Best way to change springs?

DemonGT

DemonGT

Founding Member
May 24, 2002
862
49
49
Sparta,WI
#1
would like to put some lowering springs on this summer...will most likely go with the pro kit....was wondering what the best/easyest way was to do the front's...iv had the backs out before and there pretty easy and straight forward..just dont know bout the fronts..also might be installing new struts at the same time
 

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#2
Stock fronts can be removed real easily. Just undo the front swaybar mounts to the endlinks, undo the strut to the spindle, pull of the brake caliper and hang it from somewhere in the wheel well. Make sure you have a floor jack under the control arm prior to removing the strut from the spindle. Once the pressure from the spring/control arm is on the floor jack (and after securing the spring with a chain) slowly lower the floor jack thereby releasing the pressure off the spring. Pop it out, and begin installation of the new spring. The eibach pro-kit will require a spring compressor to install and don't forget to put in new isolators with a good bit of high-temp wheel bearing grease to avoid the squeaks. Good luck.
 
#3
The fronts typically need a spring compressor or massive persuasion to install. I have done it without one, and it was a mother. Lowering springs can be done w/o one, but stockers usually need a compressor to get back in.

I have a homemade internal compressor, with 5/8 rod to get them back in.
 
#4
rd said:
The fronts typically need a spring compressor or massive persuasion to install. I have done it without one, and it was a mother. Lowering springs can be done w/o one, but stockers usually need a compressor to get back in.

I have a homemade internal compressor, with 5/8 rod to get them back in.
Click to expand...

In my experience the eibach prokit will need a compressor since they as tall, if not taller, than the stockers. The FMS springs go in w/o a compressor.
 
#6
Take the front springs to a spring shop and have them compressed and banded. lowering spring compressors are dangerous as I had to "rig" mine to fit in the coils. The spring shop will band them, you stick them in the control arms, jack it up and cut the bands. Easy frashisy! Rear is simple but more time consuming than the front, Unless you have done five or six spring changes and have no frozen bolts.
 
#7
what kind of spring compressor works best? iv seen some at sears that have a long bolt and hook like ends that hook onto the spring and you use one on each side of the spring and tighten with a wrench....as far as homemade..how do i do that if need be....
 
#8
I've used this method 4 different times.
It's safe, easy and no need for a spring compressor.

Courtesy of MFE

This is the procedure I've used to change front springs in a Fox-body Mustang without the use of a spring compressor, which due to packaging of the front end components is often a source of frustration. And unlike other methods that require disconnecting the struts and actually prying the springs in and out, this one lets the spring completely decompress so that no unsafe prying is required.

Bear in mind that compressed springs contain a lot of stored energy. I am documenting the steps I took to perform this operation and although I am comfortable performing this task you should know that as with any job if you do it you do so at your own risk.

Required tools:

- Floor jack
- a 2nd jack, a bottle jack is preferred (and cheap) but a small floor jack will suffice
- 2 Jack stands
- some blocks of wood or other stand for the bottle jack
- A roofing bar (preferred) or other crowbar-type thing
- A good socket wrench is preferred, with the following sockets mandatory, box wrenches a less attractive alternative:
--- 21 mm deep
--- 24 mm deep
--- 15 mm deep
- penetrating oil
- a "persuader" made of a roughly 12-inch length of roughly 2-inch pipe. Slipped over a wrench and used to effectively lengthen it, it is invaluable when it comes to applying real torque to really tight bolts.
- a small hammer
- a medium sized flat blade screwdriver

Now on to how I've done the install:

Block the rear wheels, raise the front, and place jack stands in the inboard ends of the K-member, inboard of where the control arms attach. Keep in mind you'll want all available floor space to place the jacks under the inner side of the A-arm so the stands will need to be pretty close together.

Remove the front tires. Undo the lower swaybar end links (15 mm deep).

Spray some penetrating oil on the nuts and bolts that attach the inner end of the A-arm to the K-member.

Loosen the inner a-arm bolts but do not remove the bolts yet. You won't be able to, but don't even try. Breaking these loose will require a lot of torque on the 24mm. The bolt on the other end is 21 mm, put a wrench on that for leverage.

With the nuts loose, place a floor jack at the inside lip of the A-arm, between the mounting ears.

