dtlionsfan
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- Nov 12, 2005
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The compressor has a large center bolt and a set of J hooks at each end,you set the hooks and air gun the spring together.I've had mine for 20 years and I think its the safest way.
I thought that the LCA bolts hit the steering rack with only pre-87 K-frames? The pre-87 k-frames move the FCA in, and that causes the bolt to interfere with the steering rack when taking the bolt out/putting it in..Ok so here are some of my problems so far.....
First off, i have the nuts off from the inside of the a-arm where it attches to the k member.. First pic shoes the rack and pinion in the way WTF
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The second pic just showes that i have the nuts off, but cant the the bolts out of the k-member.. any tricks to getting these bolts out?? i have a floor jack under the a-arm for pressure thinking it would be easy.. yea how about no!!
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any idears??
The compressor has a large center bolt and a set of J hooks at each end,you set the hooks and air gun the spring together.I've had mine for 20 years and I think its the safest way.
Hmmm, my rack wasnt in the way - it was relatively close (the bolt touched the bellow but that was it).
You could just blast the steering bolts and nuts off to give some room (sliding the rack forward and up a little should help). I'm sorry to see that it's such a PITA for ya.
For the LCA bolts, I just jack or unjack the arm real slow (and carefully!) while pulling lightly on the bolt. When the bolt starts to move, I stop the jack.
Dt Lions fan, if you can, you will want to post up the model of spring compressor you used. The first time I swapped springs I used an internal compressor (loaned from the parts store) and it was an ueber-PITA with vert springs. I'm always up for a really clean way of doing springs.
I thought that the LCA bolts hit the steering rack with only pre-87 K-frames? The pre-87 k-frames move the FCA in, and that causes the bolt to interfere with the steering rack when taking the bolt out/putting it in..
I mentioned before about the bolts rusting to the sleeves. You can try
o To use an impact wrench to spin them fast enough to break the rust bond
o Use an air chisel to cut the bolt/sleeve
o Use a cut-off disc and tool to cut the bolt/sleeve
o Use a sawsall to cut the bolt/sleeve
Since I have an 86 and 3 of the four bolts were rusted *forever* to the sleeves, I cut the bolts/sleeves. So, I didn't have to remove my rack. When I installed the new bolts, I put the head on the inside and custom trimmed them so that there was ~2 threads exposed after the nut was fully on.
my car is a 90, so i guess the rack is still in the way im thinking this - if loosening the rack doesn't give me the clearence i need, do you think a saw-zaw will cut thru that bolt? i would probably try to cut it between the a arm and the k member so this way it will just come right out, and ill replace the bolt.
thankyou everyone for all your help.. this is what makes this site so great
I'm losing track of events here but if you cut the bolt, will you still not have an issue getting a new (full-length) bolt back in?
I'm betting that S&2B's will be able to tell you exactly what needs to be done to finagle around the FLCA bolt-rack situation since it sounds like something he encountered on his '86. Since I didnt encounter this before, unfortunately I'm not able to lend first hand experience with what will be the smoothest work-around (I simply posted how I'd try to deal with it).
Good luck.
what i was saying was try your way first - im going to loosen up the rack a bit so i can slide her forward. Hopefully this will give me enough clearence... My backup plan if that doesnt work is to cut the bolt off at the point between the a arm and k member. What i would do is, after purchasing a new bolt, install it from the inside out and have the nut side on the side of the rack instead of being inside the a arm.. if that makes any sence?
but then the end of the bolt would be hitting the steering rack...no?
dude...I think you need to abandon this a-arm removal idea and just pay the $70 to have them done in an hour...lol
to take the old springs out. I put the car on jackstands so it sits pretty damn high, put a floor jack under the a-arm and removed the caliper (used a cable to keep it in the air), un bolted the strut from inside the engine bay. I USED A CHAIN TO SECURE THE SPRING TO THE CAR, SO IT WON'T POP OUT AND KILL ME. I then lowered the a-arm using the jack. once the a-arm down I was able to get the spring out using a 5 foot pry-bar. The spring just fell out and because I had secured it with a chain, the spring didn't do any harm to anything or anyone.
