Heating a coil spring....

mrvette

mrvette

Phantom of the Opera
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
15,207
Location
NE Florida
IF you heat a coil spring to lower a car, does it have any inherent problems???

talking about on the lower end to relax coils into position of a coil that has been cut already....
 
Look for information on "barging" that is the best way to change spring height but it requires some experience to do it correctly.
 
Bulldozing,barging,track loader,pay loader,back hoe,earth mover,what the heck,they are all big :amazed:
 
Maybe some of you know/read that I got my wife a '91 Miata, more or less a anniversary present....8 FUN years now...so, the thing shows NO evidence of ever been hit, not enough to bend anyting serious anyway....seams are straight, metal straight, cauking intact, minimal/NO rust, suspension checks out entirely....ruler/staright edge can't lie...suspension fine...swapped rear strut springs, no change...still 1.5"+ high in the right rear....on stands or on the ground all settled in or not...front is fine....exact same measure on both corners...scratch my ass over this one...

so I cut the spring....about 3/4 coil off the bottom, dropped 3/4 inch....then went after it with a propane torch....don't own a Acetylene so it got red enough to collapse another ~3/8 inch or so....only ~1/2 inch high now...called it quits....

front is same so what are the risks over doing the torch thing??? welder says he seen it both ways....I figger the shock is in there so even IF it breaks, not a huge problem...what say you all???

BTW, rest of the car checks out 150%+ for a '91 car with 130k miles on it, showing that is.....

:eek::smash:
 
Herb Adams seemed to think it was OK.

3802File0002.jpg
 
He only heats the end and bends it flat, so he is immobilizing that section, making it an inactive coil. Therefore the change in local material (spring) characteristics is a non issue. However, if you heat a spring to collapse it, that is a bad thing to do.
 
Twin_Turbo said:
He only heats the end and bends it flat, so he is immobilizing that section, making it an inactive coil. Therefore the change in local material (spring) characteristics is a non issue. However, if you heat a spring to collapse it, that is a bad thing to do.
Click to expand...

That is pretty much what I did....as I notice most springs have ~1/2 a coil laying against each other, in other words...solid....which is why I suspect I need cut more off the end but hesitate to take more off on the heating....

think I will leave well enough alone...

looking to add posi to that car....:eek: I better NOT, it's wife's car, she break it loose on sand or rain....and not know WTF....

new toy, need leave it alone and play with the vette, have to finish that van and then do the sanding on the vette....

:eek:
 
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