don't do it
don't cut or heat the springs to lower the car
we did it to a mates car a few years back and had nothing but hassle afterwards
in the end we ended up buying a set of lowering springs and doing it the right way
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I had new -35 mm springs made and only paid £80 for 4 yes i'm in the trade but to be honest dont cut corners as it's not worth it
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Just don't do it there is no proper way of lowering a car other than changing the springs. Years ago I know of somebody who rolled a mk2 escort mexico after a similar mod on the front springs. he came of a hump back bridge a bit quick and the spring released as a
it came back up causing him to lose control.
Up to you though if you think its worth saving £50.
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iF YOU HAVE KIDS OR CARRY KIDS JUST THINK OF TRAVELING AT MOTORWAY SPEED AND A CLAMP FAILS OR A HEATED SPRING SNAPS!!!!!!!!!! :'(ITS A NO BRAINER TO BE HONEST)
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While cutting the springs down will certainly lower the car, you'll also find it will bottom out a lot more due to the fact the springs aren't any stiffer.
As the others have said, don't do it - just buy the proper springs for the job.
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have look on ebay :y few sets secend hand ones now there
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I've had a couple of cars that have been lowered the worst being a Bmw Front 65mm rear 60mm,
Swaped them over with a mate for proper springs and had a lot better controll, My mate went through two pairs of wish bones till he changed it,
Lowering is not a good idea and looks crap imho.
The cheapest way of lowering your car is the russian way, Get a couple of heavey wieghts to sit on each side and weld the springs, :y
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can you just put springs on to lower the car i thought that you had to buy shocks aswell to stop it bottoming out ?
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can you just put springs on to lower the car i thought that you had to buy shocks aswell to stop it bottoming out ?
you can but you can also get big rubber puffers that you put on the thiner arm of the shock to meke it a bit softer, that what was on my bmw anyway.
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cheers pal ! so i could just go out and buy a set of lowering springs and fit them do the springs veary from car to car ie will a 2001 set fit my 98 elite
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can you just put springs on to lower the car i thought that you had to buy shocks aswell to stop it bottoming out ?
You only need change the shocks if your lowering alot but that will upset everything on the suspension and unless the the lot is adjustable like tca's etc the car will be terrible to drive.
If you stick to 20 or 30mm the standard set up will be fine providing everything is in good nick the fact that the new springs are stronger should stop them bottoming out in most cases.
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i was only thinking 30-40mm dont wana go stupidly lowe just wana reduce the boat effect :y
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i was only thinking 30-40mm dont wana go stupidly lowe just wana reduce the boat effect :y
I know what you mean I keep thinking about lowering my estate but wouldn't want to go anymore than 30mm would prefer 20mm
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(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/Barclay03/MV6/coilover3.jpg)
lol :y
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Things like brakes and suspension is one place you don't want to do things on the cheap.if you haven't got the money to do it properly don't do it .
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The reason i asked this question in the first place is that i havent seen a spring kit that lowers any more than 40mm,and as most of you know the mig looks front heavy,so i reckon it will benefit from a 60mm drop on the back.I have looked into having the springs compressed a bit more,and i really think its like having new springs,and also this company does springs for the likes of some big companies like boge etc,and also supply shocks,also my mate has a wicked toyota rav,where the springs have been compressed,and never had a bit of trouble.
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The reason i asked this question in the first place is that i havent seen a spring kit that lowers any more than 40mm,and as most of you know the mig looks front heavy,so i reckon it will benefit from a 60mm drop on the back.I have looked into having the springs compressed a bit more,and i really think its like having new springs,and also this company does springs for the likes of some big companies like boge etc,and also supply shocks,also my mate has a wicked toyota rav,where the springs have been compressed,and never had a bit of trouble.
I would think if it's done by a company that manufactures springs there shouldn't be a problem from a weakening point of view as they will retemper the spring after modifying it.
Wouldn't attempt it with a gas axe yourself though.
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The reason i asked this question in the first place is that i havent seen a spring kit that lowers any more than 40mm,and as most of you know the mig looks front heavy,so i reckon it will benefit from a 60mm drop on the back.I have looked into having the springs compressed a bit more,and i really think its like having new springs,and also this company does springs for the likes of some big companies like boge etc,and also supply shocks,also my mate has a wicked toyota rav,where the springs have been compressed,and never had a bit of trouble.
I would think if it's done by a company that manufactures springs there shouldn't be a problem from a weakening point of view as they will retemper the spring after modifying it.
Wouldn't attempt it with a gas axe yourself though.
Never even dreamed of doing it myself mate,especially for the price of £15 a corner. :y
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How low do you want to go? just 60mm?
I can sit mine with the exhaust on the ground i think
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cheers pal ! so i could just go out and buy a set of lowering springs
"Lowering" springs will be stiffened by default....so yes, you can just buy a set of (say) springs that are 40mm lower than standard and they will be as good as you can get.
You take a standard set of springs and chop 40mm off them (which you will NEVER achieve equally over all four), and you are f****d when it really matters.
Don't risk your (and everybody else's) life by trying to prove you know better than a company that spent millions on suspension design.....just do the job properly.
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cheers pal ! so i could just go out and buy a set of lowering springs
"Lowering" springs will be stiffened by default....so yes, you can just buy a set of (say) springs that are 40mm lower than standard and they will be as good as you can get.
You take a standard set of springs and chop 40mm off them (which you will NEVER achieve equally over all four), and you are f****d when it really matters.
Don't risk your (and everybody else's) life by trying to prove you know better than a company that spent millions on suspension design.....just do the job properly.
cheers m8 :y
was never thinking about choping springs cuz like you say u can never get them equal, wouldn`t risk my life or my famlies was goin to buy some of fleabay but i was under the impression that u had to buy shocks ;)
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Standard shocks dont typically last as long when fitted with lowering springs, the ride can also be a bit bouncy too!
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cheers pal ! so i could just go out and buy a set of lowering springs
"Lowering" springs will be stiffened by default....so yes, you can just buy a set of (say) springs that are 40mm lower than standard and they will be as good as you can get.
You take a standard set of springs and chop 40mm off them (which you will NEVER achieve equally over all four), and you are f****d when it really matters.
Don't risk your (and everybody else's) life by trying to prove you know better than a company that spent millions on suspension design.....just do the job properly.
cheers m8 :y
was never thinking about choping springs cuz like you say u can never get them equal, wouldn`t risk my life or my famlies was goin to buy some of fleabay but i was under the impression that u had to buy shocks ;)
You only bother with the shocks if you are getting really anal.
If your shocks show no signs of leaking or allowing excess bounce, then you can leave them be if the budget is tight.