camaroneil

hi,
i'm gonna change the donuts and bolts on the end of the rear spring tonight,
am i right in thinking all i need do is jack up the car in the middle of the rear spring till the wheels are almost off the ground,
so as taking all the weight off the spring,
then simply renew the parts??????
thanks,
neil

Tom454

Nope... there will still be pressure on the bolt & bushings. You need to jack up the end of the spring until the pressure is released before you can change out the parts. This is dangerous because the spring has an arch to it, and it jacks up at an angle. GM specifies to wrap a chain around the spring and car so you don't lose any body parts in the operation. After you've done several of these, you develop your own method. But be careful... if the spring lets go, you can get seriously hurt. I have had them let go, and they pack a good punch.

camaroneil

thanks,
so if i tie the spring to the driveshaft then jack it up in the middle that should be ok?????
thanks,
neil

OldSchool

I used a set of vice grips- attached to the spring- about 6-10" up the spring.
This will stop the jack from 'walking up' the spring. Then used my floor jack at the outboard side of the spring, by the vice grips. This will unload one side of the spring, and make the bolt/hardware accesssible. Go slowly, do 1 side at a time.. :smash: :smash:

GTR1999

I use a piece of black pipe 1.5"x12'. After the car is up on jack stands, I brace it between the strut rod and spring and have a helper compress the spring while removing the nut. Works fast and safe without much effort.
Gary

tabbruzz

I did mine last week. I put the car on jack stands and jacked up the spring close to the spring kit bolt and used a sawsall to remove the old bolts as they were beyond unbolting them. I used a hacksaw on the other side as I had only one dull sawsall blade. It's a pretty easy job.....Good luck

Motor City Vette

I just replaced my original steel spring with a 330# TRW composite spring yesterday. It was a pretty simple job. Ater jacking the car up, I put jack stands under the rear cross member (and a pair of chocks in front of the front tires). I then used a hydraulic house jack to jack up one end of the spring at a time (pretty close to the hanger bolts). I sprayed the bolts/nuts of the old spring with WD-40 the day before (gave them a good soaking) and was able to get them all off without have to cut anything. After removing the old bolts, I slowly let the hydraulic jack release and lower the end of the spring I was working on. I then did the same thing fo rht eother side. I then used the jack to support the weight of the rear spring when removing the 4 bolts in the center plate.

Putting upe the new spring was relatively easy, too. After attaching the spring with the 4 bolts at the center plate, I used the jack to raise one end of the spring at a time (just be sure to let the jack press against the metal ends of the composite spring).

Good luck.

Van Steel

quote
I used a set of vice grips- attached to the spring- about 6-10" up the spring.
This will stop the jack from 'walking up' the spring. Then used my floor jack at the outboard side of the spring, by the vice grips. This will unload one side of the spring, and make the bolt/hardware accesssible. Go slowly, do 1 side at a time..
:iagree: Take your time. I hear of a lot of broken fingers.

Tom454

As long as you have a steel spring (as in this case), the vise-grip trick is ok. If you have a fiberglass spring, I wouldn't use vise-grips on it unless you pad the spring somehow to avoid damage.

The ideas we are all trying to convey are:
1) The job certainly is easy
2) You can get hurt if the spring slips when compressed
3) You should do one side at a time
4) You must raise the spring end relative to the cushions in order to remoive/replace the hardware.

I use a hydraulic jack like some of the others... but it tends to get in the way of the tools because I jack at the tip of the spring outboard from the bolt instead of inboard, with the jack parallel to the spring (tire off). Even tthen, the jack sometimes takes a trip. It all depends on how stiff the spring is and how good your initial grip on the spring is.

When you jack the spring inboard from the bolt (how most people do it), this is when you need the vise-grips because as the spring de-compresses, it arches and the angle between the jack & the spring becomes too steep for the jack to stay put. If it slips, the spring can send the jack flying and if you're in the way, you will get hurt by the spring or by the jack. This is where the broken fingers come from.

Garys method is pretty cool... just pry the spring up & wrench it apart. It requires a helper though, and if you have a pretty paint job on your suspension parts... oops.

It really is an easy job... but you need to respect that spring.

camaroneil

thanks for all that guys,
i feel quite confident now,
i didn't get chance to do it last night,
i will be doing it this evening,
i'll let you all know how it went,
thanks again,
neil

Brettmc

I used pieces of 1X6 to sandwich my composite spring and a C-clamp to hold them on. I put my floor jack under the wood and jacked away. No slips, no problems, no broken or missing body parts.

Brett :thumbs: