Front coil removal w/ no engine weight

[rex855]

Hey Guys,

I have a front cross member still attached to a cut front portion of frame and I need to disassemble it but there is tension on the coils. How do I go about removing the coil with out any engine weight to keep the coils compressed while removing the spindle nuts?? Could i just take a sawzall to the coil and hope it all stays in the spring pocket??? any suggestion would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Rex

[Tri5Nerd]

Originally Posted by rex855

Hey Guys,

I have a front cross member still attached to a cut front portion of frame and I need to disassemble it but there is tension on the coils. How do I go about removing the coil with out any engine weight to keep the coils compressed while removing the spindle nuts?? Could i just take a sawzall to the coil and hope it all stays in the spring pocket??? any suggestion would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Rex

If you have a Kragens near you go rent a spring compressor, DO NOT get the one from AutoZone, I'm still recovering from a busted finger because of that one.

Tri5

[XXL]

Sawzall is going to wear you out trying to cut spring steel. If you've got a small cutoff wheel or grinder, you can just brute force your way through one of the links until it gives under its own weight. Or... tie the coil spring to the frame with a tiedown or similar so that it doesn't fly out at you when you pop the ball joint as usual.

[N2TRUX]

If your not going to reuse the coil, then torch it. If you are then XXL has the right approach.

[AusTx68]

So I had the same question and came across this posting. Following XXL's advice, I used a small cutting wheel to cut through the links.

I started with my front suspesion upside down on the floor of my garage. The upside position was purely by accident but ended up working for me.

Once my compressor was ready I straddled the front cross member so I would be protected by the lower control arm. I then reached around and positioned the cutting wheel between the shock and spring. I left the shock in place to act as another barrier should the spring fly out.

Getting thru the first half of the spring is pretty easy. Towards the end I started moving the wheel around the remaining metal from top to bottom making sure to keep my hands on the outside of the spring. With a little less than 1/4 inch remaining, POP!!. Boy that caught me be suprise. When it lets go you get a sense of the pressure you're dealing with.

I did the same to the other side. Except once I got down to 1/4 inch I stopped and tried hitting it with a hammer to see if I could make it pop. No deal. I had to keep cutting until the link broke on its own. This time I knew it was coming but it's like playing with a mouse trap. You know it's coming then POP!

Thanks guys for the idea! Now I can disassemble, sandblast and paint it with POR15.

[rex855]

Thnx guys for the great advice. I'm gonna try it this weekend. Been busy with work but now is the time get this thing done.

[63sbssbbw]

I used 2 pieces of angle iron about 2 ft long,drilled a hole in each end of both,then used 2 lenghts of 5/8 ready rod(about 2 1/2 ft long,they need to span the UNsprung distance and still have thread engagement)
Undid the castle nuts enough to break loose the BJ
Clamp upper and lower A arms between angle iron and ready rod,it will basically look like a square framework around upper and lower,(double nut bottom side to prevent rod from turning)tighten framework enough to remove castle nut,then unthread nuts on RR moving from side to side to keep it even to release spring in a controlled manner.
I will also use this bit of redneck tech to reinstall(hence making sure the rods are long enough) as no motor or trans will be present when I reinstall
I thought it worked good enough to share and I will be keeping these pieces for future projects and my buddies to use.
Thanks ,T