Robrote

I'm in the middle of trying to get the front end down a little and have hit a snag. Both front bolts are frozen. So far I have cleaned as much of the threads as I can, hosed them down with PB Blast and double nutted them, and still I can't get them to budge. Yes, I know they spin counter clockwise when lowering. Any tips or tricks?

Grandpa1

You need to apply some pressure on the spring with a jack to relieve the tension.
Put a 2x4 block as close to the screws as you can and jack it up until you see the spring move.
Then you should be able to turn the screw fairly easily. At least that's the way I did.
There's all kinds of videos and pictures on how to do it. Do a search or google lowering c5 with stock bolts.

Robrote

Yep, I have a jack and a block of wood under the spring. Still nothing.

jumpmanmb87

Stuck like the threads in the springs? Some people have to let em soak overnight with the PB to get em loose

Robrote

Yes, it's stuck in the spring. I had to give up for the night. I think I'm going to have to pull the spring out and get it on the bench. I have been soaking it since friday.

C52002Vert

Mine were stuck and I gave up on getting them to turn. Well I got a wild hair about 2 months later while I was cleaning my rims and decided to just try them and low and behold THEY TURNED, so have patience, they might just turn loose? Good luck!!

jjc508520

I got a new spring at Carlisle - both mine were found to be seized over at ECS - and the extra Z51 spring they had was also seized - it came back at the stock height....

DetroitPlac

I had to soak mine in PB for over a week to get them to turn. They did eventually.

leadfoot4

OP, be careful!! The threaded inserts that the adjuster bolts thread into, are only bonded into place. If you get too rough with them, they will break the bond, and either just spin around, or worse, pop out of the spring.

Robrote

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to pull the spring this weekend so I can get it on the bench and work on it. Worse case, I'll have to drill the old ones out and replace them.

99blkfrc99

Robrote

Any advice on removing the spring? From what I've read, I only have to pop the lower ball joint on one side to get it out?

99blkfrc99

Robrote

Awesome.
So I don't need to worry about destroying a ball joint

99blkfrc99

Fast one

If the steel inserts fall out you can put them in a vise, apply heat to remove the bolts then clean up the threads and epoxy the inserts back into the spring.

conradb

I remember when I still had leaf springs installed. You have to be careful about not letting the unsprung suspension mass not hang on the leaf springs as well. If you've got that weight hanging on them too, it can be very difficult to turn those bolts. Get a jack under the wheel/suspension and bring it up a bit and try your luck again.

Robrote

I did have the suspension hanging, but put a jack under the leaf spring to take pressure off it.

bobs77vet

did you move the lower shock mount out of the way so you could get good access to it?

I had to use a small short 3/8 breaker bar that had a narrow head on it and a short impact socket and then put a cheater pipe on the end of the breaker bar to turn mine....it was a good upper arm work out......then I went out and bought a long 3/8 breaker bar


I just replaced the o2 sensors on my DD minivan and used CRC freeze off it worked great on freeing those 107,000 mile sensors. I was really impressed with and its like $7 at the store. perhaps try that

Robrote

I will try again once I get a few of the suspension parts out of the way. I will look into that CRC. So far I've been using PB Blast with no success.