stupid question, easy answer?

[Knanthrup]

Well I just got my new front coil springs yesterday and so lastnight I spent like 4 hours in the garage putting on one side. The reason? I couldn\'t figure out how to do the damn thing the right way.

I know that you\'re supposed to unbolt the bottom ball join and pop off that side of the lower A-arm (or atleast that\'s how I understood it). So I unbent the pin and pulled it out and then I unbolted the weird looking bolt with a jack under the A-arm for safety but after the bolt was undone, the A-arm wouldn\'t drop down. I tried pounding on it and stuff but it\'s still stuck on there and I\'m thinking that I didn\'t do something right or I need to do something else to get it to drop off. I was hoping you guys could just point out what the hell I\'m doing wrong... it\'s kind of embarrassing but I haven\'t pulled one before so I\'m not sure what I\'m doing. I know you\'re supposed to use a pickle fork or something but I thought that was just for loosening the nut... which I did the hard way but I haven\'t used a pickle fork before so maybe there\'s something else I need it for.



Anyways I ended up getting desperate to get it in there and see what it looked like so I unbolted the opposite side and pulled out both bolts (hahahahaha) which was an absolute to line up again. I\'d like to avoid doing this for the other side, your help is appreciated.

[350-s-10]

well first of all, if you are planning to be alive after you take out the spring, you best put a chain on the jack! what i did was to hook the chain to the frame infront of the spring area, like at the bumper..... then go under the jack, then hook the other end of the chain onto the frame behind the spring, twards the cab..... make sure that the chain is sort of tight, and so when you jack up the jack on the bottom of the ball joint, it will push the frame up, and then the chain will catch..... this will make the lower control arm only move up, not the whole truck! ok so now you can saftly get the spring out after you have the nut off of the ball joint..... i usually like to make sure that the chain will be safe first before i break the control arm from the ball joint..... but now it is time to loosen up the nut on the ball joint! just loosen it up, so that the nut is still on the thread but there is a gap between the nut and the control arm..... ok, now is the time to put in the pickle fork! put it in and beat the piss out of it till the joint pops and hits the nut! the nut will act like a safty so that the damn spring doesnt fly away!!! next, put some pressure on the jack and try to jack up the ball joint/control arm up so that the nut isnt holding any weight..... then take off the nut, and SLOWLY let the jack down, be careful and place your foot on the spring to press the spring into the perch so that it doesnt fly out! this is a dangerous job, make sure you have someone else there to help you!!!! and good luck!

[350-s-10]

i almost forgot..... TAKE OUT THE SHOCKS FIRST!!!! take them out before you do anything, if ya dont they will get snapped or bent from the spring!!! also, make sure you use a good floor jack, and a strong chain!!!!!

[Knanthrup]

Okay, so the pickle fork is used to break the joint apart. That\'s what my problem is I guess. Thanks for the advice and the safety tips!

[Fergusonic]

When I removed the springs from an old Camaro front end; I used a spring compressor. I assume that one could be used in this application also (?)......but, then theres that word ASS U ME. Like 350 s10 says....be careful....take all the precautions you can!

[350-s-10]

yea, you can use the spring compressor, but you have to get the one that goes inside the coil spring and then has two plates that grab the spring..... this is what i bought after i got them out, it really helps to get them back in, but remember to take out the shock first!!!

[ZZ4Blazer]

You shouldnt\' need a coil compressor if your installing drop springs.

[Knanthrup]

Yeah they\'re 3\" drop springs. I had no trouble getting the old one out or the new one in on the passenger side, it was just lining up the A-arm to get it back in since I did it the hard way. There isn\'t a lot of tension between the spring but I was mostly just worried about how to get the damn joint to pop off for the other side.