Spring removal...

[revjim]

Please tell me the easiest way to get these things off...both rear and front. There is no pictorial DIY. Ugghhh

[rr41mag]

You will need a tie rod end fork to seperate the upper/lower spindle bolts. Put a floor jack under the lower "a" arm and lower it slowly. As far as the rear coil springs use a floor jack on those too. Just unbolt them and lower them slowly.

[revjim]

getting to the bolts is the hard part...any suggestions

[fleetsidelarry]

you're talking about the rear, of course. look at the lower spring retainer cup, does it have a square nut on the bolt? if so, it is welded to the cup and you don't need a wrench for that nut. unless you're real lucky, the problem will be the bolt going up thru the trailing arm, which you can get to easy enough but which most likely will be frozen solid by rust to the trailing arm.

what ever you do, make sure you support everything properly(no concrete blocks), and think it thru before you cut or unbolt anything.

[revjim]

yeah...getting to the bottom is not that hard...getting the top bolt off is the hard part...

[paul63c10]

if you are putting on jeep springs in the back and cutting a coil off the front. what kind of shocks should you replace with if need be? (sorry for the hijack, i am in the middle of the same project)

[revjim]

I'm putting chevelle springs on my rear and front...need the same question answered...

[fleetsidelarry]

if you jack the frame up enough to unload the spring without actually stretching (putting tension on) it, you may be able to get a ratchet with extension in there. if thats not enough, go ahead and jack it some more to get the ratchet in to loosen the nut, just don't take it all the way off with it still under tension. Or, if you are replacing the springs and don't need them: get the bottom loose (good luck), jack the axel up 'til the spring is free of the trailing arm and cut the spring off. with it out of the way you can easily get to the top bolt.

as for the front, I don't believe you need to free both spindle ends, just the top one. you may not even need a pickle fork, just some freeing agent (like Blaster) and a hammer.

as for shocks, it depends on the amount of drop but drop shocks are available lots of places, plus you may want to relocate your rear mounts

[jimmydean]

I used a larger breaker bar and one of these:


I broke the ratchet on my 1/2 drive Craftsman before resorting to the breaker bar. IIRC the top bolts snapped after a few turns.

[paul63c10]

Originally Posted by revjim

I'm putting chevelle springs on my rear and front...need the same question answered...

i knew you could do chevelle springs on the rear. and the front? if so got a link or anymore info on these?

[boucher racing]

I did my front springs by compressing the coil with a rented tool and taking the two U-bolts off that hold the lower control arm to the chassis. Then pull the spring out, I cut around 1.6" off the coil and then reinstalled. Simple and rides great. Here is a pic that explains it.

[revjim]

Are the front springs not bolted down to anything like the rears...or am I missing something....

[geezer#99]

Nope. Just sitting in there in their pockets.

[revjim]

k....compress and remove the bottom and I am good to go...

[paul63c10]

hey boucher did you have to do anything with your front shocks as well?

[boucher racing]

Originally Posted by paul63c10

hey boucher did you have to do anything with your front shocks as well?

I have not touched the shocks. I do not think that my shocks are bottoming out. I did have to cut off the lower bushing mounts off with a angle grinder. They would hit on a big bump and rattle your fillings out. Make sure you cut the exact same amount off on each spring and put them back in the pockets correct. (notice the bottom of the pocket, it has a groove) Good luck