[gtorich]

Oh boy, i can see this already going bad............hoping to install these springs this weekend along with all the stuff, new aftermarket upper & lower control arms, the whole kit & kaboddle .............got these front springs from Detroit eaton, not sure what is the top or the bottom of them.

Im thinking where the coils are tighter, thats the top................Right or wrong.?

Thanks in advance

Rich

[66sprint6]

Coils are "tighter" at the bottom. It's flat and sits nicely on the lower control arm. If you look up inside the frame when you take your old springs out, you will see a little indentation, or pocket, that the other end fits up into.

[gtorich]

Hey 66 sprint, thanks for the reply, doesn't sit flat on either side of the spring when i put it in the aftermarket control arm...........theres a mark on one side of the spring, guess i will have to call detroit eaton spring as ask what this is supposed to be...................i can already tell this is gonna be trouble. lol

Anyone else got the front springs from eaton.........is this mark the bottom or top.

Rich

[JLMounce]

What control arms did you purchase? Does the lower arm have a rubber or steel spiral base on it?

I know the mountings changes on A bodies throughout the years. later cars have the pigtail end sitting in the control arm and the flat end sitting in the upper frame mount.

[ZeGermanHam]

It's kind of hard to tell from the perspective of the photos, but typically you should be able to identify one end of the spring that is "flatter" than the other. The flatter end should go up, and the pigtail end goes down (as Jason mentioned above).

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by JLMounce

What control arms did you purchase? Does the lower arm have a rubber or steel spiral base on it?

I know the mountings changes on A bodies throughout the years. later cars have the pigtail end sitting in the control arm and the flat end sitting in the upper frame mount.

Hey Jason, i got the umi lower, it has a steel spiral base on it.............i"ll send you a pic in a e mail...........gonna try to do this on Sunday, im sure this is gonna go smooth as silk. lol

By the way, i called eaton springs, which i bought these from, they said it didnt matter both ends are the same. Hope thats correct.

Rich

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by gtorich

Hey Jason, i got the umi lower, it has a steel spiral base on it.............i"ll send you a pic in a e mail...........gonna try to do this on Sunday, im sure this is gonna go smooth as silk. lol

By the way, i called eaton springs, which i bought these from, they said it didnt matter both ends are the same. Hope thats correct.

Rich

That's likely. I do know the upper mount changed on the A-body at some point, I just don't know when. The later cars are flat up top and earlier cars should have a spiral top seat as well.

You may want to do a bit of research or just look for it, but the spiral base top mounts typically have a specific clocking position that the upper pigtail needs to sit at. On the F-Body cars it's a hole drilled in the upper mount (forward to the car's nose on the driver side and after to the car's rear on the passenger side). If the early A-body is similar, you want the end of the upper pigtail sitting so that you can see the end of the spring through that hole.

What happens if this is not done properly is you'll actually get one side of the car sitting higher than the other.

I'm speculating on that however, so you may want to consult an early a-body expert which is not really me.

[66sprint6]

One end has to sit nicely into the flat pocket in the lower control arm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can more or less stand the spring up in it's correct position. The chassis manual states that the open end "must be visible in the frame pocket hole". You'll see it up in the frame. You can stick your finger in it. It should be easy to see which end will mimic your finger and which is bent flat to sit in the control arm. The chassis manual doesn't show the bottom of the spring, but it does show the top of the spring clocked into the indentation.

[66sprint6]

I'll be doing this for the third time soon, by the way: The original springs (deadsville). The Moog springs from RockAuto (pushed the nose way,way up). The Coil Spring Specialties springs (started off good but now not so sure). And finally whatever I get next.
It's not a hard job. Getting ready and then disconnecting everything like the sway bar and tie rod, supporting everything so as not to mess up the brake line...that was a good chunk of the work and they edit that stuff out on these youtube videos I see.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by 66sprint6

I'll be doing this for the third time soon, by the way: The original springs (deadsville). The Moog springs from RockAuto (pushed the nose way,way up). The Coil Spring Specialties springs (started off good but now not so sure). And finally whatever I get next.
It's not a hard job. Getting ready and then disconnecting everything like the sway bar and tie rod, supporting everything so as not to mess up the brake line...that was a good chunk of the work and they edit that stuff out on these youtube videos I see.

Wow, for the 3rd time, and im flipping out on the 1st lol...........im probubly messing you up here, im putting the springs in a umi aftermarket lower arm, but the springs are from eaton, but there supposed to be the same as stock..........i cant stand the spring up on either end, it just falls over.........dont know if you caught my other post, right now it seems like i cant get the bolt on the lower arm out anyways with the header in the way.

Not sure of what route im gonna go now.

Rich