spring wont compress

[stangirl92]

I recently bought some KYB GR-2 struts...and when i was installing them on the car...I jacked the car from under the spring and it compressed fine... but the right side was different...it didnt compress at all... i need some feedback here.. maybe this is why i have a pretty rough ride. It does ride a little better with the new struts.. can the springs seize up or the arm get stuck?? please help..

 

[Sevan]

whats not compressing? spring? strut on the right side?

 

[stangirl92]

sorry...the spring is not compressing.

 

[Sevan]

are u using a spring compressor? I had to cut the compress tool really short to make it fit in the control arm

 

[stangirl92]

no..i didnt have a spring compressor...i was jacking the car up from under the control arm...which made the spring compress..but it didnt work on the right hand side.

 

[Sevan]

I know when I tried to install the spring without a compressor people said the use a pry bar and some muscle, but we kept lifting the body off the jacks which did not work. Are u doing this by ur self? u just might need a compressor to get the other side on, just be careful u dont want the spring to shoot back for any reason

 

[Js5ohLX]

It sounds like your control arm is frozen, I've never come across that, but if it still doesn't compress at all with a new strut, then that spring is either meant to be on a train or your control arm is frozen.

 

[stangirl92]

i didnt do it by myself, my husband and i did it. the holes for the two bolts on the bottom of the strut werent matching..so thats why we were jacking the car under the control arms ..so we could line the holes and put the bolts in... i ended up having to sit on the fender so the car would go down a little.. so we could line them up. .. it just doesnt seem right that it didnt compress at all like the other side. which is why i thought there might be something wrong with the control arm or spring.

 

[stangirl92]

what do you think i can do to free the control arm if it is frozen?

 

[Sevan]

did u guys remove the sawy bar links on the side that u are having problems with?

 

[stangirl92]

no, we didnt remove or loosen anything but the strut.

 

[Sevan]

this should help you guys to make it easier. good luck

http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/spring1.htm

 

[Mavrick]

She didn't install springs right? Just the Struts? As i understand, you never touched the springs at all.

After your install was finished, can you push down on the front corner of the car (where you say the arm is seized) at all? Does it sink down, and rebound like the other side?