... in an all original 1964 Galaxie 500XL 4 door hard top? I've tried using a spring compressor but not able to fit one in . The space in between the coils are too narrow to fit in the "j" hooks of the compressor even when the suspension hanging free. Im' planning to rebuild the front end and installing new 2" lowering springs. Thanks!
It's not the best way, but I usually support the car on stands, then raise the lower arm with a floor jack enough to pop the ball joint connection loose, then lower the jack and let the spring fall out. You probably want to run a loop of chain thru the center of the spring to keep it from flying out....
You can slide a piece of all thread through the shock mounts with nuts and plates on both ends. Snug it up and loosen and remove the ball joint nut. Then slowly back off the nut on the all thread. Use a long enough piece and put antiseize on it
A little dangerous too, but you can cut the coil of the spring with a cutoff wheel and relieve the tension. I just did this on a front stub that was lose from the car, it was at full extension since there was no weight on it. After that, dropping the lower A-arm was pretty easy.
Put the car on stands with a floor jack under the arm. Don't remove the ball joint nut! Loosen it but leave it with full thread contact. That will keep everything from flying apart when it lets go. Smack the spindle with a BFH and it should pop. Support it with the jack when you remove the nut. Lower the jack slowly to release the spring.
Just remember to have the car high enough up on the jack stands to lower the A-arm all the way with the jack under it. Nothing like trying to jack the A-arm back up with it lose and the spring under tension. Yup been there and done that...lol
Been a while since I've had one of my Chevy IIs apart, I believe the suspensions are similar. If you have the compressor with the two swinging hooks on each end, you need to have one up and one down as you feed it through the spring and when its in push one end between the coils (long one first?) and then with it still offset to one side the other. I know it's possible but a bit like ine of those wire puzzles you take apart and put back together, good luck.
I agree, although many times the lower control arm would not lower enough to completely release the spring and required remote prodding with a pry bar. I've rebuilt countless front suspensions and sometimes the careful release of spring pressure, expecting the spring to fly out, and taking the appropriate precautions is the only way to get the job done. Often I've used a spring compressor, ran out of threads on it while releasing, and still had to let it fly with me deep in the danger zone. Not to mention egg-shaping many an upper shock mount hole in the process. I actually modified my spring compressor with a bushing to alleviate that. Be happy you're putting drop springs back in. Good luck.
If you are not going to use the springs, heat them in a couple of places until cherry red. Do not heat up the shocks.
Make sure to wear a face SHIELD and thick gloves if you do this. When the spring lets loose the cut off wheel goes bye bye. I like the all thread trick the best.
This one. If they are going to be junked anyway, do the easiest thing first. If I were attacking this problem, I would pull the wheels, put the drums on jack stands and torch the springs till they got all saggy.
I've pulled a ton of them out and put them in using two bars. I used to have two truck tire irons about 3-1/2 or so ft long that worked great but now use long crow bars. I do just as Squirrel said and block the car up solidly just high enough to let the A frame drop. As he and others said have your floor jack under the A arm and back the nuts off the ball joints and then pop the ball joints loose. Then you can remove the nuts and move the spindle out of the way. Tie it up or set it on something to keep from stretching the brake hose. With disks it's easier to take the caliper off and hang it out of the way and then remove the spindle. It's best not to have anything that can get damaged on that side of the car just in case. That includes you. Let the jack down letting the A arm down. If the spring doesn't fall out or pop out use a long bar with a flat end to help it out of the pocket so it pops out. If you are spooky you can loop a cable or chain though it to keep it from flying off. To put the new spring in: slip the spring up in the pocket and take one bar and put it under the spring so that it reaches just inside the bottom pocket. Take the second bar and go through the coils about the second coil up and catch the back coil. Lift up slightly on the bottom bar while pushing down and in on the top bar to slide the spring into the pocket on the A arm. It's best to have a helper who can follow directions operating the jack but it can be done by one person. when the spring slides into place raise the jack up to raise the A frame back up into place. One note; it doesn't work if the engine is out of the car as you need the engine's weight to compress the spring. Then, you need a spring compressor.
I have had a set of those Moog "C" clips for years that get clipped on the outside of the spring (inboard side) while it's still in the car and compressed. Drop the lower arm as you describe and the spring bows nicely and drops out without a fight and nobody gets hurt. Gotta compress the spring to get the clips back... Bob
I've used my coil spring compressor with the j-hooks on a few Galaxies and they always worked, unless yours are oversized, maybe made for a truck? The hooks don't always go in nicely, they have to be persuaded in some cases with a tire iron and some muscle. Bob
You haven't seen the spring pockets on a ford lately, I can tell, because you can actually only see about the bottom 2/3 of the spring...my falcon was the same way, and I have the inner and the outer type of spring compressors, and I still had to take a few chances with them....
It's been touched on a couple of times, and I don't how savvy you are, but coil springs can kill you if they are not restrained. Even a little compression left in them when you kick them out goes a LOG way. Chain 'em down GOOD.
I was new in a shop and the owner and mechanic were wrestling with a coil spring, attacking it with tire irons to get it in. I offered to help but was told to **** off... 2 minutes later we were dialing 911 and off to the ER they went. One split open head, out cold and one broken forearm. Bob
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