How to change out Coil Springs on a stepdown?

Rob Fayette

I just received my new coil springs from Russ Maas. They look great.  Now I want to change them out on my Pacemaker Convertible.  The 48-52 Shop Manual says to jack up the car and put jackstands under the inner end of the lower A- arms. Then it says  remove the shocks ,and then remove the bolts that connect  the inner end of the A-arm to the frame.  Then you are supposed to jack the front of the car up which allows the Arm to drop and release the spring.

I tried to start following this procedure and right away started running in to issues.  I used my floor jack to jack up the front of the car.  I always put the jack under the center steer assembly when jacking the front of the car.  Then I realized I didn't have room to put any jack stands under the inner end of the A-arms because the floor jack was in the way. Then I decided to jack one side up by jacking right under the outer end of one A-arm.  Then I was able to put a jack stand under the inner end of the A-arm that was jacked up.  Now I let the jack down to do the other side, but as I was letting the jack down the A-arm slid a little on the jack stand.  This kind of startled me because I realized if it had slipped all the way off the whole car would have crashed down.

I realized I was getting in a little over my head here.  I'm hoping someone here can give me some pointers on how to do this more safely.  I think I can do this  and won't try something crazy. Thanks.

Rob

kamzack

May not be the correct way, so I'll tell ya how I've done it.

 Put jack stands on frame in front of the suspension. After removing the shocks use a coil spring compressor(rent at local parts store if ya don't own one) Compress spring, put jack under inner A arm unbolt and slowly release or lower jack. Reverse the process, but do install new rubber at top of spring.

    hope this helps,

     Kim 

DavidC

Also, carefully mark old springs L and R, and note their correct positions, so you can install new springs and get correct ride height. Match the new springs to the old to get L and R correct. They may be makred or color coded indicating the same. When reinstalling make sure spring bushing is still in place and spring is correctly seated. In this way your car will sit level when you are done.

mdwhit

Most (if not all) reproduction springs are the same. Both left and right have the same specs.

Rob Fayette

Thanks for the suggestions.  I am wondering if I could use Kamzacks way of doing it but without using a spring compressor.  I would like to do it without a spring compressor if possible.  When I was restoring the car ,I and a friend used a spring compressor, and it was quite a struggle getting the spring compressor in place on the spring.

I do believe my new springs are both the same.  I don't see any documentation or markings that would indicate otherwise.

DavidC

OK, I did not know the new springs would be identical, or not marked L and R in some way, because the originals had different part numbers and load ratings, and therefore mixing them up causes uneven ride height:
307193
307194
SPRING ASSEMBLIES
Spring-front-RH Load 2170 Rate 386
Spring-front-LH Load 2290 Rate 386
I guess the difference is too miniscule for the aftermarket to care.

RL Chilton

Rob-

Sent you an email.  

Rob Fayette

I got one spring out by doing the following steps:

1. Put the car up on 2 jackstands at the front end of the frame rails where the bumper jack pockets are at.

2. Removed the wheel and tire.

3.  Removed the shock absorber

. 

4. Put a floor jack under the pivot bar at the inner end of the A-Arm. Placed the jack sideways to the car so that the front wheels of the jack were approximately under the spindle and the jacking handle was sticking out to the side. The saddle of the jack was touching the round pivoting shaft at the inner end of the A-Arm. With the jack facing sideways like this ,when the jack was let down, the saddle of the jack would lower in the arc that the A-arm would naturally swing as it was lowered.

5.  carefully loosened the 4 bolts that hold the inner A-Arm to the cross member.   Watched to make sure the  A-          Arm didn't drop any as I loosened the bolts. 

 6. When I could see that the jack was holding the inner end of the A-Arm up securely, then removed the 4                   bolts completely.  

7. Slowly lowered the jack down and watched the coil spring expand.

8.  Realized that the front stabilizer bar was preventing the A-Arm from dropping down far enough to remove the            spring.   Removed  the nut ,washer, and rubber cushion and let the stabilizer hang free of the A-Arm.

9.  Let the A-Arm the rest of the way down.

10. Pulled the floor jack out from under the car which let the A-Arm drop about 3 inches further and then the                  coil spring fell out.

I am wondering how I will be able to keep the pivot rod from spinning when I try to jack the A-Arm back up into place with the new spring.  I'm thinking maybe I can put some guide rods in the cross member holes where the A-Arm bolts go.  Then hopefully when I jack up the A-Arm the pivot will slide up the guide rods and into place.  To be continued.

The next day:

I managed to get both springs changed out. 

 I found that while installing the springs'if I moved the floor jack out a few inches from the inner pivot point it would still compress the spring a lot. It didn't quite compress it enough to get the 4 bolts in at the pivot.  I just temporarily used longer bolts to finish pulling the A-Arm up to the frame. Then I changed the longer bolts out for the correct ones one at a time.

By having the jack out way from the pivot shaft the pivot shaft could now be turned by hand to line up with the holes in the frame.  

One side went pretty smoothly.  One side seemed to be in a slight bind.  On the side with the bind I had to use a large tapered alignment bar to pull the pivot into place.  At times I had to thread the bolt into the hole rather than just drop it into the hole.  

Rob

Uncle Josh

The way I've done these, is just replace the bolts one at a time with long threaded rod.  Seems like about 8 in long.  Then let er down easy like a turn at a time..  Back in the same way.