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CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
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Originally posted by tastethefury:
I have pictures of my 98 SE V6 with 1 coil cut. It looks great, not too low, not too high. I got 1" drop in the front, and 1/2" in the back. The link to my pictures is in my sig, check it out!
Originally posted by JeremySeVT:
Wow, this is all very interesting. It seems like I may be up for some coil cutting. Does anyone have any pictures of their contours with their springs cut?
I'm running 18s and haven't dropped the car at all, so I've been looking around. I don't want to slam the car, but I want to have a reasonable drop to compensate for the gap. I've always thought that an inch would probably do the trick. It would at least get me back closer to the stock height, I went with 225/40/18s, so I'm slightly higher than stock.
So, what was the overall drop consensus? 3/4", 1", 1 1/4" ?
Thanks
(I really need to roll those fenders too!)
Thanks for the images. So you mearly got a 1/2 drop in the rear. Hrm. I suppose this is ok because every time I look at my car it always appears that the front is higher than the rear. Maybe it's because the back is more loaded than the front...nah. Anyway, this all sounds good to me. But I really need to roll my rear fenders before I get to the drop. How long did it take you to cut them? And did you cut from the top or from the bottom? By the way, are you rolling on 18's as well?
Anyway, thanks again.
1998 SE Sport MTX
Dark Green Pearl
18" Velox Scythes
35% Tinted Around
3inch Cone Filter
Removed : Muffler
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Jeremy
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,867
Hard-core CEG'er
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As on most cars, the rear fender to tire gap is smaller than the one on the front, even when the car sits level. Lowering exacerbates the illusion of butt-hang because the rear gap is reduced to near zero, but the front gap remains measurable. That's how a level-lowered car should look.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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I can agree with that. Although it is a strong illusion to look past, it is true. My car is perfectly level with the Eibachs, but the front appears higher from most angles.
99 SVTC, T-Red, #652/2760-12.8.1998
Mother#@%@!* did I sound abstract?
I hope it sounded more confusin than that!
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Joined: Apr 2003
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CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
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Very interesting guys. What are your thoughts on just dropping the front? Well...I dunno if I'd like that... Either way, I'd like to drop the car. Sounds like this could be a weekend project sure enough 
1998 SE Sport MTX
Dark Green Pearl
18" Velox Scythes
35% Tinted Around
3inch Cone Filter
Removed : Muffler
======================
Jeremy
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Posts: 5,810
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Mine has the same effect. I'm thinking of adding some kind of a little spacer in the back where the spring sits to raise the back end a little, maybe a half inch or so. I want it to look taller in the rear than the front but I like the way it handles right now.
Any suggestions?
Former owner of '99 CSVT - Silver #222/2760
356/334 wHP/TQ at 10psi on pump gas!
See My Mods
'05 Volvo S40 Turbo 5 AWD with 6spd, Passion Red
'06 Mazda5 Touring, 5spd,MTX, Black
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When I was living in the world of lifted grand cherokee's, they had a coil spacer available in a couple of sizes to give you a bit more space for larger tires...... IIRC, Pepboys or the like may have some type of coil spacers for those with sagging springs,ect. They may work for what you need 
2005 Ford F150 SuperCab FX4
1964 Chevrolet Impala SS
1998 CSVT: 354HP/328TQ @ 10 psi, now gone 
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Originally posted by JeremySeVT:
Very interesting guys. What are your thoughts on just dropping the front?
Dropping, even by cutting springs, will increase your spring rate.
Increasing spring rate at the front without adjusting the rear will yield more understeer.
It will also increase the natural frequency at the front end, upsetting the front-rear balance, which could lead to a "pitching" feeling going over bumps at a certain speed. This is where the discussion gets a little long-winded, so I'll stop there. If you need more info, just ask.
Function before fashion.
'96 Contour SE
"Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998
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This past weekend we lowered Ricks(R96SE) 96 se. Further up in the post someone had put up a link to spring clamps. We found these at a local autozone for $7 a set(i.e. front or rear) I was skeptical about the grade 5 bolts included so we spent another couple bucks on grade 8 bolts and locking nuts with threadlock. We ended up only doing the fronts due to the image it presented. It dropped very nicely, there is only about a 1/2 of fender gap in the front now, and the rear sits very even with the stock se setup. We did have to trim some of the bolts with a cutoff wheel since they would interfere with the spring or strut seat, but everything went smoothly. Hanndling was lsightly increased,not much, and ride felt pretty much the same, softer still than my roush/st200 setup. Hope this helps anyone decide, we chose this method since it could be reversed unlike cutting coils off. Will post pics soon!
Derek Johnson
88 TurboTBird 32psi, t3/t4 bb 50trim, megasquirt, 3 bar map, 50lb inj, roller cam w adj. gear, header, 3" downpipe and full exhaust, gutted intake manifolds, spec stg 3
95SE 3L gone
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Joined: Apr 2003
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CEG\'er
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Awesome stuff. So, from what I'm gathering, it's just best to go drop all around. Since I hear that the front drops about an inch and the rear only about a 1/2.. maybe I'll be alright.  I really need to roll the fenders... darn slices in my tires suck. I'll check back.. thanks for the updates guys. I'd love to see some photos.
1998 SE Sport MTX
Dark Green Pearl
18" Velox Scythes
35% Tinted Around
3inch Cone Filter
Removed : Muffler
======================
Jeremy
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,055
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Here is a pic of Rick's car stock, and then after we put the spring clamps ont he front. The pic is kinda crappy since its at night, better ones are to follow. For those who care, we put the car on the alignment machine today and rear toe was out .10* and the front was out about .55* on each side. Caster and camber stayed within spec. STOCK  CLAMPED 
Derek Johnson
88 TurboTBird 32psi, t3/t4 bb 50trim, megasquirt, 3 bar map, 50lb inj, roller cam w adj. gear, header, 3" downpipe and full exhaust, gutted intake manifolds, spec stg 3
95SE 3L gone
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