Putting my rear suspension back together...trailing arms are on. Struts rods are on. Bolted the spring to the diff. Car is on jack stands.
I put a c-clamp on the spring so my jack wouldn't slip...put the floor jack under the spring near the end....as I jack up the spring, the car lifts off the stands after a bit..if I keep jacking, the spring actually does come up enough to get the bolt and the nut on. Trouble is that the bushings look as if they are crammed and not seated...I'm pretty sure I bought the longer bolts too...and of course, if the trailing arm isn't at a certain angle the bolt doesn't line up with the hole in the spring.
I have heard that that if I were using a lift, then the correct way would be to support the ends of the spring and lower the car onto the spring. But i'm on jackstands....aaaaarrgghh! It doesn't seem as though it should be this tough. What am I doing wrong?
Can someone give me the correct procedure for getting this done without stressing out over the bushings? I tried to research this but didn't find an answer. I did however, read that I shouldn't torque the spring plate bolts until the weight of the car is on the suspension...help please....pictures would be great too...

 

As long as the bushings are in the cup, it's not a problem.
Let the car down and settle the rear end and see how they look then.

 

Hi MB,
Here's a picture showing the relationship of the trailing arm, spring leaf end, bolt/nut, and jack position on my 71. This is with the short original 6+ inch bolt.
With a longer bolt it's even easier because the spring doesn't have to be raised as far.
You can put some extra weight on the corner you're jacking to keep the frame from rising.
If you use another jack to raise the trailing arm a bit it helps reduce the angle on the bolt and bushings.
Regards,
Alan

As you can see this is without the body so it took a LOT of weight.

 

also, as alan's pic shows, the clamp and jack are at the very end of the spring. that last inch or so that you can move to the end of the spring makes a big difference in how much force it takes to clear the bolt.
alan, gee-whiz. even the workmanship on the body dolly is top notch. are you OC!?

 

Hi jnb,
I'd say no, but my wife would say YES!
Regards,
Alan

 

I put a 9/16 socket between the bottom of the T/A and the frame to get it closer to ride height . . . made everything go back together a little easier.

 

I thought maybe the same thing too....but the bushing does have a part that seats into the hole in the cup very nicely when not under stress. After my first attempt it looked like that wasn't even in and it was getting squished...yeow....so...that's ok?

 

I'm not sure what you mean but easier sounds good..please explain

 

Hi mb,
r76 wedged a socket between the bottom of the t-arm and the opening in the frame pocket in order to lift the t-arm up.
I suggested you lift it with a jack so you can move the t-arm up and down to get the best angle on the spring bolt.
Regards,
Alan