My 80 model has a noticable slump on the drivers frontend. Measuring the ground to fender top at each wheel- the drivers side is 5/8 inch lower than the pass. side. I am suspecting the coils?
The Shop Manual (page 3C-16 & 17) refers to using Adapter tool # J-23028 during the changeout process.Can that tool be rented?
Can anyone shed some light on how-to-do this job? I WILL tackle it if I have some other feedback besides whats in the Shop Manual.
Ever done it? How difficult? Any pointers?
Thanks, Mike J.

 

I have done it. It was not easy. I took them out to rebush my control arms, and replaced my ball joints. Coming out was no problem, I had my jack under the lower B joint, with the taper already unseated. WARNING Leave the castle nut in place( backed off a few threads) until you unseat the ball joint. Slowly Jack up lower control arm till you can remove nut. Then you can lift the upper section off the ball joint till it is over the tapered hole. Its easier to remove the whole spindle, I think. But both ball joints will need unseated,and that is a little more work. But it makes going back so much easier.Then let jack down slowly, you can pull spring out now. I rented a tool from autozone, to compress spring. Then I wraped a chain around it,then removed the compressor. The spring is curved now, with only a chain on it. So this chain had to be on the motor side when installed. It won`t work any other way. SO Mark your old spring, before you take it out, as ( OUT SIDE). make this same mark on the new ones. Small block springs are tall, thats why they are harder to install than a big block spring. Aftermarket ones may not be to bad, I don`t know. Most important is to be certain that you get them seated properly in the upper pocket. I had to get mine started in the top, then kick them firmly, I mean FIRMLY, FIRMLY. once they clear that pocket on the bottom control arm you can start jacking the lower C arm up. Jack it part way, then remove chain. If you jack them all the way ,will not get your chain back. I hope this helps, it may help to have a Friend around to assist. I did mine by myself, and I had never done them before, and don`t care to do them again. My *** was puckerin from the potential energy those springs were fixin to exert on my body. I gotter done though an I not very strong. I could not find any compressors to fit thru the shock hole. I wish you good luck, and think safety first.

 

I just changed a lower ball joint out which also deals with the same issue. To hold the spring in place while doing this work I used a threaded rod which I passed through the spring after taking the shock out. I had some strong flat bar that I used to make a pair of stops that were on the end of the threaded rod. By using the rod I could decompress/compress the spring in a controlled fashion and be very certain that something would not let loose and break anything---mainly me!!!

Like 1980blue said unseat the ball joints with the castle nuts still on. getting those ball joints out of the taper is tough.

Another option is to secure the spring with the rod and disconnect the lower A-arm from the frame. this will come off with less effort than the ball joints however when you go to put everything back together it can be tough to line up the A-arm to frame. You a basically lying under the car with no room to move with a loaded spring ready to smash your arm,head whatever if the homemade spring compressor (rod) lets go!!! As an insurance support the A-arm with a jack while you are reconnecting it. Don't rely on a jack without the rod.

Not a nice job but do-able

Dale

 

I would not measure the ride height that way since it has been proven to be inaccurate. The body panels could just not be installed equally. I don't know off the top of my head what the assembly manual provides as an acceptable difference but I'm sure there is one somewhere. You should be using a specific point of reference to determine body sag.
* make sure tires are all the same ratio, brand and date coding for the best consistancy.
* make sure tires are all inflated to same pressure.
* make sure tires have about the same amount of tread remaining.

You should be able to rent a coil spring compression tool or maybe buy one from Harbor Freight or the like. I did springs on a 77 Camaro a couple decades ago but have not done my 81 Corvette yet. That comes next year.

 

I took mine out with a floor jack with no problems. i used a compressor tool to install the springs. The new springs were pretty stiff, thank Goodness they were shorter than other springs i have installed.

 

Not too hard to do , just tie the spring before you take it out , I used a floor jack , the spring compressor would not fit inside the spring, I know on the 80 you won't find springs the same height, I got MOOGs and they are shorter but bigger in diameter, the ride is the same and so is the hight, Ron

 

Check the frame dimenssions first.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1573487895-post3.html

Here are some pics of the spring removal install etc.















The top pocket has an alignment hole that takes a short 5/16" bolt to butt the coil end against.

The spring compressor fits with no problems, no chains required.

Support the car on high jsck stands under the front frame horns.

 

I will assume that the compessor can be removed thru the coils after its installed. Or does it have to be taken apart and brought out 1 peace at a time ?

 

thanks noonie- will check those measurements today. that device you made? looks great, maybe i can duplicate one. have a few questions but mainly the pics have helped more than u know. thanx again.

 

The spring compressor I bought almost 40 years ago and have used it hundreds of times. Zip it up with an air gun to compress the spring, then unzip it with the air gun to remove when the ball joints are nutted. Comes out in 1 piece. Can install a spring in less than 5 minutes with everything ready to go.

The other usefull little thing are the wooden blocks for the disc pads. Cut them a hair wider than the disc width, loosen the bleeder a hair and drive them in between the pads. Saves a lot of fooling around with the brakes.

 

Somehow- I will make me one of these tools. Thank you.

 

Noonie- and all others-
After reading noonies valuable info, I spent the most of the day taking measurements once parked on level ground. Got my wife to help, she found that the drivers side rear wheel was sagging also.( at least she pointed it out to me.) Well.. using a level at the rear steel leaf spring we found the leaf spring is SPRUNG. There is a noticable sag near the end,whereas the pass side still retains a slight arc until it meets the bolt at the end.
Looks like I will replace the rear steel leaf spring first with a new fiberglass before going back up to the front. I think this will solve the drivers front from sagging ,since the pass rear is now a full inch higher than the drivers rear (at the wheel wells)>
My thanks to all that contributed to this thread, and I opologize for leading you guys into another area. I should have taken more time and inspected the car before posting.
Thank you all again.Hope I can return the favor one day.

 

One of the first real things I did to my new '81 was replace the steel leaf with the VBP composite along with Bilstien shocks. I knew the rear spring was done because we have an uneven portion of pavement to get on the freeway and I could feel the car hit the bump stops every time I traversed that section of road. Doesn't do it any more. Shocks I removed looked to be the originals (car had 72K when purchased - now almost at 75K).
Good luck with the repairs.

 

After much research into the coils and replacing procedure- decided to have the job done at a local shop. I found that my local AutoZone had the spring compressor and was free to use,likewise for the ball joing fork tool. The shop wanted $300 labor and $70 to realign. hhmmmmmm
Well- this one I did not tackle and let the local shop do it. Dropped it off at 7;30 am, picked it up at 4;00 pm.
She rides and looks like a new one.
The noticable slump to the front drivers side is gone, all 4 corners are level. Ended up with New Old Stock front coils _many,many thanks to Paul Borowski -Corvette Forum member -new front shocks and a new rear fiberglass spring from VBP...
A breath of fresh air into the project.
Guys and gals- if your ride is leaning, check ur front coils....