1SLO POK

Does anybody know where I can purchase a spring compressing tool so that I can remove my front leaf spring, or does anybody know how it can be done with out a tool, or some other means of removing the spring? :)

1991Z07

I've never seen one used. We used a floor jack with a piece of wood between it and the spring. Jacked up the end to take some of the tension off and removed the lower ball-joint nut. Once the ball-joint was loose we swung the lower control arm down so you could pull the spring.

If you have a base suspension car you will find you'll need to jack the front up quite a bit to get the spring out. The Z07 springs are flatter, so it wasn't such a big deal. The base springs have a pretty good arch to them.

marlon88

When I took mine off I jaked the whole front of the car on a jack , took the wheels off , then on one side I took off where the sway bar connect to the arm and took off the bolt that connects the lower arm to the caliper maunt (ball joint)and the bolt where the shock mounts to the arm !! then the whole arm will come down and I pulled the spring out of there !!! I done this when I lowerd my front !! hope this helps :)

Mike_87conv

Hi,
I saw the spring compressor tool in my service manual but managed to do it without it. With the car supported on jackstands under the frame and a floor jack under the control arm. You can let the jack down slowly after disconnecting the lower ball joint and it will relieve tension on the spring.
This job is a PITA!
The car has to be really high off the ground to get the spring out since it is so arced after relieving the tension, if you want to remove it . Higher than I am comfortable with on jack stands to crawl under.
I ended up pulling the spring out one side to replace the rubber mounts with poly wedges to lower it, then pulling it half way out the other side. As you can see below in my pic, the left pic is lowered, the side shot pic is now.
This is a job, be prepared to burn a whole day!
MIKE

1SLO POK

Thanks everyone,

From what I have read, it pretty much seems everyone is on the same page on what to do. So, I guess I'll give it a try. :cheers:

1SLO POK

Joe90,

How low is your car? Did you use wedges in the front, and do you have any problems bottoming out in the rear? I bet your car drives like it was on rails. Looks nice

:)

1991Z07

Yeah, the wedges are there. The big difference with mine is the Z07 spring is flatter than the base springs. My car was about 3/4" -1" lower than any other '91 I raced against BEFORE I lowered the car. Always made the competition look twice...

It does handle like it's on rails. Thanks for the compliment...I lowered the rear so it was level with the front (with driver in the car). I only bottom out under EXTREME duress. The car has to be under extreme load, and have a large dip to further complicate the matter...like coming off the front straight at the track the sig. pic was taken at.

Goody

I've done this as well. Just like all the others. Just get it up in the air and lower the control arms to get it out. PITA, but doable.

92TripleBlack

They do talk about it in the manual but you can do the job with just a jack instead of spending big $$$ for a one use tool. The manaual is intended for use by a GM service center that does the job so often it justifies the purchase of the tool.