I see from being under my car so much lately that my springs have some cracks and chips in them and I am considering replacing them while I have the car up in the air and some extra time.

The rear does not look difficult at all but I am wondering about the front and how easy that one would be.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

ls1howto is your friend

http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=20

 

Great instructions. Not hard to do at all. Take your time and be carefull!.

 

That is an amazing write-up! Even though it seems much more involved than I ever thought I feel with this write-up I can be very successfull doing this myself and saving some money!

 

Thats the spirit! Make sure you use a Torque wrench, and retighten to specs. Good luck.

 

Forget that write up.

Put the car up on jackstands.

Pull off the drivers side tire.

Mark the lower a-arm to crossmember bolt washers so you will get them in the same rotation. Best would be to draw line across the washer and crossmember on each side with a sharpie - fine point. These adjust the front suspension by turning the bolt. You'll get a better idea how these work once you pull them out - the hole in the washer is not centered.

Put a jack under the spring in the Y of the a-arm and take the spring pressure off the a-arm.

Take out the lower 2 a-arm bolts. Don't mix up the front and rear bolts or the direction they installed to get them back in the same spot so marks line up.

Work the jack and the a-arm/suspension until you get the a-arm above the end of the spring.

Put the jack under the end of the spring and jack it up until it's almost lifting the car.

Take off the 4 bolts and 2 plates that hold the spring to the crossmember.

Lower the jack and the spring is out.

Just reverse the steps to put the new one in.

The above should take about 1/2 hour once you get the car on jackstands. Forget taking off the shocks and calipers and sway bar links and everything else in that write-up. Also, many people have had the spring hang up in the a-arm because it has so much arc it doesn't clear and come out meaning you have to really fight it after doing all that work.

The only thing to note is that if you don't think you'll get the a-arm bolts back just like they were to get the car aligned. But then, your car is >10 years old so if you have not had it aligned it's likely due.

Peter

 

THANKS lionelhutz, I followed your instructions and it is much simpler, and saved me a lot of time. Replaced my broken spring in an hour. Really appreciate it.

 

Ok so I have to replace my front spring tomorrow and am confused about which method is preferred? What are your thoughts? I'm fairly good with a wrench and have all tools needed. My car is a 2005 base but I'm putting in a Z51 front leaf.

 

Even quicker with a hack saw

 

I love this forum!

 

I like doing it the faster way and my method is a minimum of 1 wheel and 6 bolts. The only downside is that it can change the alignment, but it should be aligned anyways since you'll likely change the ride height of the car. Just make sure you get it high enough. 18" to 20" at the rockers would worked for me.

The other method is a minimum of both wheels and a good 2 dozen bolts and apparently it can still be a struggle to get the spring around the a-arms. But, it shouldn't mess with the alignment.

 

thanks, sometimes first timers (me) over think stuff. the only part I'm a little fuzzy on is after I raise the spring through the Y it then says to jack the spring above the arm. Do I need 2 jacks and is all of this happening on only he driver's side?

 

Should the lower A arm bolts be hard as heck to remove? My ratchet and breaker bar aren't budging them.

 

I think those bolts are spec'd at 120lbs. I wrote work the jack and suspension as in pull the suspension out as you let the spring down a little at a time to get the arm out past the end of the spring and over the spring. If you just drop the jack you'll trap the arm.

 

I did mine the way that lionelhutz outlined. I wish springs were this easy on every car.

 

You must be kidding! The last bolt, I mean the very last bolt, won't go in. It's the upper A arm bolt toward the front of the car. This stinks. I don't have an air wrench so I know I didn't cross thread it as all I've done with that was remove it. So far I've flushed with PB blather and tried the other 3 bolts and all of them stop after about 1-2 turns. I'm worried about cross threading as I don't see where the back of this hole is. I don't have a tap and die set but if that's what's needed I'll get one. Please help. Thanks

 

Peter, just wanted to thank you for this post. Had the old spring out in 30 minutes taking my time, once I figured out how to manipulate the a-arm around the spring end. New spring is in and bolts removed. Thanks again!

 

If you measured the ride height before making the change and adjusted the bolts after to make it the same, you wouldn't need an alignment then would you?

 

OK, assuming the following:
Your alignment was correct to begin with.
You put the camber bolts back in exactly the same.
You got the ride height the same.

Then, no you would not need to align the car.

 

His front end height most likely will change with a new leaf spring. Mine was cracked on one end and delaminating in the center. My front end was sitting low. With the new leaf spring in, it raised the front end by a couple of inches. Had a 4-wheel alignment done after installation of new leaf spring. Definitetly needed it.