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Heres my Charger there are many like it but this one is mine. I've raced it  I've bounced it off a street sign due to excessive speed and geese  I armed it with snow tires and had a ball  Heres the current list of mod's K&N Intake WhiteLine Adjustable sways front/rear Mopar Performance Srt8 Springs and shocks Ebc red stuff pads 245/50r18 Kuhmo ecsta spt's and a smattering of poly bushings in the front end Last week after replacing the strut mounts I was not happy with how much wheel gap the car had and seeing my car going through this sweeper at the autocross https://youtu.be/XAOESVWwRMQ?t=3m27s I decided to lower the car. After doing research on all my options for lowering the car I decided to cut my springs. The reason being is that besides hotchkis nobody says what the rate their springs have or are just to drop the car into the weeds. I was looking for somewhere between 1/2 to 1 inch drop remove some of the rake the car has and to stiffen it up a bit so heres the math I came up with with regards to cutting the springs. Front spring 284lbs/in 4.25 active coils cutting 1 coil would increase rate by 66lbs/in Rear spring 778lbs/in 6.25 active coils cutting 1 coil would increase rate by 124lbs/in So the gf is out of town I have no obligations time to wrench. I wasnt gonna just lop off a full coil and hope for the best So I went 1/4 coil at a time until desired results were met since it only takes me 15mins a side to yank out the struts from tires on the ground Heres where we start  starting measurements front 29 3/4 inch ground to fender lip rear 30 inch ground to lip love my big jack stands starting at the front  Strut out, Craftsman pass through ratchets are worth having  Srt8 spring next to Stock RT spring  1/4 coil cut  reinstalled everything took it for a drive to settle everything and remeasured 29 1/2 take everything out again cut another 1/4 coil off test drive remeasure 29 1/4 liked the way the car feels like the way it looks stopping here.  Face down rear end up  Now removing the rear springs can be done 2 ways on these cars drop the entire rear subframe(gently caress that poo poo hard without a lift) or remove the inner bolt on the lower control arm this requires disconnecting the sway bar removing the shocks dropping the rear of the exhaust placing the jack underneath the arm to support it then you remove the bolt. When I Put the srt8 springs in last year I reversed the nut and bolt assembly on the lower control arm which allows you to skip step 1 dropping the exhaust. Even with that step out of the way it still took me over an hour per side because I broke both my swivel joints and couldnt get my impact on the bolts. knowing that there was no way id finish with daylight if I went 1/4 at a time I did some mental gymnastic and took off 3/4 in one go. srt8 rear spring vs stock rt  3/4 coil off  During reinstallation it was very obvious the rubber spring isolators are shot and I had no ride so Im gonna be doing this again next weekend when I can get the parts ill also detail how much a pain in the rear end it is to do this by yourself because I was cursing up a storm at this point and trying to get this done. Everything reinstalled and settle new rear measurement 28 3/4 once the isolators are in it will raise back up a bit I might have to cut off another 1/4 coil too. So heres the finished product  Ill grab a better pic tomorrow because the fun never stops with this dodge tomorrow I have to replace some ball joints which tore last year when I put in poly bushings in the front control arms. Torn Quad Jones fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Mar 29, 2015 |
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Mar 29, 2015 04:18
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 16:44 |
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Looks a lot better at that ride height for sure. I'm a little leery on cutting springs but I'm also running 300$ coilovers so I'm not one to talk.
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Mar 29, 2015 07:02
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Why the hell would you buy new springs and then cut them, you know you're loving up the spring rate right? Why didn't you just buy shorter springs?
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Mar 29, 2015 07:30
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Thread title lives up to it's name. I can't imagine there are no options for a coilover in which you could get a custom spring rate. Even then, I would think something designed to fit the car would be better than cutting the oem springs. But hey, whatever floats your boat. I'm along for the ride. 
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Mar 29, 2015 08:19
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leica posted:Why the hell would you buy new springs and then cut them, you know you're loving up the spring rate right? Why didn't you just buy shorter springs? ssjonizuka posted:Thread title lives up to it's name. I can't imagine there are no options for a coilover in which you could get a custom spring rate. Even then, I would think something designed to fit the car would be better than cutting the oem springs. But hey, whatever floats your boat. I'm along for the ride.
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Mar 29, 2015 14:14
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Today's episode of "I've only owned Dodge's I'm a masochist" is brought to you by ChumpCar International LLC.
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Mar 29, 2015 17:34
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 there isnt a middle finger big enough
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Mar 29, 2015 23:02
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Is that supposed to be a control arm? 
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Mar 30, 2015 02:05
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Pretty sure it's the knuckle.
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Mar 30, 2015 02:13
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Ok so we left off with both new balljoints half installed and the flanges broken off due to the balljoint tool I have not fitting well enough on the hub. sat on stands in the driveway for 2 days waiting for the new balljoints to show up. Not wanting to ruin the new ball joints I decided to stop playing kids games and bought this. Should have bought this thing a looooooong time ago made quick work of everything New new ball joint went with raybestos this time  Pressing in  Finished up that night then my new isolators from rockauto showed up and my dog was just as excited as i am for new car parts http://youtu.be/NfH09Xypqhw So heres how you drop a spring without dropping the whole subframe. Get the car up on stands remove wheels shocks and sway bar links place jack close to the end of the arm towards the subframe.  This is the nut and bolt that i had reversed the first time springs were put in a year ago doing so allows you to do this without dropping the exhaust which prevents the bolt from coming all the way out.  Slowly lower the jack and you can remove the spring or in this case just the isolator. New isolator on.  Now because the rear is a 5 link you cant just jack the arm back up and have to line up perfectly. You need to do one side of the lca at a time you also need to push and pull the hub assembly to help it line up. Doing this with 2 people isnt that bad one person moves the hub around and works the jack the other lays under the car and moves the end of the arm around lines everything up and jams the bolt in. Doing it by yourself is a little more tricky you lay under the car and work the jack with your leg like this  You also push on the hub with a hammer and pull on the arm until it all lines up like this  Finally finished with all the suspension work im enjoying the way the car feels and handles. Still need to get an alignment and flush the brakes because the first autocross of the season is this sunday and im so excited to be doing that again. BONUS JEEP CONTENT Brother in laws 98 cherokee sport he got it with 180k on the clock we put a 4.5 inch lift on it and then it cracked the head and developed alot of steering play and death wobble. So we replaced everything. This bolt is a oval office  All done  No more wobble and no more deadspot hes going for an alignment at some point since the wheel is 90 degrees off but it drives straight so its not too high on his list.
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Apr 8, 2015 03:30
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| # ? Apr 18, 2024 16:44 |
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gently caress the haters. Cute dog.
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Apr 8, 2015 04:11
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