Raise the jack until you can see the tension taken off one of the bolts (probably the rearward one first). Punch the bolt out with a small hammer and jockey with the jack until you can remove the bolt. You may want to insert the screwdriver to keep things roughly centered while you remove the other bolt, just don't forget to remove the screwdriver before lowering the assembly.

Place the second jack so it will raise the other ear of the arm while you position the rest of the arm with the first jack. The arm will bend a bit if unsupported so you need the second jack for the second bolt.

Notice that the spring is in a perch and can't squirt out. Notice it's in a perch at the top too. Notice that when you lower the jacks, the spring will decompress vertically and that thanks to the strut and the tie rod still being attached it is very unlikely the spring will ever squirt out. But don't have your head in the wheel well nonetheless and if you're the real nervous type tie it to the K-member with a piece of rope or something. Lower it until the spring is fully decompressed, which will happen well before the jack gets to the bottom of its travel.

With the jack lowered and out of the way, swing the A-arm to the rear and the spring will practically fall out.

Cut the insulator off the bottom lengthwise so it will come off, then wind it onto the bottom of your new spring.

Clean off the crud out of the lower spring perch.

Position the spring so the bottom end (the one that isn't flattened) ends up between the two holes in the spring pocket. Position it in its pocket at the top, which may require raising the jack a bit just to hold it in place, and then get the jack positioned so the A-arm is roughly lined up.

Raise the jack and guide the A-arms into place. A little WD-40 type stuff on the pockets in the K-member eases the positioning process.

When you get at least one of the ears situated roughly (probably the rearward one), you'll probably have to pry on the ear out a bit to get the bolt holes to line up. Insert the prybar from the bottom between the K-member pocket and the ear on the A-arm and you can move the arm in and out pretty easily. By being precise with the jack and prying a bit if necessary you'll be able to slip the bolt right through and seat it. Place the nut on it for safekeeping but don't tighten it down yet.

Place the second jack under the other ear just like you did to remove its bolt, and positioning the jacks and wiggling things around as necessary, pop the second bolt through and install the nut but don't tighten it.

DOUBLE CHECK that you haven't bumped a jack stand out of the way in the process. It's easy to do because raising the A-arm will probably lift that side off the stand and it's easy to bump it out of the way when you move the jack around. So easy you might not notice you moved it so trust me on this, before you lower the jacks, double check the placement of the jack stands.

Lower the jacks and put one under the balljoint and raise it until the assembly simulates ride height position. This is so the bushings get torqued down in their natural position (If you don't do this you'll be "preloading" the bushings when at ride height). This will probably raise that side off the jackstand a bit again but that's OK, leave it right where it is for safety. Tighten the nuts down now. I don't have a torque reading but suffice to say it's tight as hell.

You're about 1.5 hours into the job and you're done with that side.

Don't replace the swaybar end link nuts until you finish with the other side.

Now do the other side as outlined above. Reattach the swaybar endlinks when you're done. You may have to pry on them a bit to give yourself enough clearance. When all is said and done you should be about 3 hours down with the whole front done.

NOW FOR THE REARS

Block the front wheels and raise the rear end. Leave the floorjack under the diff, and place the rear end on jackstands just ahead of where the lower control arms connect.

Remove the rear wheels.

Undo and remove the swaybar (15mm Deep)

Undo the lower shock mount, fasteners vary but it may be a Torx and it may be a 15mm 18mm combo.

Remove the quad shocks.

Lower the jack so the axle drops as far as you can without pulling the rear brake flex line.

Now put a second jack under one end of the axle and raise that end as high as you can.

You can now probably just pluck the low-side's spring out. If not, have a helper stand on the low end of the axle to help it the last little bit and pull the spring out, it's not under any compression at this point.

Swap isolators to the new spring, orient it so the flat side is up and the bottom pigtail points to the drivers side (for BOTH springs).

Lower the high-side jack, make sure the new spring is seated properly, and repeat the process for the other side.

When you're done, raise the diff back up, reconnect the quad shocks and shocks. Re-attach the swaybar, reinstall the wheels, lower the car and you're done in way under an hour.
 
#9
DemonGT said:
what kind of spring compressor works best? iv seen some at sears that have a long bolt and hook like ends that hook onto the spring and you use one on each side of the spring and tighten with a wrench....as far as homemade..how do i do that if need be....
Click to expand...


