I keep reading about guys cutting the ends of there composite springs.Is this safe?How do you go about doing it?

 

I have been here a long time and never heard of cutting a composite spring. Now I do have a shorter one but I had to order it from VB a little shorter. I would not recomend cutting a composite spring.

 

Several guys have done it, me included (on two different springs). Just duplicate what the factory or aftermarket guys did on the ends.

 

You may want to collect more info from someone who has done it ,
before you cut yours. I have read some past post where the composite
spring was narrowed.

If I was going to do it I would use a fine tooth blade to make the cut,
to keep it from splinting. Then you may want to treat the end with
fiberglass resin or something like that. Drilling the new spring bolt holes
with out splintering will be your next problem, in a drill press will give you
more control over a hand held drill. You will probably have to search the
forum for the info that you are looking for, may use the key words,
cutting the rear spring, I think thats when I ran across it when I was
looking to cut my metal spring.

Hope this helps,

Riggs.

 

I have cut a bunch of them. But my First question is why are You cutting it? I short'n my 20 Year old VB&P Spring but it was for Mockup to see what worked and then I order'd a Shorter Spring from them to use. Assumeing that You are using more modern Tires and Wheels and Are doing this for Tire Clearance You need to mock things up and when you do You will probably find out thet a Shorter Spring dosn't do any good any way. The VB&P offset T-Arms only have the Spring Bolts Holes in the Stock Location so if You shorten the Spring You will put the Bolts at an Angle wich will not do the bolts or bushings any good. I understand that the Van Steel ones may have them moved inboard but I havn't seen them. After you have done all this You will find that the Swaybar is now to wide and You will have to deal with that. If You have 17" inch or larger Wheels You will probaly find out that the Spring will fit up and inside the Wheels anyway. The Aft Corner and the Spring Bolt will be the Tight spots. I take a Porta band and I cut off the Corner of the VB&P Spring at a 45deg angle to open up the Clearance a bit. This only removes about a 1/2" of the very corner of the Composite Spring and is more to remove the sharp Corner that the Metal end has. If Your Clearance is wrong this Sharp corner will Act as a Lathe and Machine Your new Wheel and ruin it in one trip around the Block I found this out the hard way! If you have a TRW style Spring with the Wide ends then there is no way its going to work. The Bolt issue is easy just put the Bolts in Upside down with the Nuts on Top. Once You are OK with the Ride hieght then cut off the unused portion of the Bolts.

 

I shortened mine ten years ago. I cut it just on the inside of the original hole..about two inches if I recall. It 'aint rokket sinez

 

Cut mine 1/2 inch. epoxed the ends, no problems

 

thanks to all of you.I was just wondering because some of you mentioned cutting the spring for tire clearence.Sorry gordonm but see some guys do cut their springs.Just thought it would ruin the integrity of the spring

 

Interesting. If you cut 2 inches off the angle of the bolts is going to be severe and the spring rate is going to change a lot. I talked to VB about this and they said it was not recomended due to the ends splintering. I have been proven wrong before and I will get proven wrong again. Learn something every day.

 

I took a grinder and removed about 1/2 inch off the end of my TRW spring to clear my 16 inch wheels. It would have cleared my 17's. I've raced it for years that way. One would never want to grind or remove any material from a composite or steel spring from the center to the outer attach hole. That would make a stress concentration and a potential failure.

 

Thats what I would think Gordon.Splintering

 

Just from a manufacturing standpoint, I wouldn't recommend it. It will void any warranty you have, and depending on how much is taken off it will harm the integrity of the long wrap fibres

 

There isn't any significant stress on the outer end of the spring...as long as the area around the bolt has sufficient space to absorb the load from it. Using a belt or air grinder is probably better than using a saw (with reciprocating motion which could propagate delaminations). Then using fiberglass resin to seal the end should do the job. I would be very leary of doing any cutting to any area between the bolt holes.