Ok, I'm new to lowering a car but I think i have most of it figured out: Step 1: Place car on jack stands Step 2: Remove shock and anything else in the way. Step 3: Place jack under lower control arm(LCA) and remove 3 LCA mount bolts because i don't have a pickle fork anymore. Step 4: Lower jack very slowly Step 5: Retrieve spring from other side of garage. Step 6: Cut desired amount of spring off Step 7: Buy spring compressor so you can install the damn thing without killing yourself. This is where i am hung up. I borrowed one from autozone. It has the two hooks at the top and a plate that is supposed to be slid in at the bottom. I have tried to compress the coil with it in and out of the car but the plate slips every time. I am down to six uninjured fingers so i would like to know if i am doing something wrong or if i should get a compresser that has hooks on the top and bottom ends. It seems to me that it would work better but i might just be mad at the tool currently out in my driveway somewhere. Please help. The car is a '62 Chevy Impala sedan. Thank you.
I know that what i'm about to mention isn't "Fail Safe" by any means... i'm keeping in mind that you do want to return the spring compressor unmodified so you can get your money back from the rental. Take some bailing wire and loop it around the spring, the flat piece on the bottom and the bolt going to the hooks. Loop the wire around on both sides so you form an X at the intersection of the bolt, spring and plate. Be generous with the wire. If the tool was cheap, and you know you're going to do this again some time in the future, break out the welder and weld a couple of "locating tabs" on the flat piece. I've used both methods and still have 10 fingers. Be careful though... that shit gets spooky sometimes!
I cut the coils on a friend's '62. Jack it up, pull the shock, let it down, put a flat bar through the spring, jack it up with a bottle jack through the shock hole until the coil lifts off the seat, cut off one coil in two pieces. Pull the pieces out, lift up the car, replace the shock. The whole process takes less than an hour. Alden
i did all my cars but 1 without a compressor (and i have one ). with 2 coils cut off you can just put it in the pocket, line it up and jack away. my girls '61 bel air was a stock spring and needed to compress it and i used the same set up you doing. the only difference was i popped it at the ball joint, which is way easier. you put the jack under the cup, insert spring (un-compressed), align spring in pockets (the lower part of the spring will just barely sit in the cup), you could use a chain just in case it pops out and start jacking.
That's damn brilliant right there.. Had a friends dad who used to cut them with a torch, about 1/2 a round at a time. He was so good at it he wouldn't even take the shocks out.. never nicked the a-arms either.... Brian
Good method. On the plate, I weld some beds for the spring so it won't slip. Drill a 9/16" hole it the center. Stick the plate high enough that you leave enough room so you can get the plate out when finished. Then use a stick of 1/2" Allthread thru the top shock hole with a thrust bearing & a thick washer ... get 4 people to sit of the front end while you tighten the nut, then jack it up by the crossmember & cut away ... when you let the tension off the Allthread, be sure to seat the spring. Use your jack stands while you're down there.
I never had any luck with spring compressers, but found that if I put a spring against the chuck of my lathe, and then using the flat side of the tool post, it's fairly easy to move the saddle towards the chuck and compress the spring safely, once the spring is compressed, I lock the saddle and spend a little time looping polyprop rope from the second coil to the last but one, until I have gone right round with loops an inch or so apart, tie off the end well, and release the saddle and the spring can just be popped in place, once in and the spring safely constained just cut the rope.
I've never used a coil spring compressor when installing dropped coils (or factory coils). I did a write up for another O/T board that I'm a member of that includes several vids showing how to remove and install the coils. http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=338491&highlight=worthless No I didn't think I sounded so much like a hick until I watched these vids.
For a tri five Chevy I found the best way to remove a spring is to 1. Remove the shock absorber 2. Use 2 ft of 5/8" UNC threaded rod though the top shock hole and through the bottom shock hole with a 3/8" plate with a 3/4" hole in it, plenty of anti sieze grease, take up the tension in the spring until the ball joint is unloaded, then remove the top ball joint from the spindle. (use a lock nut on the top) 3. Remove the 4 x lower a arm bushing mount bolts. 4. Wind down the lower threaded rod nut and relieve the spring tension until it can be removed by hand. Reverse to re-install. My tool has been refined over the years, it now uses a ball type washer so it can load at an angle well and I also made a 1 ft long 1/2" drive tube socket so I can drive it with an air wrench (I'm lazy!)
aceuh said: No I didn't think I sounded so much like a hick until I watched these vids.[/QUOTE] I'm the same way man. The camera makes me sound more Mississippi than regular. Thanks for the advice. I should take the ball joint off.
