Hi everybody. Create a new Thread for my front suspension. I've decided to drop down the front suspension (in order to change engine mounts properly) to rebuilt it as nice as possible (sanding, painting, silent blocks changing and so on). I was wondering how to compress springs as the gap seems very close. Is there any special tool to use as my standard one won't fit? Other request: I ordered new insulators for the stabilizer bar. There are much more rigid than the originals and give me a gap of 0.4 up to 0.5 inch between the bracket and the body.
Any idea to resolve this issue (insulators have the same dimensions as the old ones but are not flexible anyway)? Thanks for your help guys...

 

This post should probably be moved to the chassis/suspension section. Hopefully the moderators will see and move it.

For the front springs, you can use an inside spring compressor that goes up through the inside of the spring from the opening in the control arm and then disconnect the ball joint and unbolt the control arm bushing bolts. That's how the service manual says to do it.

The way I usually do it is with jackstands and a floor jack. Get the front of the car up fairly high on jackstands under the frame rails (either side of the transmission) and make sure it's high enough that the front control arm can swing down 90 degrees and have the floor jack underneath. Support the control arm with the floor jack right under the ball joint and then disconnect the ball joint from the knuckle. Slowly and carefully lower the jack and let the control arm rotate downward while standing off to the side. Once the control arm lowers down as far as it will go on it's own (not hitting the ground or the jack), there will be a little bit of compression still on the spring, but not much. Use a long prybar and pop the spring out of the spring pocket in the control arm while standing to the side. Going back together in reverse, this works better with lowering springs since they are a little shorter. Stock springs are tough because of the length, so if you are going to stay with stock springs, then the service manual method is better for reassembly in that case.

For your sway bar bushings, I'm not entirely following what you are saying. If you're talking about the bushings that locate the sway bar to the frame, first you need to make sure you have the correct bushings for the diameter of your sway bar. There were a number of different bar thicknesses that came on these cars. If that's OK and your issue is that you can't get the bar to rotate up against the frame, have you disconnected the endlinks from the control arms? I typically will attach the sway bar to frame bushings first, and then connect the end links, making sure both control arms are in their fully downward (strut fully extended) position. If you're doing the bushings, the end links are probably shot as well, unless they have already been replaced.

 

I recently ponied up for an OTC 7045B. I decided I'm too old for the close calls and sketchy rigging. Haven't tried it yet but am looking forward to not dying later this spring.

 

Thanks for your clear reply. My sway bar is 27mm thick and my bushings too. Seems they fit well together. The issue is that bushings are very hard and do not crash when they are tightened, leaving a big gap between frame and bushings support

 

Personally, I wouldn't remove the springs just to change motor mounts. 'Been there - done that. It's not necessary. 'Just need to use long 1/4"-drive extensions and a swivel socket. There's a video on YouTube by "Tony The Technician" demonstrating that, and it worked for me the last time I changed mounts...

 

That tool looks nearly identical to the Kent-Moore spring compressor I used as a GM mechanic back in the day. A solid tool that gave me confidence that I'd be able to get the job done and live to tell about it.

 

Just bought an inside spring compressor, 30$ only. Safety first! I'm on the way to check out everything on the front suspension, prefer to drop it down. I will send you some pictures further.

 

$30 is pretty cheap. Not sure I would trust it.
Good luck...

 

^^^^ This.

Geez; be careful...........