Removing & Cutting Spring Pads
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 17
Likes: 1
From: Michigan
Removing & Cutting Spring Pads
Hello all,
Looking for more advice. I purchased a spring for my C4, but it did not come with the spring pads that go into the lower control arm. I'm looking to remove the old pads from my old spring and epoxy them on to the new spring.
Is there any easier way to remove these pads? I've been going at one of them with a hacksaw and a chisel and really have not gotten far. Is there a way to loosen the factory epoxy?
Also, I was looking to trim these pads down for an additional drop. I've read about people cutting them down, but I'm really not sure how to go about cutting them evenly. How does everyone trim these pads? And is it even worth it to trim the pads? I already have the lowering wedges installed, just worried that the wedges alone won't give me the drop I'm looking for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 427
Likes: 86
From: Rockwall TX
To get max drop the spring ends also need to get shaved. Lowering a C4 is a total hack job so do whatever is necessary sawzall hack saw belt sander, it won't be elegant. No idea how to remove existing end pads, you want to reuse? I would instead scrounge around for something similar and fabricate it to fit. How low are you aiming for? 1 inch drop all in is typical and it does make a difference. Those C4s that are slammed are likely coil overs or something radical.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 17
Likes: 1
From: Michigan
That's kind of what I figured. The end pads were a huge pain to remove, took several hours to get off of the old spring, but I got them off and managed to keep them intact. Heat is definitely your friend when removing them. A friend of mine came up with the idea to make a jig and cut them down using a circular saw, so that's the best option at the moment. Judging just from cutting them off of the old spring, shaving them with a hack saw or Sawzall would be a huge pain as well. Just trying to get rid of my fender gap, don't need to have it dumped on the ground by any means. Would love coils but that's a whole debacle as I have an '86. I'm using the wedges and shaving down the pads, so we'll see how it goes. Did you lower yours? If so, what setup are you running?
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