The SAFEST Method by far is to use the proper Ford Spring Compressor, it is expensive and better than getting hurt! It has a plate that slips in the coils and you slide a threaded rod up through the Lower A Arm, works like a charm!
 
#11
ALMOST STOCK said:
I've used this method 4 different times.
It's safe, easy and no need for a spring compressor.

Courtesy of MFE

This is the procedure I've used to change front springs in a Fox-body Mustang without the use of a spring compressor, which due to packaging of the front end components is often a source of frustration. And unlike other methods that require disconnecting the struts and actually prying the springs in and out, this one lets the spring completely decompress so that no unsafe prying is required.

Bear in mind that compressed springs contain a lot of stored energy. I am documenting the steps I took to perform this operation and although I am comfortable performing this task you should know that as with any job if you do it you do so at your own risk.

Required tools:

- Floor jack
- a 2nd jack, a bottle jack is preferred (and cheap) but a small floor jack will suffice
- 2 Jack stands
- some blocks of wood or other stand for the bottle jack
- A roofing bar (preferred) or other crowbar-type thing
- A good socket wrench is preferred, with the following sockets mandatory, box wrenches a less attractive alternative:
--- 21 mm deep
--- 24 mm deep
--- 15 mm deep
- penetrating oil
- a "persuader" made of a roughly 12-inch length of roughly 2-inch pipe. Slipped over a wrench and used to effectively lengthen it, it is invaluable when it comes to applying real torque to really tight bolts.
- a small hammer
- a medium sized flat blade screwdriver

Now on to how I've done the install:

Block the rear wheels, raise the front, and place jack stands in the inboard ends of the K-member, inboard of where the control arms attach. Keep in mind you'll want all available floor space to place the jacks under the inner side of the A-arm so the stands will need to be pretty close together.

Remove the front tires. Undo the lower swaybar end links (15 mm deep).

Spray some penetrating oil on the nuts and bolts that attach the inner end of the A-arm to the K-member.

Loosen the inner a-arm bolts but do not remove the bolts yet. You won't be able to, but don't even try. Breaking these loose will require a lot of torque on the 24mm. The bolt on the other end is 21 mm, put a wrench on that for leverage.

With the nuts loose, place a floor jack at the inside lip of the A-arm, between the mounting ears.

Raise the jack until you can see the tension taken off one of the bolts (probably the rearward one first). Punch the bolt out with a small hammer and jockey with the jack until you can remove the bolt. You may want to insert the screwdriver to keep things roughly centered while you remove the other bolt, just don't forget to remove the screwdriver before lowering the assembly.

Place the second jack so it will raise the other ear of the arm while you position the rest of the arm with the first jack. The arm will bend a bit if unsupported so you need the second jack for the second bolt.

Notice that the spring is in a perch and can't squirt out. Notice it's in a perch at the top too. Notice that when you lower the jacks, the spring will decompress vertically and that thanks to the strut and the tie rod still being attached it is very unlikely the spring will ever squirt out. But don't have your head in the wheel well nonetheless and if you're the real nervous type tie it to the K-member with a piece of rope or something. Lower it until the spring is fully decompressed, which will happen well before the jack gets to the bottom of its travel.

With the jack lowered and out of the way, swing the A-arm to the rear and the spring will practically fall out.

Cut the insulator off the bottom lengthwise so it will come off, then wind it onto the bottom of your new spring.

Clean off the crud out of the lower spring perch.

Position the spring so the bottom end (the one that isn't flattened) ends up between the two holes in the spring pocket. Position it in its pocket at the top, which may require raising the jack a bit just to hold it in place, and then get the jack positioned so the A-arm is roughly lined up.

Raise the jack and guide the A-arms into place. A little WD-40 type stuff on the pockets in the K-member eases the positioning process.

When you get at least one of the ears situated roughly (probably the rearward one), you'll probably have to pry on the ear out a bit to get the bolt holes to line up. Insert the prybar from the bottom between the K-member pocket and the ear on the A-arm and you can move the arm in and out pretty easily. By being precise with the jack and prying a bit if necessary you'll be able to slip the bolt right through and seat it. Place the nut on it for safekeeping but don't tighten it down yet.

Place the second jack under the other ear just like you did to remove its bolt, and positioning the jacks and wiggling things around as necessary, pop the second bolt through and install the nut but don't tighten it.