I rented one of those dangerous bastards for my sons 66 Mustang, After watching the fingers ALMOST slip from the spring during disassembly, I rigged up a chain with the engine hoist. (through the shock tower from the top, chain INSIDE the spring) The spring could not get away from the chain. I think my solution was way more safe than the compressor I had been using. It came apart and went together like a cool breeze...
Holy Moley! Ain't you guys ever had: 1) a job in a real garage; 2) a lesson in simple geometry... 1) Jack the car high enough in front to work on, place stands under the frame aft of front wheels. 2) Place a jack under the control arm spring to be removed. 3) Place a jack stand UNDER the REAR bumper diagonal to the spring to be compressed. 4) Jack up the control arm, compressing the spring. (the total weight of the car is utilized, Not the see-saw effect of support the rear at the axle centerline. (duh)
I do at least 2-3 spring jobs a month and I don't even own a spring compressor. We are talking about coil springs, not struts right? If so, it's an easy job, but you do have to be carefull. Put the car on jackstands. Take off the shock. Loosen top spindle nut. DO NOT TAKE IT OFF! Loosen tie rod end nut. Turn wheels till you have a good swing at the broad side of the tie rod. Get a 3-5lb sledge and give it a few whacks till the tie rod drops loose. NO IT WILL NOT DAMAGE THE TIE ROD! Just don't hit the threads. Put a jack under the lower control arm and just put tension on it. Turn the wheels to whichever side gives you a good swing on the broadest part of the top of the spindle. Again, use your hammer and take a few good whacks at it until the spindle comes off the ball joint. Belive me, you will know when it comes off. This is why the jack is under the control arm. Now that the spindle is loose, jack the control arm up enough to get the spindle nut off. Now comes the fun part. Move to the side(either front or back, as long as you aren't in front of the spring in case it does go flying) and SLOWLY LET THE JACK DOWN. DID I MENTION SLOWLY? In most cases this is enough lower control arm travel to get the spring out. Every once in a while you might have to loosen the lower control arms, but I will try to push the control arm down with my foot and pull the spring before I loosen the arm. Now back in! Put the spring in the lower cup and index the spring to the stop. Put the jack back under the control arm. Jack up while holding the spring to make sure the spring is going into the upper spring seat. Once you feel tension on the spring, stop! take a look at where the spring is. If it is in the spring seat both upper and lower your good. Continue jacking the control arm up while guiding the spindle to line up with the ball joint. Once it is all the way up, all you have to do is tighten the upper ball joint, the tie rod end, and put a new lower shock on. Springs dont fly if you pay attention to what your doing. The weight of the car is your spring compressor. If you do not feel safe without a spring compressor, use a piece of chain around the spring and the control arm. Once you have done this a few times you will wonder why you were wasting time trying to use a cheap spring compressor to begin with!
Could be more than one way to skin a cat,,,, what I did was easy-cheesy, really fast, and there was no risk of the spring going anywhere... Granted, this would not work on a lot of cars... but I usually always figure something out even though I never worked in a shop....
I bought a bazallion dollar Snap On compresser, and I was still scared shit less installing my Galaxie springs on a bare frame. Be real careful, because that is some serious energy being smashed up, there.
Well folks, I got the old girl back together. I do not have a welder so i could not try some of the ideas. I used a KD Tools spring compressor. I built something to hold the spring while I compressed it. I took a 2x4 and put a 6" eyebolt through one end and parked my truck on top of the other end. Placed the first coil through the eye and started cranking. It not only gave the spring something to push against while being compressed(the board), the eye held the spring in place when the worn out rental tool let go. Scared the shit out of me but I still have a face. I was able to compress the springs enough to get them in place and jack the lower control arm up to install the cross shaft mount bolts. I can only imagine that this was the most difficult way to do what I did. I will post some pics when my wife gets home and shows me how. Thanks again guys.
I live on a dirt road and the county grades it twice a year. I'd rather not make road grading a hobby. I will put her down more when i move back to civilization.
The Jalopy Journal
