Rear Springs removal and intallation

[Longroof79]

Glad to hear that the rear spring install went well. Man, the rear does sit kinda high, though. I'm guessing these were cargo coils.
As for doing the fronts. You'll need a good floor jack, jack stands, coil spring compressor, ball joint and tie rod pickle forks, and a decent set of wrenches, ratchet and sockets, torque wrench.

I would advise you to read up about doing the procedure in a good manual before attempting it. It can be a dangerous job if care is not exercised.

Using a piece of chain, or cable thru the spring and control arm, and bolted together while you're lowering the jack. Just alittle safe guard incase the spring lets go. Guys who have done this job numerous times would know how to handle the jack effectively.

 

[v2vera]

Yea the back sits pretty high lol but I kind of like it like that. I got a chilton's book online for $7 bucks the other day 😀 I will read up on it. I might as well replace the ball joints while im in there right? I have been trying to get a hold of my buddy to help me but no look finding him. So it looks like im going at this alone. ill let you guys know how it goes.. Going to try to get this done today.. Im tired of the front bouncing up and down like if i was on a cruise lol.

 

[gk666]

i didnt read anything anyone said because they all said the same thing... its probably the easiest thing you will ever do... unbolt shocks raise it up remove and replace set her down g2g... did this a few weekends ago myself didnt even have to remove the brake line and it took like 20 minutes on a lift maybe

btw i got cc651s i dunno if you were looking for a lift but mine turned out great

 

[Peter]

ya it's not a bad idea to do the ball joints at the same time, certainly extra work but your there so might as well do them. you will need a grinder for ball joints as the originals are riveted in, the ones you will replace them with you will be able to bolt in

 

[cdg1984]

Vic,
Replacing rear springs are easier to do than doing front springs. You would have to jack up the rear of the car. Hopefully you own a decent floor jack and jackstands. You can jack up the rear of the car by placing the jack under the rear axle/differential.
Jack it high enough to work under the car comfortably..and then place the jack stands under the frame just forward of the rear wheels...where the jack points are. You'll see them. Keep the floorjack under the rear differential and proceed by unbolting the shock absorbers. With the shocks unbolted, you can then slowly lower the jack and pull the rear springs out one at a time.
Replace them one at a time. Gradually raise the floorjack, and then proceed to tighten the shock bolts.
It's as easy as that. ( Just make sure you secure the car with good jack stands.) Then raise the car again and remove the jackstands and lower the car to the ground. That's all there is to it. Piece o' cake. Be safe and be careful.

Got a question for ya. After unbolting the shocks, if the hydraulic in the floor jack were to fail, would the rear come shooting down with a bunch of force because of the springs?

 

[Bonnewagon]

Don't forget the control arm bushings too! As long as it's apart do it all you'll be glad you did. There are two ways to get the front spring down, each has it's merits, but whichever way you chose, do as Jack said and chain that spring to the arm and treat a compressed spring like dynamite. It can and will harm if not kill you if it lets go. One way is to secure a jack under the control arm, compress the spring a bit, then unbolt the arm and ball joint and lower the arm/spring down with the jack. And by jack I mean a decent 3 ton from Sears or similar, not a cheap-*ss dime store 2 ton POS. The other way (which I prefer) is to engage a GOOD brand of internal spring compressor to compress the spring and then swing the control arm down and remove spring. Again, treat the spring like nitroglycerin-it can hurt you! I use a modification of this where I drill the upper shock mount hole so the spring compressor shaft goes up through it, then use just the threaded set of fingers to grab the spring and pull it up into the spring well, then swing the arm away and loosen the compressor to drop the spring down. Loosening a ball joint first, while there is pressure on it, helps a lot. Loosen the nut. Then either use a pickle fork/ sledgehammer to whack it loose, or just a sledge. Using just the sledge requires a keen eye and some skill. If you whack the outside of the steering knuckle adjacent to the ball joint, it deforms just enough so the ball joint pops loose. That is why you need to have the nut in place and a jack under the control arm, so it doesn't fly apart. This is just advice, so please read up from several sources so you know what you are getting into, as again, SAFETY-SAFETY-SAFETY!!!

 

[Longroof79]

Don't forget the control arm bushings too! As long as it's apart do it all you'll be glad you did. There are two ways to get the front spring down, each has it's merits, but whichever way you chose, do as Jack said and chain that spring to the arm and treat a compressed spring like dynamite. It can and will harm if not kill you if it lets go. One way is to secure a jack under the control arm, compress the spring a bit, then unbolt the arm and ball joint and lower the arm/spring down with the jack. And by jack I mean a decent 3 ton from Sears or similar, not a cheap-*ss dime store 2 ton POS. The other way (which I prefer) is to engage a GOOD brand of internal spring compressor to compress the spring and then swing the control arm down and remove spring. Again, treat the spring like nitroglycerin-it can hurt you! I use a modification of this where I drill the upper shock mount hole so the spring compressor shaft goes up through it, then use just the threaded set of fingers to grab the spring and pull it up into the spring well, then swing the arm away and loosen the compressor to drop the spring down. Loosening a ball joint first, while there is pressure on it, helps a lot. Loosen the nut. Then either use a pickle fork/ sledgehammer to whack it loose, or just a sledge. Using just the sledge requires a keen eye and some skill. If you whack the outside of the steering knuckle adjacent to the ball joint, it deforms just enough so the ball joint pops loose. That is why you need to have the nut in place and a jack under the control arm, so it doesn't fly apart. This is just advice, so please read up from several sources so you know what you are getting into, as again, SAFETY-SAFETY-SAFETY!!!

=======================================================================================================
Thanks Mark!
All good advice. You might also want to check the condition of the control arm bushings as Mark stated. Also ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. Once everything is apart, you might want to consider rebuilding the front end. New upper and lower ball joints, idler arm, center link, swaybar bushings, tie rod ends, shocks, etc.
It's a good time to do all the front end components while it's all accessible.
Check around for rebuild kits that include new ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, idler arm, swaybar links and bushings. You might do better buying it as a package rather than buying a piece at a time.
And again, we can't stress SAFETY enough.

 

[v2vera]

So I finally got a hold of my buddy. He knows more about this kind of stuff and has the proper tools. His phone has been off for non payment, so made him a deal to help me and Ill pay his phone bill..He has cricket so wont be more than 40 bucks or so.

Ok so so far Upper and lower ball joints, springs, bushings, what else? Do you guys think I should the shocks? When I did the back they where in good shape. I looked at the front and they are the same brand as the back also found the receipts from previous owner in the envelope I got when I purchased the car. They where changed 10/08 think they are still in good shape? What else should I check while i have that stuff off?

 

[Bonnewagon]

." Im tired of the front bouncing up and down like if i was on a cruise lol." That there says to me BAD SHOCKS but 3 years is kinda new. Weak springs make the front droop but shocks control the bouncy bounce. When you have it apart, compress/decompress them by hand. They should be stiff and slow to react, if not, junk em'.

 

[v2vera]

[/quote]
=======================================================================================================
Thanks Mark!
All good advice. You might also want to check the condition of the control arm bushings as Mark stated. Also ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. Once everything is apart, you might want to consider rebuilding the front end. New upper and lower ball joints, idler arm, center link, swaybar bushings, tie rod ends, shocks, etc.
It's a good time to do all the front end components while it's all accessible.
Check around for rebuild kits that include new ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, idler arm, swaybar links and bushings. You might do better buying it as a package rather than buying a piece at a time.
And again, we can't stress SAFETY enough.[/quote]


sorry missed your post..Do they sell this kits like at a local parts shop? or do I have to special order through summit or a site like that?