I'm swapping the front struts and spings and i got all the old stuff out but i can't get the new front spings in. i have spring compressors but they go on the outside of the spring and when they're on the sping won't fit up into the opening....i'll get some pics tomarrow to show how far i need to go, but this sucks. any how-to sites out there?

 

you need a compressor that goes on the inside of the spring, and you also need a piece of pipe to make it easier to tighten the compressor. the pipe is like a stack of washers place the pipe on the threaded rod before the nut.

 

I rented the spring compressor from AutoZone. FREE.

You can buy a 5" pipe nipple in the plumbing section of Home Depot. I just bought one for my swap last weekend. Cost me $0.97 cents.

This is a link to some pics of EBMiller's spring swap:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tarami...er72/my_photos

THANKS ED!!!

 

Have fun. I was compressing a spring with the AZ brand compressor and it snapped while compressing coming back and chipping my knee socket. Had to go to the hospital because it hurt so bad. A lot of cussing swearing, sweating and it'll go in. What i found was put it an an extreme angle so the lower parts slips onto the lip, but just jam it up to the top (it wont sit right) Then jack up the a arm. Once you have it more compressored put the compressor back on and lower A arm so you can slip it into the top groove. Then re jack it up. Took me about 5 hours to do. Lowering springs should be easier though.

 

Wow, lots of stuff I don’t like here…

Cinder blocks to hold up the car… never use anything that has a tendancy to crumble to hold up a car, no matter how many people have gotten away with it.

Spring compressors and other BS, breaking the balljoint/spindle side… All bad ideas. Leave (or reassemble) the ball joint, spinde and strut assembly and remove the pivot bolts. Put the spring in the spring pocket and jack the a-arm into position. It works great with all but the longest v8 springs (never tried v6 springs), it’s fast, easy and much safer then using a spring compressor since even if the spring was going to fly out of the pocket (which I’m pretty sure it can not doing the job like this) the strut, spindle and a-arm assembly are between you and it.

 

My springs were lowering springs so I didn't need the compressor for the re-installation. It worked fine for the removal of the stock springs.

I didn't need to remove the A-arm or the knuckle either.

 

Aye. My Eibachs went in without a compressor. I had to jam it in and turn the A-arm up, but it does go in and out without a spring compressor using a jack.

 

see? and for some reason thats my biggest problem right now. Im having trouble getting my front pro-kit springs in, and was unsure whether I needed to compress them back in or not. I get them in the hole, but it doesnt look like they will sit in the a-arm correctly if I start jacking it up.....do I just keep going until it pops in place.....Im so lost and it's really putting my project off

 

You know where the end of the coil is supposed to line up between the 2 drain holes? I got the spring into place about 90 degrees off, and then spun them into place properly between the holes.

 

that just might give me the clearance I need , Ill give er a try

 

Tie a rope around one of the coils and tie it to the car on a short leash.

If the spring come out under compression if will not be a projectile.

BE SAFE.

I have done a spring swap with lowered springs on both sides in 17 min. After the car was in the air and tiers and sway bar off.

With my springs the tier rod does not even need to be removed.

Once you get the knack it is not so hard.

BE SAFE Good luck

 

If you’re really worried about the spring leaving while it’s under enough tension that it will hurt you (compressed springs could easily hurt you), then use a chain, not rope. Rope will tear, chain will not, I”ve seen stuff like this bend a bolt put through chain links to strap the chain around the part, I’m sure a rope wouldn’t have held

 

yep use a chain with a bolt in it. saafety first.


when i instraled my pro kit i was lifting the car and tilting it trying to seat the spring. kinda a unsettling experiance seeing the jack stands lifting from the sides... i used the compressor to install them after i seen that.

jeff