Doing springs and lower control arms soon.

M

Moon

Member

Mar 22, 2010

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Close to Chicago

Mar 21, 2012

#1

• Mar 21, 2012

• #1

Gonna be putting in springs and lower control arms, it's been a few years since I've done them. Any tips or advice? I'll be doing the work in my driveway, so no lift or anything Lower control arms seem pretty straightforward, but the springs in front seem a bit tricky. Do I need a spring compressor, or will I be able to do it with a jack and a stand?

 

brtnstrns

Member

Dec 19, 2003

606

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19

Lewisville, TX

Mar 22, 2012

#2

• Mar 22, 2012

• #2

No spring compressor required. Just gotta jack the car up and unbolt enough stuff on the control arm to be able to push down on it with your foot and pop the spring out.

(referring to the front...the spring shouldn't shoot out once the control arm is lowered. It shouldn't come out if its under compression...at least in my experience)

Go here for better info: http://www.americanmuscle.com/h-r-ss-spring-96-04-install.html

 

Sharad

ALWAYS choose the V over the P!!! Wait... what?

Jan 5, 2011

1,562

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Fort Myers, Florida

Mar 22, 2012

#3

• Mar 22, 2012

• #3

Please be careful popping the front springs out. Also, only do one rear control arm at a time. If you disconnect both at the same time, you'll be wrestling the axle housing to rotate it back into position. And use plenty of synthetic grease on the LCA bushings if they're polyurethane. That will keep them nice and quiet.

 

AZmustang98

Member

Oct 19, 2011

373

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Flagstaff, Arizona

Mar 22, 2012

#4

• Mar 22, 2012

• #4

The front springs require you to jack the front of the car up and put it on jack stands. You then take a small jack and push the control arm up a little bit, then you can unbolt the strut. At this point you can SLOWLY let the control down with the jack, the spring will push the control arm down pretty far. Once it no longer goes down on its own, you can push it down with your foot and get another couple of inches out of it to pull the spring out.

Hope this helps

 

M

Moon

Member

Mar 22, 2010

190

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Close to Chicago

Mar 22, 2012

#5

• Mar 22, 2012

• #5

Sharad said:

Please be careful popping the front springs out. Also, only do one rear control arm at a time. If you disconnect both at the same time, you'll be wrestling the axle housing to rotate it back into position. And use plenty of synthetic grease on the LCA bushings if they're polyurethane. That will keep them nice and quiet.

Click to expand...

I'll be putting in MM LCAs, pretty sure they don't have a grease fitting. Do you mean just a lot of grease around the bushing in general? If so, I'll definitely remember that.

Also, will I have to remove the strut? Thanks for all the advice, gentlemen.

 

AZmustang98

Member

Oct 19, 2011

373

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Flagstaff, Arizona

Mar 22, 2012

#6

• Mar 22, 2012

• #6

Yes, you will need to remove them to get em out of the way.

 

M

Moon

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Mar 22, 2010

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Close to Chicago

Mar 22, 2012

#7

• Mar 22, 2012

• #7

AZmustang98 said:

Yes, you will need to remove them to get em out of the way.

Click to expand...

Thanks

 

Sharad

ALWAYS choose the V over the P!!! Wait... what?

Jan 5, 2011

1,562

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94

Fort Myers, Florida

Mar 23, 2012

#8

• Mar 23, 2012

• #8

Moon said:

I'll be putting in MM LCAs, pretty sure they don't have a grease fitting. Do you mean just a lot of grease around the bushing in general? If so, I'll definitely remember that.

Also, will I have to remove the strut? Thanks for all the advice, gentlemen.

Click to expand...

Yeah, just put some grease on the bushings and on the torque boxes and control arm mount in the axle housing... that way you're covered. The LCAs will be silent that way.