Ok I am changing my motor mounts while the engine is out of the car and I removed the lower control arm and spring and I cannot seem to get them back in. The spring will not compress far enough to line the bolts up for the LCA. I am using a coil spring compressor with a metal plate under the LCA instead of the sliding grabber, so it compresses the spring against the lower. What can I do to get this damn thing back together?? I need help fast!

 

floor jack under the control arm

 

You'll also benefit from having a prybar, awl, and mallet to help you line up the boltholes doing it that way.

 

here's what i do. bolt the control arm in first. put the upper part of the spring in. then the lower part into the control arm. i put a bottle jack under the control arm and jack up. once it's all the way up, i connect the lower ball joint to the spindle and tighten the bolt. a little tricky on getting the bottle jack under the control arm if not up high enough. usually have someone put it under while i hold pressure on the control arm to hold the spring in place.

 

Yep, putting the bushing/bolt end of the CA in first is going to be much easier than the other way around. But I use a floor jack under the CA... bit more stable than a bottle jack.

 

Well I got it back together with the help of 2 friends, 2 floor jacks, and 3 jackstands. It was a major pain in the *** though. First I used my modified coil spring compressor which is basically a plate with a hole in the middle for the long bolt and the grabber on the other end, which compresses the spring against the lower control arm. I compressed it so much I had to use a 2 foot pipe over a ratchet to tighten the bolt. And it was still not compressed enough to jsut slip in. So with the help of 2 friends, we put a jack under the lower to hold it up against the upper spring perch. then with another floor jack we jacked up the front bushing part of the LCA until it the bolt hole was kind of lined up, then we stuck a screwdriver in the hole to hold the fron up, then jacked up the back of the LCA, put the LCA bolt in, the put the jack back under the front of the LCA and put the bolt in. So after 6 hours of work today, I have the spring and lower back in. Tomorrow I am going to the hardware store to look for special bolts which I am hoping will make the other side alot easier to change, and if it does I will write a tech article.