Any tips on front spring removal with no engine?

 

Removal is easy. Getting it back in without the engine weight is the harder part.

Put a floor jack underneath the a-arm. I like to remove the nut from the top of the shock and then slowly lower down the a-arm. The strut will flop around once free from the shock tower. It's pretty heavy with the brakes attached and all, so I remove the brake line so the hose doesn't get damaged.

Some people instead prefer to remove the pivot bolts behind the a-arm. That will leave the strut in place and you don't have to mess with the brake lines. But it can be a real pain in the rear to get the holes lined up again on the way back up.

Personally, I find it way easier to line up the strut and that's why I do it the way I do. And I don't have to work under the car either. There's just no way in hell I'm going to reach under to install a-arm bolts with everything teetering on the jack. But I have short springs and that makes it all possible. I don't even need a spring compressor.

 

Thanks man the spring wouldnt come out and was hung up on the inside lip. 6 foot 2x4 and some leverage and out it popped.

 

Ok now its time to put the springs back in. I have no engine or tranny so when i try jacking it up it just lifts the whole car. Any tips short of buying 400 ilbs of sand?

 

Get an internal spring compressor

 

two good buddies and a case.... in some cases the mrs. werks...

 

If the mrs. is a replacement for 400 pounds of sand you don't need a third gen , perhaps a Peterbilt or a Mack would be best .

Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot .....

 

 

The hardest thing I ever did on my thirdgen was swap springs with no engine or tranny. This was 17 years ago, and I never cussed so much in my life. What a nightmare. I stacked nearly 1000 pounds of sand on the car, and that almost wasn't enough. Spring compressor was useless. Never again. I wish I had Drew's advice back then...

 

Use a spring compressor or put the engine in first. Duh

 

Put another jack under the opposite back corner of the car and start lifting, it shifts the whole weight of the remaining car to the opposite front corner letting you compress most springs, assuming they're short enough to get in the spring pocket without a spring compressor. FWIW, this is where pulling the A-arm bolts outshines because you can get a longer front spring installed without a spring compressor and you have the built-in safety of the strut, spindle, brakes... between you and the spring shooting out making it MUCH harder to get hurt.

 

Don't wanna buy it? steal it.

 

Ok definitive answer throw the damn spring compressors in the trash. I dont know who posted it but i just strapped the cars body to the jack. Badda Bing - Badda boom in it went just like butter.

 

That's awesome...