Tips On Strut and spring installation! Please.
- Thread starter whitey5oh
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You also don't want to injure yourself. I don't know how we're going to accomplish the whole swap; lift or jacks and stands. Either way, you're going to want some way to keep the vehicle in the air (about 18-24 inches minimum). I would recommend doing it in stages, too. You're going to have to acquire springs compressors (borrowed or bought). I recommend the internal type (single screw). The springs can kill you if they get loose. So, be careful. You also can take about 10 minutes to unbolt your front struts with a pneumatic wrench, or 3 hours with hand tools. So, I highly recommend the pneumatic wrenches. The rear springs and shocks are a piece of cake and basically fall out and can be replaced in less than an hour. The fronts are quite different, so be prepared for that, also. If you are going to make all of these changes, I would recommend C/C plates concurrently. For more detail, e-mail me. Good luck. BT
whitey5oh said:i should be putting some springs and struts on my car this weekend and was looking for some helpful input so i do this right!Dont wanna screw up my baby!
I stole this file off 50tech.com, started on mine yesterday- yes it would be nice to have impact wrench, I had to go buy a 24-inch breaker bar to get the nuts started! Killed a half-inch socket wrench trying- stripped it out.
Makes sense doing it this way, I've got my spring bungee-corded to my strut just to be on the safe side.
smellmygas
Member
good luck on the project...i did this about a month ago and i found it to be quite the hassle. the rear took maybe 20 min. but the front took me over 4 hours.
quick note- i let the front stabilizer drop to the ground popped the spring out back in...pump pump on the arm by a jack and its all good.
good luck
quick note- i let the front stabilizer drop to the ground popped the spring out back in...pump pump on the arm by a jack and its all good.
good luck
I just did this last week and it was fairly easy. the rears are fairly straight forward and shoudln't take more than half an hour. ( air tools, gotta love em). the fronts aren't too tricky but do require some planning. get the car in the air on jack stands. Put a floor jack under the front A arm and just put enough tension on it to make sure everything stays where it should be, ie the spring. this is where air tools come in handy, loosen the top nut on the strut but don't take it all the way off. If you don't have air tools, you'll need a screwdriver and wrench to get it loose.
then you can remove the the 2 nuts and bolts holding the lower end of the strut in. I used a breaker bar to loosen them first then got the air ratchet in and finsihed off the job. Take out the old one and transfer the old dust boot/bumper thingy onto the new strut. Slide it up and get your top nut started. Do up the two lower ones and then tighten the top nut with an adjustable wrench or screwdriver depending on what the rod on the new strut looks like. It took me about an hour or so to do both. And this was the first time I had ever attempted it. Just follow any instructions and make sure the spring is held in, the jack should keep it compressed enough to hold it in place.
then you can remove the the 2 nuts and bolts holding the lower end of the strut in. I used a breaker bar to loosen them first then got the air ratchet in and finsihed off the job. Take out the old one and transfer the old dust boot/bumper thingy onto the new strut. Slide it up and get your top nut started. Do up the two lower ones and then tighten the top nut with an adjustable wrench or screwdriver depending on what the rod on the new strut looks like. It took me about an hour or so to do both. And this was the first time I had ever attempted it. Just follow any instructions and make sure the spring is held in, the jack should keep it compressed enough to hold it in place.
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