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Spent another 3 hours unbolted it all still cant get the one side. 4 jacks still nothing, the problem is the bolt is not even close to going in the hole i dont know if its cocked or what.I am on the ground solo.My only idea is to hook a chain or strap to the spring and try to pull it towards the front of the car to get the bolt to line up.
Are you feeling suicidal?
Time for a few safety warnings.
Jack's are for lifting and lowering the car or parts of the car. Jack's don't safely support anything. That's what jack stands are for. Get at least 2 for this job.
Floor jacks and trolley jacks operate on hard floors. That type of jack must roll freely or the jack will pull or push the load horizontally in addition to lifting it. That's a good way to bend frame parts or pull the thing off proper stands and do major damage.
At a minimum you need a sheet of 3/4 plywood "floor" to work in that location. Cut a couple 24 inch squares from the end to go under the jack stands, use the remaining 2'×6' piece under the floor jack. If the plywood buckles under the wheels of the floor jack (with the weight of the car on it) you might need to move to more stable ground or spread a thick layer of gravel on the ground where you're working.
Work safe. Don't kill yourself or injure yourself severely (possibly permanently).
The right end of the spring,,, see if you can yank it,,, safely,,,, back, this will cause the left side to move forwards. There should be play, front to back, on the spring ends. The giant wood block is stopping the spring from twisting.
OP, i would take a breath like others have stated.. get safe...and set up..
i also noticed that the cups or not mounted into the spring, they look loose.. this is not helping you... remove and install.
see post 12 in the link i posted earlier with my springs..
the cup is pressed into spring first..
Frankly, once you get this spring installed, I doubt you will be happy with the ride height. My replacement 9 leaf was ridiculously high and never settled over time, giving my car a 4x4 look. I went through several before the Vansteel composite was finally available and I installed it with 8” bolts and it is perfect. Check out the arch on these springs:
From top to bottom: TRW 330#, Hyperco (Ridetech) 300#, Eaton stock replacement 9-leaf. With stock TA spring bolts the ride height was ridiculous with all three of these springs. I ended up with 8” bolts and the Vansteel 340# rear composite and QA1 coilovers up front to achieve an acceptable ride height.
The arch of the unsprung spring has nothing to do with the end result. The 9 leaf steel spring is progressive. The composite springs, not so much. I do agree the 9 leaf spring can cause the ride height to be to high, longer end bolts solved it for me. When all is said and done the movement of the trailing arm is about 2 inches before they contact the rubber snubbers. You have two inches of travel to change or improve the ride of your C3.
Also be very careful the front two spring hold down bolts are the correct length. To short and they won't have enough threads to hold, to long and you will destroy your rear end.
Jes, pull the link bolt down all the way through the arm so the hex head is resting on top of that bushing then pull the threaded end back and over toward the center of the car. Then jack the spring end up and maneuver the link bolt into the spring’s hole.
I had had a similar situation last month. Good luck.
Just finished reinstalling mine….my fit was off too but swivelled the bolt as described above. My spring, which I think is aftermarket was way too high. Took it to a spring shop and had them de-arch 2.5 inches from it. Perfect ride height now. I used the 10 inch bolts which will allow for lots of adjustment. Like others have said….safety first….if this spring let’s go you can get hurt real bad….
Just finished reinstalling mine….my fit was off too but swivelled the bolt as described above. My spring, which I think is aftermarket was way too high. Took it to a spring shop and had them de-arch 2.5 inches from it. Perfect ride height now. I used the 10 inch bolts which will allow for lots of adjustment. Like others have said….safety first….if this spring let’s go you can get hurt real bad….
