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Old 06-06-2000, 08:22 AM
mike nixon mike nixon is offline
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: PORTLAND,IN,47371
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do the rear yourself. with a floor jack ,a pair of jack stands and an impact it'll take about 15 minutes. jack the rear of the car up and take bottom of the shocks loose, then let the rear diff down until the springs are free pull one spring out at a time and then install the new one. you may have to pry each side down when installing the new spring, but it's really no big deal.
the front are a pain in the a$$. you'll need a spring compressor to do them. if you've never done them you might be better off taking it somewhere. the car'll need aligned anyway.
the procedure is as follows. raise front of car and support. remove front wheels. remove front shocks. remove brake caliper and support it. don't let it hang by the hose. place floor jack under lower control arm with pressure on arm. loosen lower balljoint and split from spindle. SLOWLY let the jack down. while doing this do not position yourself in line with the spring as it could pop out of the seat and injure you. remove the spring from the lower seat. clean out the lower spring seat [gravel ,old grease ect]. now is the time to replace any worn bushings or ball joints so look them over carefully. compress the new spring. be very careful during this step. if the spring gets loose it can cause serious harm to you ,the car or any thing else in its way. reinstall spring making sure the top is in the upper seat and the rubber insulator is in place. position the bottom of the spring with the end in the divot in the lower spring seat.[you'll see it.] make sure the spring is in with the top up. reconnect the spindle to the ball joint and tighten. remove the compressor and recheck the springs position in the upper seat. reinstall the brakes wheels ect.
if you do this yourself i would recommend driving the car for a couple hundred miles to let the springs settle in before aligning.
if you decide to replace the control arm bushings then replace them with polyurethene units. they last longer and drive 200% better then the rubber ones. good luck, mike

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