Best way to change springs?

[Euphoric306]

i just tried for 3 hours today fiddle ****ing around with an autozone spring compressor, i had to compress the spring onto the A-arm, because when everything was bolted up the lower plate for the compressor would not come out from between the coils.

i wish i had looked this up before i started today, the MFE method sounds so easy now, and i don't see why i didnt think of it before

 

[rigamaroles]

I used the ford racing lowering springs and had my car on a lift. I didnt use any compressors or chains to hold the spring from firing as I used a tranny jack to lower the control arm. The compression of the tranny jack wasnt nearly fast enough for it to be able to spit out. Should be straight forward through everyones explanations as they are all correct, but the easiest way will be the one you find yourself.

 

[Camman]

I also am guilty of not using chains when taking springs out, I however do it on jackstands so I used a floor jack to let the spring uncompress. However, it is very very bad practice to do this. A spring uncompressing has enough kinetic energy to turn you inside out

 

[DemonGT]

then i suppose i have to have my car aligned...not sure on that..as i dont wanna any dumbo from sears or wherever driving my car

any suggestions for front struts? looking for something that dosnt cost to much...car is drove on the street so i dont need expensive bilstens or anything

 

[StangCollecter]

I started swapping out my brakes, and thought "oh what the hell, I'll just swap the springs while I'm at it"

stupid stupid stupid.

I undid the balljoint and tie rod and sway bar, I ended up getting the factory spring out no problem, but tried getting the lowering spring in, big problem.

I tried to loosen the bolts on the inside of the A-arm, but bent two forged wrenches "trying". They just wouldn't budge, I sprayed in some WD40 but I guess it didn't penetrate.

Anyway, I ended up buying a clamshell type compressor for 50 bucks off ebay. I got the factory spring back in (eventually) and it's a little too far past the bottom spring groove. So the left side sits a little high. Then I had to completely disassemble and bend the sht out of it to get it off the spring.

I've decided to wait til I get a new air compressor and some new jacks before I attempt it again. Plus I plan to get a set of extra long wrenches to fit the A-arm bolts.

I've never heard of getting the spirngs banded, what do they use to do this? I understand the compressor part, but what do they band it with?

 

[Euphoric306]

stangcollecter (your screen name is spelt wrong) i used a breaker bar to break those bolts loose, if you dont have one try a wrench with another one hooked on the open end to get more leverage?

 

[StangCollecter]

stangcollecter (your screen name is spelt wrong) i used a breaker bar to break those bolts loose, if you dont have one try a wrench with another one hooked on the open end to get more leverage?

I know it's spelled wrong, I typed it in stangcollector and it came back as name already used.

I figured as such (breaker bar), however my jack had blew out the hydraulic seal, and I was using the scissor jack, had 90% of my tools stolen including my breaker bars, and was having an all around bad experience with the whole damn thing. I tried using two wrenches and that's how I bent one. So, I figured wait til I get a long set of craftsman's and use a pipe on the end to do it.

So I figured I'd just get it back together to get it on the road and wait til I got my tool collection together to do it.

 

[Strype]

amnit: Listen to me... I did this three weeks ago.

I tried for 2 weekends fooling with different Spring Compressors... then, we tried it the way StangCollecter is saying... a couple of hours later they were in. Take off the inner side of the control arm and use a tow strap to bring it into place.

Been there done that- Peace

 

[46defense]

All you guys should know, when it comes to doing anything with big bolts, high torque values, and/or rust etc. There is absolutely no substitute for a 3/4" drive breaker bar, an adapter to fit your 1/2" sockets, a select few 3/4" drive sockets(bought as you need them), and a 3/16" to 1/4" wall piece of pipe about 24-30 inches long. Once you have these things you can add any or all of these other handy tools if you really want to work on your car and not let your car get the better of you: 2 full sets of jackstands, 2 seperate jacks,(with at least one of them being in the 3 1/2 ton range), a big air compressor(60 gallon or so), a nice big air impact wrench,(just like your car, there is no such thing as "too powerfull"). Basically you need to be able to buy anything you need to do the job instead of paying somebody else for labor. Eventually you can do almost anything without even needing a tool that you don't have. Last but not least it helps to have a wife that lets you park your car in the middle of the 2-car side of the garage, while her's sits outside, for a month or more with so much mess all the way around it that she has to jump once, turn twice and duck just to get through the garage to the driveway and she never asks you once when you are going to be done. Sorry for rambling...

 

[StangCollecter]

amnit: Listen to me... I did this three weeks ago.

I tried for 2 weekends fooling with different Spring Compressors... then, we tried it the way StangCollecter is saying... a couple of hours later they were in. Take off the inner side of the control arm and use a tow strap to bring it into place.

Been there done that- Peace

tow strap??

 

[Shakerhood]

I started swapping out my brakes, and thought "oh what the hell, I'll just swap the springs while I'm at it"

stupid stupid stupid.

I undid the balljoint and tie rod and sway bar, I ended up getting the factory spring out no problem, but tried getting the lowering spring in, big problem.

I tried to loosen the bolts on the inside of the A-arm, but bent two forged wrenches "trying". They just wouldn't budge, I sprayed in some WD40 but I guess it didn't penetrate.

Anyway, I ended up buying a clamshell type compressor for 50 bucks off ebay. I got the factory spring back in (eventually) and it's a little too far past the bottom spring groove. So the left side sits a little high. Then I had to completely disassemble and bend the sht out of it to get it off the spring.

I've decided to wait til I get a new air compressor and some new jacks before I attempt it again. Plus I plan to get a set of extra long wrenches to fit the A-arm bolts.

I've never heard of getting the spirngs banded, what do they use to do this? I understand the compressor part, but what do they band it with?

Before I purchased the correct compressor for the job, I called all over town trying to find someone to band my spring and nobody would. You compres the springs down and they put steel bands to hold it compressed and then once you have them in place you cut the bands, good luck finding a shop to do it for you though.

 

[DemonGT]

how much dose the actual ford spring compressor cost? the one that is the correct compressor for out cars? and where would you even get one? just curious..as i dont plan on buying one

 

[Euphoric306]

yea, it took me 15 mins tops for each spring to go in, im so relieved now. just gotta mount the sway bar up and that bitch is back on its wheels ready to have a tranny in it

 

[Shakerhood]

how much dose the actual ford spring compressor cost? the one that is the correct compressor for out cars? and where would you even get one? just curious..as i dont plan on buying one

They are expensive at a little over $200, but make the job so freakin easy that it is worth it in what you save in time, ease of use, and safety. Any large tool supply company has them.

 

[Strype]

tow strap??

Yea! Picked that idea up from another sight... once you start jacking the control arm back up, use a come-along (nylon not chain!) and it makes getting the a-arm back into position a lot easier. I would have never gotten done using a spring compressor. Mustangs aren't made for those unless you have the $300 Ford compressor