Spring replacement

blackfang said:

There is no need for a spring compressor!!! We do not have coil overs.

Just take off the wheel
Undo the abs clips
remove the caliper and rotor
Undo the 2 lower strut bolts
Slowly lower the control arm reducing the tension(so the spring doesn't come shooting out)and the spring can come out

Install in reverse order but you may need a pry bar for the control arm to allow the spring into the perch area.

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I have the pro kit and I never had to use a spring compressor or remove the rotor. Its pretty easy to do really. make sure you install them the right way and and the coil is rotated so it fits right.

yeah, actually reading that, all I did was,

take off tire.
put floorjack under control arm.
remove top 3 strut bolts.
unclip abs wire.
remove swaybar link (top part)
lower floorjack. (slowly...) and obviously move strut assembly to the side
remove spring with prybar.

I can confirm that a spring compressor is not necessary for removing stock springs or installing aftermarket springs. I just put in new bilstein hd struts, shocks, frpp c springs, and caster camber plates today

I didn't remove the top bolts, the bottom 2 are a lot easier.

blackfang said:

So basically he ****ed it up and had no idea of what he was doing. I'll go with that.

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old_blue said:

ummmm, I wouldn't start loosen the strut bolts if they didnt come off easily. IF there was any pressure at all on those nuts I wouldnt keep taking them off.

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BINGO! I'm sure some folks have put an eye out while tying their shoes, but that doesn't mean everyone should have to wear safety glasses while doing so. Common sense goes a long way. Some people are born with it. Others are dumbasses.

It's a piece ok cake. I have done it dozens of times on everything from Fox Bodies, SN-95, and IRS Cobras. I never once needed a spring compressor.

Just installed Roush springs on my GT the other day.

A compressor is not needed.

The rear end took me around 20-30mins to do (2nd time doing the rear) and the front took a while because I took my time and did some other stuff while it was apart.

I loosened the struts from under the hood and dropped them out of the wheel well. This works, but it will mess your alignment up big time if you dont mark where the plates were before you remove them. The car was going in for alignment in the morning anyway so I chose this route.

Unbolting the strut at the bottom is easier.

The stock springs almost dropped right out (mine are mutilated, horribly. it scared me to see them) when I lowered the control arm. It is unlikely they will shoot out at you unless you are really dumb. Spring compressors can also pose a larger danger depending on the kind you use.

I ended up using my own body weight to "help" lower the front control arm a bit to pop the new springs in.

Its not a hard job, but it can be annoying when little snags happen here and there.

Just be careful to NOT stretch any of your brake lines. There are places to unclip them to get extra slack. I pulled my calipers off and hung them out of the way as well.