Technical Rebuilding front suspension on 4 post lift

I want to rebuild the front suspension on my 57 Chevy.Is there enough room even after the front end is raised to rebuild front suspension on a 4 post lift thanks

 

There is enough room but you might play hell getting it to be stable enough unless the rack is set up for it.
I understand the want to do it that way but in the long run I'd set it on stands or blocks on the floor and feel a lot more secure in the process.
I used single post hoists to do front end work for several years in different shops and that worked because I could raise or lower the car depending on what I was doing and still had full movement of my floor jack under the lower control arms. I usually did only one side at a time leaving the wheel and tire on the offside from what I was working on to have the tire be able to push against the shop floor to help my leverage when jacking the A arm up to collapse the spring so I could get the spindle back on.

 

I'd rather do that on the ground. You can use the floor jack and a strap to compress the springs one side at a time. More stable on the floor on stands. Stands slip on steel.

 

Something I have done when Jacking my cars up on my 4 post lift and securing them when up off ramps, block front or rear wheels, I purchased a 10' 6X6 treated post, put across lift, cut left over from ramp width in 1/2, line up under the car frame rails on top of 6X6 now you have 11+" of spacer per side, add 4X4 or 2x6 for additional height as needed. Jack car up evenly and in steps, you DONOT want to get it tipping one way. By doing this the car is stable and your jack tray is available. Agree with comment about jack stands on ramps, usually can't get them where they need to be or if you use the jack tray, it's usually in the way. I redid the front end on my 51 Mercury and rolled the rear end assembly back on our 51 Buick to work on Dynaflow using this method. As always, for anyone, BE CAREFUL ! use your head and make sure everything is STABLE..... If you are in doubt, redo and/or rethink, hope this helps you out. I used new treated wood for this, do not recommend using old dried out crap. Buy yourself some good bottle Jack's, necessary for raising the car on a 4 poster. If you are young enough and can still get up and down on the floor, that's a better/safer way to go, I'm old/stiff, cannot crawl under cars anymore. Also recommend, purchase a spring compressor, if you have no experience with coil springs, have an experienced friend help you or just have it done at a shop, had a friend when I was a kid, crippled his arm from a spring flying out, so have respect for that spring, they can BITE you.

 

I'm just about to order a RJ-45 jack unit from BendPak - yes, it's kinda spendy, but how much is your car worth?

 

I have this jack for my 4 post - It is safe, easy to use and I have done everything from front end rebuilds to installing later model style crossmembers using it.


There are a couple of different models depending on your lift - I think mine was $400 and worth every penny!

 

. I agree w/ your comment on the different jack assembly's for the 4 post lifts, they are pretty slick, I did not buy one as I don't believe I would use it enough to justify the expenditure, so worked around it. I like many senior's on here are not really in the business of cars/repair, just our own junk and a guy that is in that trade usually has both type of lifts, advantages for each, time savers, as time is money.

 

What I meant to say would l be able to rebuild the front suspension by using that sliding Jack unit moving the front end up the air Thanks.

 

I actually bought the 4 post as a means to have more storage space, plus access trans repairs, etc. the RJ-45 jack just makes it handier for front end work, brakes, etc. I've got an OT corvette in here, and those things are a pain to get the engine out of with a cherry picker so I built a sort of gantry to go on the hoist, using a 1 ton chain fall, made it a breeze. The hoist is a 9K model.

 

Even IF I had a 4-post, I'd rather have the safety of jack stands on the floor! A sheet of cardbord is easy to slide around on.

That said, here's my tip for putting the springs back in the car and connecting the lower A-arm. You'll need a 2' stick of 1/2" all-thread, 2 1" sticks of 3/8" all-thread. Make a plate from steel or a scrap of plywood (3/4") to fit the shock recess, drill. Snug up the nuts on the 1/2" rod enough to keep the spring in position inside the A-arm. Use the 3/8 sticks with nuts and washers on both ends, connect between the crossmember and A-arm.

Now, position a bottle jack to push up on the the cross-bar of the A-arm. As you move the cross-bar upwards, run the nuts up for SAFETY - should the jack slip! As the cross-bar contacts the crossmember, use a punch to line-up the holes, install bolts. BOOM. DONE! I've done front-end work on both my '57's and wouldn't think of screwing around with a damn spring compressor - just too slow.

Rustoleum 'Satin Black' holds up pretty well for paint I've found. Good Luck, Tim