Hi everyone, I'm restoring my 56 ford town sedan and need a little guidance when it comes to dismantling the suspension. As you can see I've taken several nuts off but am a little hesitant as to what to do next. I started to loosen the top two nuts and I noticed the tension from the spring moving---Im thinking its gonna fly off pretty hard and fast once I loosen the nuts completely. So what is the proper way to go about dismantling without getting hurt from this point? thx
Put a jack under the lower control arm and jack it up so the suspension isn't at full extension. Disconnect the shock, then knock the spindle loose. You may not have enough weight on the front of the car to compress the spring; at that point, either throw a couple of 100 lb sandbags on the frame or get an internal spring compressor. Whichever way you go, there's a lot of energy stored in that spring so be careful....
Once you put a floor jack under the lower control arm and jack it up some to unload the spring.Un bolt your sway bar link. Then seperate your ball joints . I always leave the shock bolted up till last .Then un bolt the top side of the shock absorber so I can be standing aside and not be face to face from a coil spring unloading in my face or chest. Then slowly lower your jack.
The first thing I take out is the shock. This gives you the option to insert a compressor, but I just let the arm down and the spring comes out without a fight. I did them for years as a pro, never had one take off on me either.