DOUBLE CHECK that you haven't bumped a jack stand out of the way in the process. It's easy to do because raising the A-arm will probably lift that side off the stand and it's easy to bump it out of the way when you move the jack around. So easy you might not notice you moved it so trust me on this, before you lower the jacks, double check the placement of the jack stands.

Lower the jacks and put one under the balljoint and raise it until the assembly simulates ride height position. This is so the bushings get torqued down in their natural position (If you don't do this you'll be "preloading" the bushings when at ride height). This will probably raise that side off the jackstand a bit again but that's OK, leave it right where it is for safety. Tighten the nuts down now. I don't have a torque reading but suffice to say it's tight as hell.

You're about 1.5 hours into the job and you're done with that side.

Don't replace the swaybar end link nuts until you finish with the other side.

Now do the other side as outlined above. Reattach the swaybar endlinks when you're done. You may have to pry on them a bit to give yourself enough clearance. When all is said and done you should be about 3 hours down with the whole front done.

NOW FOR THE REARS

Block the front wheels and raise the rear end. Leave the floorjack under the diff, and place the rear end on jackstands just ahead of where the lower control arms connect.

Remove the rear wheels.

Undo and remove the swaybar (15mm Deep)

Undo the lower shock mount, fasteners vary but it may be a Torx and it may be a 15mm 18mm combo.

Remove the quad shocks.

Lower the jack so the axle drops as far as you can without pulling the rear brake flex line.

Now put a second jack under one end of the axle and raise that end as high as you can.

You can now probably just pluck the low-side's spring out. If not, have a helper stand on the low end of the axle to help it the last little bit and pull the spring out, it's not under any compression at this point.

Swap isolators to the new spring, orient it so the flat side is up and the bottom pigtail points to the drivers side (for BOTH springs).

Lower the high-side jack, make sure the new spring is seated properly, and repeat the process for the other side.

When you're done, raise the diff back up, reconnect the quad shocks and shocks. Re-attach the swaybar, reinstall the wheels, lower the car and you're done in way under an hour.
Click to expand...

:stupid: This is by far the easiest method i have used. The first time I was pulling my hair out trying to het my h&r lowering springs installed, after about 3 hours I used the above method and got each side in in about 6 minutes, I wish I would have heard about it before i started.
 
#13
The isolators will raise the front just a bit, depending on how much thicker they are than the old ones. Good way to make minor adjustments. I never seem to have a problem with too much lowering, both cars ended up lower than I intended.

I used the method of removing the inner pivot bolts on the Ford B springs. It took serious persuasion to get the arm jacked back in place. If the arm does not go into the pocket (reason for the wd40) it will easily lift the front of the car.

The compress and band method is probably the best.

I made two pcs of steel, about 5 in long x 2 in wide, from some 1/2 in thick steel, and put a threaded rod through holes in the middle. I ground the ends to sit in the springs a bit. It holds them compressed enough to install. I left the rod long enough to stick out the hole in the arm.

The springs broke 1/2 in rod, after a couple uses, so I moved up to 5/8 in. I would say 3/4 in would not be overkill. Makes this task much easier.

The hinged hook internal compressor hook parts may be too big to get out through the existing hole in the lower arm. Mine, (a K-D, I think) was. So I took it all back apart and jacked them in. Then I made the tool.
 
#16
If using a conventional inner compressor, I had to take the butterflies off and apart. Then slide them through the coils. Then rebolt them to their little brackets. Then I could slide the rod back through their mounts. PITA. I also had to make a shim for the large middle threaded rod - otherwise it hit the upper perch before compressing the spring.

RD, Mike, Eric et al have much better ideas.

Good luck.
 
#17
HISSIN50 said:
If using a conventional inner compressor, I had to take the butterflies off and apart. Then slide them through the coils. Then rebolt them to their little brackets. Then I could slide the rod back through their mounts. PITA. I also had to make a shim for the large middle threaded rod - otherwise it hit the upper perch before compressing the spring.

RD, Mike, Eric et al have much better ideas.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

same here...but it worked
 
#19
#20
if you seriously are intent on using a spring compressor, then do it outside of the vehicle, and use safety wire to tie it up while its compressed. It is much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much much easier to use the mfe method. I wouldnt recommend using safety wire tho, I would take it to a spring shop. That way if/when it uncrompresses and kills you, your benificiaries could sue the shop

edit: I myst of been really cranky when i wrote this :D
 
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