FINALLY getting stuff around to swap out the stock springs for the Aerostars. Trying to avoid making a trip to O'Riellys with the car on jackstands and the neighborhood kids playing around the car. So, the question is: Do I need to press the Tie Rods out to change the springs? I plan on getting sway bar link removed, shocks removed, using a BFH to get lower Ball Joint released. Not sure if leaving tie rods attached would let Control Arm swing down enough to get springs out. Thanks in advance
Mine will drop down far enough to take the Aerostar springs out and put them in without removing the tie rods. I can't say if they will will drop enough to remove the stock springs but if you have a torch you can always torch the old springs first.
using a torch to heat the old springs with a load on them will make them squat and then easily removed. Aerostars went in easily with a floor jack. Tie rods can stay in place
Thanks for the input. I installed the Aerostar springs in the 55 Wagon. I tried like Hell to get the Lower Balljoint loose, but I couldn't. Upper Balljoint broke loose with just 2 whacks of the BFH. Unfortunately, this meant I had to disconnect the soft Brake line. Other than that, everything went smoothly. I didn't have to touch the tie rods at all. I did spend about an hour s****ing old dry grease and dirt from the control arm and backing plate area. After all that work, my car only dropped 1 inch. Lol. Smh Hopefully, it will settle lower, in time.
Thanks for the follow-up. They should drop a bit more after they settle in/few hundred miles or so. The advertised drop is compared to oem spring height, NOT old worn out springs that in all likelyhood were lower than stock original height. Let us know how you feel about the new ride though, should be better.
I took my sway bar off but not the ty-rods. My son had a double twisting screw device to split the ball joint from the spindle. We had a floor jack under the a-arm so it wouldn't drop hard. He was faster on his side than me. I had to split the right side again because it wasn't level when done. I used some polyurthane bushings above the springs. One was a 1/2" the other a 3/8". I was not looking for super-low. Turned out just right for me. For me the compound wound springs are softer on the first hit so I need to be aware of dips at intersections more. I also have one spot on the 55 Freeway southbound in So Cal where there is a bad transition from concrete over a street back on the the main freeway. Every time I go over it I think somethings going to break.
I suspect mine settled close to an inch or so over time. Curious to see how your actually sits now. Here is mine after putting them in probably 8 or so years ago and about 15,000 miles.
Your height is exactly what I was hoping for. Maybe the white walls make it look lower. Whenever you get a chance, could you provide a measurement from the ground to the fender lip at wheel center and provide tire size? Id really appreciate it. I'd Mine sits at 25" with 215-75r15s now.
Mine currently has 670R15’s which are 28.25” tall and the fender lip is 24.5” off the ground. I was running 205-75-15’s and these are taller which actually raised the car some but also went up in the fender more, making it look lower. Looks like your tires would be about 27.7” tall which are about 1/2” shorter than mine. I guess calculating all that out, my car apparently sits about 3/4” lower than where yours is currently sitting taking into account the 1/4” difference of the tire radius. That was a really long way to say mine probably settled about 3/4”.
Texas57: I was thinking same thing after laughing at myself for all the work for only 1 inch(now I know how my wife feels, but I digress). Me thinks my stock springs have sagged over the last 65yrs Jimmy6: not sure if your speaking of busting the Lower Balljoint loose. It would definitely require a tool. I beat the Hell out of it and it wouldn't budge. I tightened the nut up again and went for the Upper Balljoint. 2 whacks later, it was busted loose due to spring force. For those of you playing at home, Springs can kill you. As Jimmy mentioned, you should have a Jack set beneath the near end of Lower Control Arm (near brake drum) to catch the arm and retain the spring if all Hell breaks loose. Leave about 1/4 between bottom of Arm and the Jack Pad. Bust loose the Upper Balljoint nut and loosen it until there's about 1/8" showing between where the bottom of the nut previously was (when it was fully tightened) and the new, loosened position. The trick on this is that no spreader tool needed. You'll be using the force of the spring to pop the ballpoint from its seat. A couple of whacks with a BFH on the top of the Upper spindle knuckle and you'll hear a bang. The Spring has sprung! You'll see that the space above the nut is no more. Lift the Jack up a lil to lift up the arm a bit and remove the nut. Youve just eliminated your secondary safety feature, it just Jack vs Spring now. Lower the Jack slowly from a safe place. I had my floor Jack inserted from the Front of the car for safety. Other than that, it'smooth sailing. moot Make sure your Swaybar connector, brake line, and Shock have all been removed beforehand. You don't want to be under the car disconnecting this stuff with just a Jack keeping the spring from ripping thru your skull.
One more note of caution.........If you're doing this with a bare front end, no engine/ sheetmetal, the jack under the control arm will do NOTHING to keep the spring contained. The front end will simply rise letting the control arm open and the spring will fly out. When I did my '57 in the stripped down state, I used long 5/8 threaded rod thru the shock mount holes with milling machine clamps, nuts and washers to keep everything contained. Used jam nuts on the bottom so it wouldn't unthread when I turned the nut up top to drop the control arm.
guthrie.. sorry not get back. My rear is stock actually slightly higher because the new mounts on the 8.8 rear. 215’s are on the back and 205’s on the front. 6” wide torque thrusts.
Another quick and easy way to control everything and compress your springs on a non-loaded front suspension is to wrap a chain over your top A arm and under your floor jack. As you Jack up the lower control arm the chain tightens and pulls down on the upper A arm. I’ve used this procedure numerous times and it works well.
100% on this - I used ratchet straps around the top of the frame and around my floor jack and it worked like a charm!
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