I just installed my GF210's today and the tutorial I used didn't tell me to cut the bump stops. However, I saw a different tutorial later that said to cut about 1" off of them. First off, what are they? Are they the rubber tube covering the strut, or are they that rubber disc type thing at the top? I don't see how you could cut 1" off the rubber disc at the top, it's really thick and hardly 3" tall... how would removing 1/3 of that help me?? Or, cutting the weak rubber cover around the sides for that matter?

Why does the one tutorial tell me to cut the bump stop anyways?

 

Oh, crap. I did a search and it turns out the bump stop is INSIDE the boot. Does that mean I will have to de-assemble the front suspension again and all that? Is it really that bad to drive around with the bump stop still at stock length?? And last question I promise, could I get to the bump stop by removing the wheel, moving back the boot, and cutting it through the gaps in the spring without having to take the entire damn thing apart again?

 

By cutting a bump stop you give a car with lower springs a travel to work!
If you do not you will end up bottoming too much which can lead to loss of car control under extreme cases. I suggest you do it!
You can't do it on the car. Front dust cover is ribbed and flexible, but bump stop is way up top almost entirely inside top perch. Beside you would not wont to gauge shock rod even that high. If it does compress that much it would damage seals inside shock absorber.
Back end is even more complicated since in order to remove dust boots, which are solid btw, you will need to drill metal sleeve which was pressed into the shock rod. Just drill until you get to the rod and then use lock jaws to turn the sleeve 360* few times (drill tip itself is conic in shape so you can't drill all the way into the rod). By squeezing the shaft with lock jaws in position where hole is visible in between lock jaws you will elongate diameter of the shaft and slide it easier over rod threads. My suggestion, just keep turning the shaft with lock jaws on as if shaft is threaded like threaded nut. This way you won't damage rod threads.
Couple of pics I took while I was changing springs:



Good luck!

Ivan

 

Ok... I'll do it sometime soon. Taking apart the strut should be easy now, especially since I won't need a spring compressor to take out the GF210 front springs. I was definitely not aware that you had to remove the stops for the rear springs though, are you serious? None of the tutorials said I had to.

 

Just to be clear, do not permanently remove rear bump stops, just shorten them and put them back in just like on the front.
While front travel will stay consistent, rear depends on how many passengers or people you have on the back. It very easy to exceed rear travel. I would shorten rear ones regardless if some spring manufacturers do not instruct you to do so. Most of them do!

Ivan

 

Are you sure cutting down the rear bump stops is necessary, especially since the GF210 only lowers about 1" in the rear and compensates with higher spring rates? I honestly have not heard of anyone else doing it.

 

Well, I do not know what "instruction manual's" you have. Is any one of them specifically from Tanabe and GF210?
I just checked their website and they do not have any installation instructions for download. Your best bet is to contact them or FitFreak member that installed them and ask.
GF210 lower your car 1.5"F/0.9'R.
I installed quite a few springs on my cars over the years and every single installation instruction that came with them instructed me to cut the bump stop. It makes sense to do so on the first place.
Put 2-3 friends on the back and take them for a ride. If you are bottoming out on the back - they will know, trust me!

 

whoa whoa whoa! i was gonna put springs on myself, but now this sounds way to complicated... guess i'll look into shop charges for install.

 

Nah, it's not that complicated to do. I did it with hardly any mechanical experience in about 6 hours. It was a lot of fun, too. The lowest I could find at a shop was $200!!

I'm just going to drive around with the non-cut bump stops and I'll do it if I find that I bottom out too easily. Right now it seems perfectly fine.

 

nm. huy explained it to me in person today. those pix def helped me understand what exactly i'm supposed to do now. install is still on for thursday. i'll keep y'all posted!

 

LOL!

Go ahead, tell 'em why you MAD son!

 

lol! it's actually quite easy to do.

i haven't cut out 20mm off the rear on my DF210 app. i can't get the
car to compress enough in the rear to hit them unless im over very
rough roads/railroad tracks.

ive done some quick sharp turns but i cant get the car to lean enough
to hit them enough to cause the tail to slip out. so i decided to just
leave them alone in the back for now.

the front i cut off 20mm.

 

one last quick question before i try this in the morning...

i see in that pic of the bump stop that there's a big end and a small end. does it matter which end to cut? as far as a right/wrong way? if so, would it hurt anything if the wrong end is cut off? or is it perhaps preference, like does it have a different effect on the suspension one way or the other?

 

I personally would cut it from the bottom, the larger end. the reason for this is that the top, tapered end, still fits up into the upper strut bushing nicely. I'm not sure really how much it matters but all the bump stops I've cut have been from the bottom.

 

I didn't cut any of the bump stop on my car when I installed my DF210. Is that bad if I don't?

 

even tho your advice is contrary to the pic, at least you give an explanation to back it up. thansk. i will take both into consideration when i'm all up in it tomorrow. and again, afterwards, be back with an update.

 

Larger/thicker end is on the top. Smaller/thinner end is on the bottom.
You can see how clean top end is since it is inserted deep into top perch and ribbed plastic booth.
Cut smaller/softer end.

Ivan

 

I will be installing some Skunk2 springs tomorrow. Any need to cut the bump stops for these? Also, i haven't received the springs yet to see if instructions are included with them (i am at work and they were delivered already). I'm just eager to know beforehand if this needs to be done/preferred to be done.

 

just did mine yesterday. check the spring comparison thread in the suspension forum. although not cutting the bump stops does not prevent you from putting the springs back on, best to do it for ride comfort and cuz of simple physics. i highly HIGHLY suggest you do. just look at the pic above for a perfect example.

 

Found out how much to cut RIGHT after i posted that, from this. Thanks anyway.