I own one, and did loan-a-tool from AutoZone and Advance Auto... None work. Two of the Coil Spring Compressors have the little connecting piece that won't even fit into the hole in lower control arm, and the third one will let that piece get in the hole, but not both of the arms as they are spread out about 1/4" too much and I can't get the angle on it. .

I've changed springs on a 69 many times, so I know there are tools out there that fit, but I can't find one now.

Does anyone have a brand and part # for a coil spring compressor that will get up into the hole, with both arms, top and bottom so I can get those springs out?

Right now, I'm just bouncing around with no shocks, until I can swap the springs out.

Thanks,

D

 

I did mine with bolts and chains.
I compressed the spring outside of the car, chained it down compressed, stuck it in and unbolted the chain.

As far as getting the old ones out, I just pickle forked the ball joint, and popped the springs out with an 8' 2x4.

 

I used a piece of threaded rod through the spring with thick cross bars to compress the spring and fed the lower end of the rod through the shock hole and then attached the control arm and then wound the nuts off to release pressure...you need some space under the control arm to drop the rod out of the spring...another thing we tried on a '63 Starfire was a heavy duty lifting strap to not scratch any paint and put it around the frame, control arm and floor jack...using the floor jack to compress the spring and arm into place...this needs to be done very carefully and with thought so as not to cause harm to ones self or the walls of the shop!!!

 

Thanks for your creative suggestions. I got them out/in, with combo of floor jack and the compressor. I didn't remember it being that time consuming on the 69 that I did several times.

Thanks again,

 

i purchased a heafty piece of 3' all thread, two large nuts and two large washers. Jack up the car and remove the shocks, run the all thread through the upper shock mount hole into the lower control arm. Tighten the upper nut until the spring starts to compress, unbolt the lower ball joint, then unscrew the upper nut until the tension on the spring is released. With this method you don't have to worry about the spring taking flight.
It is a good idea to tack weld one of the nuts so they dont accidently unscrew.

 

I've had one of these forever:



The front springs and opening in the control arm are the same on all 64-72 A-body cars. The trick is to disassemble the tool and feed the parts through the hole in the lower control arm individually. Position the upper and lower arms on the coils of the spring, then thread the rod up from the bottom.

 

I went to loan out a coil spring compressor (for my 70 Cutlass S) and they had two models. The one Joe shows above and the external compressor. I wound up not getting either because I wanted to make sure which one would work better. I did not know how the internal model would work, but as Joe points out you have to disassemble the compressor and feed the components in the spring.

At any rate, will either type work or do I just stick with the internal one. I can't seem to find one that is listed in the Chassis manual.

d1

 

You need the one joe listed that goes inside the springs, with the two differrent sized arms.
I got mine at Harbor Freight/Tool Town for about $30

personally, i would just use the big floor jack method for getting the sprigns out.
I've used the compressor before to do it and it its a pita- takes forever. The floor jack method tkaes about 2 mins.

This vid shows it... Its easy and quick... If they guy would just shut up and get to the point...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1akq...layer_embedded

 

Thanks for the link. Is there another way to compress the springs in order to install w/o killing myself?? I live 60 miles from anywhere, so it is not very convenient to go rent a compressor.

 

Install is reverse of removal- Put the upper coil up into the frame pocket- lift up the lower arm and get the spring started into its pocket (be sure to line up the end of the coil between the two holes) get your floor jack under the spring pocket in the control arm and start jacking it up.

Have a long crowbar handy to adjust the spring- but the floor jack should be albe to lift it all and compress it- and as soon as you can get the ball joint into the spindle, get the castle nuts installed and you're there.

Super easy.

Now if youre springs are just too long to fit in the control arms when they are down (liek the spring would have to bow way out to even get started) you will need to rent a spring compressor... No other way to do it.

Reinstalling with a spring compressor, i don't use the upper set of "fingers" only the lower. Put the spring into the upper frame spring pocket- put the spring compressor in from the top through the shock hole- then thread on only the lower fingers about 3 coils up fromt eh bottom- Then just tighten it from the top, fingers will pull the spring up into the frame, and you can then get the control arm up, and connect the spindle & B/JS- then losten the compressor from the top and pull out the rod/fingers

Bingo!

 

Great information. I can definitely visualize it now. I'll will try it w/o the spring compressor this afternoon. If the spring is too long, looks like I will be making a road trip to rent a compressor.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

d1

 

I use the harbor Freight compressor with an air ratchet to work it (don't use an impact gun). I made up two "staples" of 3/16" x 1" wide steel strap, about 6.7" straight section, ends bent over. I put them on coils #2-up, 180 degrees apart and remove the compressor (be careful, lots of stored energy!). I have to compress most springs like 6 cylinder coils because the headers don't allow the lower A arms to swing down all the way.

 

Got the springs in. Went over to the local mechanic and he actually had a floor mount spring compressor. Pretty cool setup. I compressed the springs and chained them down. Installation was pretty good after that.

I did have an issue/concern. After I torqued the upper and lower ball joints down per the manual the steering knuckle was very hard to move left and right. A lot more pressure is required with the new parts vs. the old. Also, the cotter pin hole was at least 2 threads higher than the bottom of the groove of the castellated nut. Whereas the old setup the cotter pin hole was even with the groove in the castellated nut.

So, do I have it torqued too much (even though I followed the manual specs)? Should I back the nuts off so the cotter pin holes are even? It maybe trivial but I want to make sure I don't prematurely wear out parts.

Also, the lower control arms require the weight of the car be applied before torquing. What is the best way to do this. There does not seem to be a lot of room in there to get my torque wrench in there after I get the wheels on, etc.

d1

 

You should tighten the nuts to get a good reading. I put the whole car on blocks under the tires so I can get under it. Still I don't have room for a torque wrench, so I use the armstrong method of torquing the nuts. After 40 years I can pretty much tell when they are "gutentite".

 

For the BJ castle nuts- torque them to spec, don't worry if the castle nut goes down farther than the cotter pin hole. DO not back it off. if you back it off- you need to pop the ball joint loose and restart the operation or you risk breaking off the stud in the spindle.

To torque the lowers iwht the weight of the car on them, jack up the car and set it down with the wheels on ramps (or peices of wood) this will give you the elevation you need to get under it with the torque wrench- but still have the load on the arms.

 

Yeah, I forgot about my wheel ramps, I will be using those.


Sounds good, I checked my torque on everything and will leave it alone.

But now I have another problem. When installing the passenger side spring it apparently got "off center" even though I indexed the bottom. I guess I figured there was only one way the top of the spring would fit. The reason I know this is I attempted to install the shock and it would not reach the shock hole. The rubber bushing was hitting the top coil of the spring!

So I get to undo everything I did and try again. NOT HAPPY! Hopefully, I can pop the spring into place without having to remove it completely.

d1