Coil Spring Removal

61Alpine

Senior Member

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #1

Happy Holidays to all British car fans.

Question.
I am about to remove my coil springs along with the entire front system.

What is the safe way to remove the coils.

Here is what I have in mind and advise would be appreciated.

Place my floor jack under the spring, put some pressure on it. Then undo the King Pin and while standing in front of the car, out of the way, lower the jack slowly, slowly until the spring in uncompressed.

Okay now what would you do?

Rob

 

Basil

Administrator

Staff member

Boss

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #2

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by 61Alpine:
Happy Holidays to all British car fans.

Question.
I am about to remove my coil springs along with the entire front system.

What is the safe way to remove the coils.

Here is what I have in mind and advise would be appreciated.

Place my floor jack under the spring, put some pressure on it. Then undo the King Pin and while standing in front of the car, out of the way, lower the jack slowly, slowly until the spring in uncompressed.

Okay now what would you do?

Rob<hr></blockquote>


NOt sure how it compares to my Jag, but I went to Pep Boys and bought a couple of spring compressors. They're cheap and will make the job much easier (at least it did on my Jag)

Basil

 

B

Bugeye58

Yoda

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #3

Rob, don't know for sure about the Alpine, but your method is exactly how I do it on the Sprite, and I have used the same approach on several different types of vehicles over the years.( Including Jag's) I think the key issue is doing it from a position where you are out of the way if something does go wrong.
Jeff

[ 12-27-2003: Message edited by: Bugeye58 ]</p>

 

P

piman

Darth Vader

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #4

Hello Rob,
how can you stand out of the way and still lower the jack? If the jack slips that spring could go anywhere and at a very high velocity. Spring compressors are relatively cheap and far safer.
If I had to use the jack route I would securely fasten some wire rope around the spring and the suspension arm to prevent it escaping. This would be a last resort method.

Alec

 

OP

61Alpine

Senior Member

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #5

I forgot about spring compressors. I'll go get me a set on Monday.
Thanks guys.

 

M

Mark Beiser

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #6

Thats how I have always removed coil springs on any car I'm completely removing the front or rear suspension from.

If the car is up on jack stands, there really isn't much travel left in the springs.

You need a spring compressor to get things back together though.

 

T

thegoodbeamer

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #7

Hi Rob
with the entire front end out it isn't too hard to remove the springs.A goo set of spring compressors is neccessary to do it and be safe.You could also make one as similar in the manual. That is using a 1/2 inch threaded rod. offset plate to match the spring.Use a 1/4 inch steel for this.Weld 1/2 inch nut to this plate keeping in mind it will be offset.To the top of the rod weld a nut or double nut and then just crank it till the spring is compressed.Then you are set to drop A arm and remove the spring.
Best wishes for 2004.

and as always its sunny

 

P

piman

Darth Vader

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #8

Hello Mark,
you may be very carefull yourself but it can be a risky process to advise someone else to do as there are varying levels of skills that forum members have. Trolley jacks, in particular, can be awkward due to the arc described by the arm.
The energy in a spring, even on full droop, is still large.

Alec

 

B

Bugeye58

Yoda

Offline

• Dec 28, 2003

• #9

Point well taken, Alec. Sometimes we just assume that the experience is there.
Jeff

 

T

Tiger

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Dec 29, 2003

• #10

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by thegoodbeamer:
You could also make one as similar in the manual. That is using a 1/2 inch threaded rod. offset plate to match the spring.Use a 1/4 inch steel for this.<hr></blockquote>


I did this and they worked well the first few times, until the poor-quality steel I got at the home center started to bend --

 

OP

61Alpine

Senior Member

Offline

• Dec 30, 2003

• #11

Okay so tonight I pulled the entire front cross member. Came out real easy boom right on the floor.

Okay so today I rented one of the spring compressors that go inside witht he movable arms. This will not work because the arms are to long and you can't get the parts far enough apart to compress.

So tomorrow I will start making my own out of 3/8" plate steel.

I'll let you know how they work next week.

 

OP

61Alpine

Senior Member

Offline

• Jan 4, 2004

• #12

Well I ended up using the rented compressors. What I did was, I took the loose claw off. I put the bolt down through the top shock tower. Attached the claw about 3-4 turns up and tightened it up until the bottom coil no longer touched. Undid the upper ball joint and uncomressed the spring worked like a charm.

Rob