Shortening front struts Q?

[NorCalDime]

Soo i was thinking a few weeks ago about shortening struts. I know the tubes get cut down and then new inserts go in that are shorter, and if you go to low then you bottom out.

 

Now what i was thinking is if you are bottoming out with your particular insert/ride height why cant you take your insert and machine down the top a few inches, rethread it and go with that?

 

Is that feasable? I have looked at a few diff post on shortened struts and still dont 100% understand it, or what inserts to use. But i do have access to a nice big lathe and this kinda got my attention

[banzai510(hainz)]

the 280zx struts you could machine off the spacer they put on the bottom of the cartridge and make it shorter and the cap comes with the cartridge. but have to remember if running the stock lower perch you can only go so far bfore the perch will hit top of the tire.

 

I hear people using VW/Audi FOX size shocks as they are shorter. Icehouse ran this on his.

I assusme youll be doing the coil over thing so I dont think the coil will affect the tire unless you have a real positive off set rim.

 

Audi/fox are not know as supreme racing rigs so I dont know if the name brand manufactueres make the better shocks for this rig.

[mklotz70]

find my thread on strut mods. There's pics of them disassembled so you can see what they look like internally. The cartridges are basically the same, just self contained.

 

The prob with simply turning down the shaft(I'm assuming that's the part you're talking about) and re-threading it, is that, it's not the part bottoming out. The springs will bottom out if stock length, or the upper strut mounting assy will hit the top of the strut tube. If you machine and re-thread the shaft, it will keep your car from going up as far, but will not affect how far it goes down. You have to shorten the main tube length to allow it to go lower.

[datrod]

Well I guess I don't need to say anything. Mike covered it pretty good. :D

[NorCalDime]

Well i guess that all makes sense lol. I always assumed the insert was bottoming out and not the tube part hitting.

 

I still dont quite get the concept.

 

So the strut tube ,the part with the spindle on it has the hole, and then the insert is like a normal shock that fits inside and has the screw top to hold it in?

[thisismatt]

Let me explain it with a pictar!

 

 

Left is stock strut/insert/spring with 6" of compression travel.

 

Middle is stock strut/insert, shorter spring for a 4" drop and now only 2" of compression travel before the strut assembly tops out (could be insert topping out, spring coils stacking, or strut hitting the top hat).

 

Right is a shortened strut with a shorter insert and a lower spring perch giving a 4" drop but retaining 5" of compression travel assuming appropriate spring that isn't going to stack its coils under 5" of compression.