As the title says I was rebuilding my front end on my car this weekend. I had my new ball joints and bushing pressed into the control arms this past week. When I went to put it all back together I couldn't get the springs back in. I have some spring compressors that I got from my friends auto shop and was trying to put it back in. I couldn't get the spring to fit into the top perch with the spring compressor on it. Do you guys have any ideas on how to get them back in?

I tried to compress them as much as possible and use steel cable to keep it compressed and take of the compressors but I still can't seem to get the spring compressed enough. I know that this sounds pretty sketchy, but it seems to work pretty well, and the cable is not slipping at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am ready to take this car to the junkyard. Well not really, but I am pretty frustrated right now.

 

what kind of spring compressor are you using? you need to use one of the ones that goes on teh indside of the spring. get it compressed, the a combination of brute force and fenness you should be able to get it.

 

Yea, I have the ones that go on the outside. If the ones that go on the inside will work, I will try to get those. Thanks for that.

Also does anyone know what the torque of the spindle to the ball joint is? Or do you just tighten it down until you can't anymore?

 

No, there is a torque spec for it... don't go too tight or you might screw up the stud- and that stud and nut is the only thing that'll keep you from losing a wheel when you're driving! Unfortunately I don't remember the spec off hand; it should be in your service manual (Haynes or GM/Helm, and I assume it'd also be in a Chilton's?).

 

ok thanks

 

im not sure but i think it was around 70

 

You will never get anywhere with the strut spring style compressor. Go to Auto zone and use the loaner tool program and get a regular coil spring compressor. In no time you will be done and back on the road agian. Just ask Dewey!! That's what we used on his car.

 

Well, I went to kragen and they said to rent the part it is 60.00. That is pretty expensive. I don't know where there is an autozone in my area though. How much is it to rent from them. Do they return your money when you return the tool.

 

Yes they do. You're really just paying a deposit for the actual tools value to rent it.

 

I went to kragen and rented a spring compressor and got my springs back in. After I got everything put back together and brought my car off of the jack stands the front end sits WAY higher than it used to. Does anyone have any ideas about this. I made sure that the spring coil that mates with the A arm is in the little depression on both sides. I don't know what to do, I just keep running into problems with this thing.

 

the springs just need to settle just take it for a spin it should settle some a couple hundred miles and they should be settled completly:lala:

 

Well, the springs aren't new. They are the stock ones that have been in there since new.

When I replaced the front struts it caused the front to lift up a little bit, but then settled. But these springs are sittings about 4" above stock height. It shouldn't be that bad.

 

I went to the alignment shop to see if they could align my front end and the guy told me that it was sitting high because I tightened my control arm bushings before I dropped the car down which caused my bushings to not have enough room to move. I went home and loosened the bolts like he told me and it still is not settling at all, which he told me it would. Does anyone have any ideas? I made sure that my springs were seated correctly in the control arms and it is still sitting high. I don't know what to do. Maybe I will let the alignment guy try to deal with it unless there is something else that I can try, before I pay someone to do it for me. Also the front suspension is super stiff now. Like it is not traveling up and down at all. If that helps any.

 

So these are the same springs you had in your car before you had the bushings pressed in? There's lots of truth to not tightening your control arms until the car is on the ground and that's the reason you have no suspenion travel right now and probably why it's up so high. loosen them again and move the car a bit and if you can bounce at each corner of the car to ge the suspension settled a bit and then tighten them back up

 

Well, thats what I did, and I drove it for a little bit to see if that would do anything and it did not seem to help. I still have no suspension travel right now.

 

u drove it with the bolts loosened before tightening back up and still no travel?

If so are you torque'ing the bolts to proper spec?

 

Maybe the top of the spring isn't seated right?

 

I know in the bottom they are seated right, so wouldn't that mean that they are seated right in the top.

 

no

 

The top of the spring was in the groove at the top spring seat.

 

Maybe something is binding in the struts? Are both sides acting the same way?

 

The alignment guy told me that when he looked up there the springs (well, atleast the left, couldn't tell on the right) werent seated correctly on top. I looked up there and sure enough they aren't, so it is back to work to get them seated and then back again to get it aligned. Thanks, for all of your help guys, I really needed it.