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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 08:54 AM
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Default spring replacement

the 97 coupe that ive been doing a lot of work on needs stiffer springs. i was wondering how hard these are for youre average competent mechanic to replace. the rear doesnt look too difficult, and i havent looked at the front yet. any suggestions? tips on how to do this?
thanks, y'all.
michael
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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 11:13 AM
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Here is a writeup for a F-Body, but it is the same for the C5. http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

It isn't hard with the right tools...
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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 11:20 AM
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Originally Posted by CrazyCarl
Here is a writeup for a F-Body, but it is the same for the C5. http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=23

It isn't hard with the right tools...
I think he was talking suspension, not valvesprings.

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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 01:52 PM
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yessir, i was talking about the fiberglass transverse suspension springs. thanks for the valvespring info, though.
michael
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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 02:44 PM
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front is tuffer than back but doable, you have to drop the lower a-arms to get the old spring out and be sure to get it centered before re-attaching the lower a-arms.

look at the ls1howto site.


More Than Zero
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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 05:55 PM
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I use this one: http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=20
When you remove the upper A arm bolt, take a note about the washer behind the A arm.
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Old Oct 18, 2005 | 10:40 PM
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Very easy if you follow instructions on LS1howto.com. I bought a tap to clean up the threads for the upper control arm bolts, since they were installed with locktite. Just put the washers back in same location, otherwise you could mess up the alignment. Had to smack the front spring with a block of wood to get it out, not difficult though.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 09:05 AM
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I just did this one. It was getting frustrating trying to keep the rubber supports to stay in the brackets on the front spring while I was tightening the bolts. The trick was to start the bolts on both side to keep it up in the air and secure one side by running the bolts in 90-95% of the way and then using the jack on the opposite end of the spring, raise it enough to flatten the curve in the spring and then the rubber will line up nicely. Once it's torqued down the jack can be removed.

The rear was very easy to install. Just make sure you use loctite.
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