To put the new springs in, you can take them to a suspension specialist and have them compress it and they tie it, so you install it jack up the a-arm and then release the ties they put on it. I couldn't do this because the place was closed, I used a cheapo spring compressor (goes inside the spring) to compress it. Once installed I had to take apart the tool INSIDE THE SPRING, it's a PITA but all in all it took me less than an hour to do the front...
The rear is funny, the stock springs just fall out once you unhook the shocks and quads lol
whats the fun in that? sissy
i was just about there before. i had the strut unbolted and caliper off, had the a arm dropped but i thought the tie rod was holding me up cause the spring was still kind of in there so i abandoned that and put it back together.. everyone said taking the a arm out of the k-member would be easier and safer. i can see how it would be easier in theory, but the damn rack is holding me up.. so much for being quick
I'll have next saturday to work on it, i have some things i need to pick up from the swap meet in english town NJ
oh I forgot, you also need to remove the steering tie-rod end from the a-arm and the link kit. The spring was still in place a little, but a little force gets it out since it's mostly uncompressed anyway. I did chain the spring in place as to eliminate any chance of it launching into orbit. The car needs to be pretty high on the jackstands. It's not a big job, but I see how removing the other end of the a-arm makes sense though. I wouldn't remove the balljoint, too much hassle for nothing.
Dude, it would have been over a grand to replace my FCAs and springs. Maybe you need to read up on RUST. Also, the LAST thing you want on a 15-20 year-old car is some hack mechanic going at it with an air chisel or sawsall no giving a damn. The supports for the FCAs aren't that think to begin with. You do NOT want then being bent all around, to be band/chiseled, to to have deep sawsall marks in them.but then the end of the bolt would be hitting the steering rack...no?
dude...I think you need to abandon this a-arm removal idea and just pay the $70 to have them done in an hour...lol
Dude, it would have been over a grand to replace my FCAs and springs. Maybe you need to read up on RUST. Also, the LAST thing you want on a 15-20 year-old car is some hack mechanic going at it with an air chisel or sawsall no giving a damn. The supports for the FCAs aren't that think to begin with. You do NOT want then being bent all around, to be band/chiseled, to to have deep sawsall marks in them.
Yes, with a lift, the bolts and sleeves could have been sawsall off in about 1/2 to 1/3 of the time (I had very limited blade range and when through blades like crazy). But, again, if you think that a most local mechanics take "great care" on older cars, you're in fantasy land.
actually i have an old friend who owns a repair shop who said he would do them for 70 bucks.. still thats besides the point i have done them on my old stang, no reason i can't do them on mine, im more then capable! anyways when you cut your bolts off, did you have alot of trouble? or did they cut fairly easy?
They're hardened bolts in hardened sleeves in a hard to reach area with minimal space to work in. So, yea, cutting them sucked big time! It took me ~45 mins PER CUT and ~15+ blades PER CUT. And, it's *two* cuts for each bolt. (You have to cut on both sides of the sleeve)
Yea, for *me* ONE bolt came right out. Gee, very quick and easy! The other three bolts are rusted to the sleeves for *life*. There are different degrees and types of rust.
Some people can use an impact gun to spin the bolts free of the sleeves. Some one used an air cut-off tool and cut-off disks. Much faster, but that requires cutting from under the car and if/when the disk explodes, you better be well protected (as you should *always* be when working with cut off disks).
My *guess* is that if a a sawsall was used on a car on *a lift*, one cut might be able to be done with 3-5 blades and in 5-15mins per cut. Because of the limited space, I could use less than 24% of the blade. So, the blades heated up quickly and got dull.
Regardless, when you cut the sleeves & bolts, you need new bolts and sleeves *& bushings. In my case, one of my springs is *forever* rusted to the right FCA. So, a needed at least one new FCA.
If someone is replacing the bushings on a 15+ year-old FCA, they might as well just replace the whole FCA and get new ball joints. Also, like most cars, my lower isolators where worthless. So, add in new isolators. Yup, it all adds up very quickly if you have a local shop do it.
4 pages for a simple spring install. sheesh