[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Ok so I’ve gotten to the point where I am gonna do the front end stuff but I don’t have the weight of the engine or front end to help me with the coil springs. I have done a LOT of coil spring work in the past but I have always had weight as a crutch. I was never afraid because I just stood out of the way while I was lowering the jack. I bought a spring compressor but I am not really digging it. Any truly safe way to use it.?

Some depends on the springs, like, free height. 'Performance' springs generally are shorter in free height than OE types, and they are easier to install/remove. In my cases, they are short enough where you don't need a compressor. But, you can load weight on the engine cradle area to help load it, and allow you to jack the lower arm up and get the nut on the ball joint.

That can't always be done with OE type springs, because even with weight on the frame, the free height is just too much, and requires at least some compression.

In a shop, I've seen where folks use a fork lift, placing a fork on the cradle, to hold it down and allow for jacking of the lower arm. But still, I've seen some springs where it's just too tall, and the lower arm doesn't drop far enough to allow the spring to fit between the pocket and the arm.

It might take a couple attempts to figure out how far down on the spring you need to grab it with the compressor. If you go too far down, you won't be able to get the levers out from between the coils, too high up, same thing.

One tip, check VERY closely once installed and make SURE that the upper, flat side of the spring is COMPLETELY around the locating tabs in the frame. I've seen way too many times where folks have them shifted slightly to one side, and a coil goes outside those tabs.

Also keep in mind that as the spring compresses/uncompresses, the open coil end of the spring moves, so you need to account for that in the spring pocket. In the at-rest position, I usually like to see about 1-1.5" from the coil end to the pocket end/alignment hole. That allows the spring to move some during movement.

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