What a day. Me and my father worked 8 hours straight JUST installing one front spring. This is rediculous, we MUST have been doing something wrong. I would like the passenger side to go much smoother.

Started trying it the "traditional" way, by leaving the two A-arm pivot bolts installed and lowering the ball joint. After about 10 minutes it was clear that there was no way this method was going to work.

So we decided to go with hanging the A-arm by the ball joint and dropping the inner side of it. First of all, it doesnt just "drop". Those A-arm bushings are a TIGHT fit in the K-member. By the way they are brand new Napa Chassis bushings. (did not want poly for those) With the bolts out we still have to use a bar to get the A-arms out of their slots. Then we installed the spring, indexed it, and started jacking it up. Not only was it clear that it was going to be a BITCH just getting the bushing holes to line up with the crossmember holes, but the car started lifting up off the jackstands, and we still had 3 more inches. Full weight car with motor in it by the way. Jackstands are on the subframe on either side of the transmission.

So we realized this wasn't going to work. So we got a spring compressor and started compressing the spring to the A-arm. Got the spring indexed and the new isolator taped on. After managing to get the spring compressed and seated, we had one hell of a time trying to get those holes to line up. With a jack under the A-arm it was damn near impossible to move the A-arm bushing part inside the crossmember to get those holes aligned. We used all kinds of bars and levers to push the A-arm this way, that way, up, down, it was so hard. He even had TWO jacks under the A-arm because we were at the same time fighting a new Koni strut that the A-arm was hanging from. The spring was being held in the spring pocket the whole time with a compressor, which I as I type this I am begining to think may have been our problem.

So how in the heck are we supposed to easily get those holes lined up using that method? They were greased, trust me. 6 of the 8 hours we worked today were just trying to line those holes up, with 3 guys working on it.

 

About right ..... They aint easy. I bolt the a arm on, use the compressor, seat the spring in the arm and jack the a arm by the ball joint up. Usually takes me about 2 hours per side lol. I chipped my knee socket last year when I was compressing the spring and it broke loose nailing my knee. Wasnt fun.

 

takes me under 2 hours to do both sides usually. drop the 2 a-arm mounting bolt holes and pull spring, put in the other spring indexed in the a-arm and jack the a-arm up from the innermost region that you can get at. then the jack has wheels to move the a-arm the small amount over you need. I also chain the spring to the a-arm in case it were to jump. If the car starts to lift up I'll jump on the front end or in the engine bay to add extra weight to get the spring to compress a little more.

 

Rolling jack - of course! My jack has wheels, BUT, I have a driveway with an unusual surface, its NOT flat concrete. Its like large cemented gravel, like somebody layed concrete and put this gravel over it. It is VERY coarse. Once the jack has any kind of force on it the metal wheels "find a spot" in the rocks and there is no moving it.

To everybody else who used this method - how vital is easily rolling the jack around?

 

Should always have a smooth surface under the jack so it can creep while being jacked up. Remember it has to follow an arc as it goes up, dosnt go straight up. So either the jack creeps under the car, or the car gets pulled towards the jack (and possibly falls off the jackstands). But as far as having the jack movable in the scenario described to assist with the spring install, I'm not entirely sure. I've always done it by first chaining the spring to the k-member, then attach the balljoint, then put the floorjack under the a-arm, jack it up slowly while making sure the spring gets indexed properly, then once its set jack it up till the a-arm tabs are close, and finally using a long screwdriver to align the a-arm to k-member bolts. Like you said its a tight fit, especially with new bushings. I used a small dab of chassis grease when installing mine, helps them slide in and fit easier. Probably most important thing is chaining up the spring. Safety first!

 

I guess me and my friend got lucky with his firebird, we jacked the car up on blocks, put the a-arm back on and jacked up the a-arm a little to hold the spring just sittng there jacked up the a-arm and just kicked it in, took about 15-20 minutes.

 

Darkshot, I feel your pain. Each time I have done the spring swap, it has gone fairly well. As everyone has mentioned here, use a CHAIN to keep the new spring from taking your head off should something go wrong. I have never put a new spring in by removing the control arm bushing bolts. Put your floor jack under the control arm, remove the ball joint nut & slowly lower the A-arm & remove old spring. Save yourself lots of time & use a spring compressor to put new springs in. Compress the new spring, tape the insulator on the top, index spring & jack up A - Arm. Each time I put new springs in I had to use a spacer on the spring compressor (3" piece of 3/4" pipe) to compress it enough to get it in the cradle & index it. This may be your problem with the compressor - get a 3" long 3/4 inch pipe nipple at Home Depot & you'll be good to go.
Good Luck,
Corky

 

I forgot to mention that I was using the nipple. When you do it that way what exactly is your process? Are you compressing the spring to the A-arm? Or just compressing the spring by itself and slipping it in and pushing the A-arm up?

 

I compress the spring outside of the A-Arm using an air wrench, then slip it in the upper frame & arm - just barely fits!
Corky

 

I did it xpndbles way (the common way).

With the motor out of the car, it was hard to use the weight of the car to compress the spring, so I had to wait until the engine was in. I'm using very stiff springs, (moog 5664's, ~760lbs/in), and the weight of the car with a barebones 350 in it was enough.

When you're jacking the inner part of the a-arm, and it seems like you're lifting the car, it's not because of spring force, and the car not weighing enough, it's because the a-arm is catching on something. Pry it a bit, kick it a bit (this is where you want to be a bit careful, or chain it), and it'll pop into place. Usually the a-arm needs to go "outboard" about 1/2" or so. That takes some finesse, but a prybar will work perfectly.

I never used a chain or anything, and i'm not particularly brave. Thing is, by this point the spring is 80% hidden in the k-member pocket, it's not really going anywhere. I used an extra jackstand under the a-arm in case the jack "failed", the a-arm would drop down until it hit the other jackstand.

Remember you can jack up the a-arm into the car, or put the stand under the a-arm and lower the car with the jack. 6 of one half a dozen of the other right? Just think about it, and choose your favorite (I think I jacked up the arm, FWIW).

Good luck! (oh, did you do the motor mounts while the springs were out? lot easier to do then...)

 

This is the method ive used many times.To remove i first install then tighten my spring compressor onto spring,scissor jack under ball joint end of A-arm,raise A-arm to compress spring a little more,tighten spring compressor again, disconnect strut( on top),remove spring,install compressor on new spring,install spring into crossmember then down thru A-arm,index spring,jack up A-arm,re-install strut on top,lower A-arm.Re-connect anything you unbolted/disconnected(sway bar,etc).Usually take about 1.5 hours per side.Maybe slighty less sometimes.

 

oh i love working at an auto repair shop with racks and all that good stuff. im so spoiled!