Front Spring R&R

[03FatBoy]

I am replacing the springs on my GN with Moog 5638/5413's. There was a thread here that I looked for but cannot find again asking if the springs can be replaced with the weight of the car and a floor jack, or do I need to use a spring compressor?
I am anxious to get this thing sitting level gain!

Thanks!

 

[pacecarta]

if you attempt by popping the lower ball joint and swing the lower control arm down youll need the internal spring compressor to compress the springs enough to get them seated onto the lower control arm without popping it off the seat at the top , thats the way i do them
if you remove the rear lower control arm bushing bolts and swing the arm down you wont need the compressor but its much more difficult to do them that way as those bolts can be more work than the entire job takes using the compressor


rears just support the car on jack stands and place jack under the rear remove the lower shock bolts from the rear and rear will drop down enough that you can slide the springs in , some shocks are longer than others and you might be able to do springs without removing the shocks

 

[im4darush]

I just did this. What was said is right on the money. Not a hard job at all if you do it right. I would pop the lower ball joint and use an internal spring compressor. There is no way on god's green earth that you will seat the spring into the A arm without the compressor so dont bother trying.

I found that it was better to pull the rotor and dust shield when doing this. Lowering the A arm after you pop the ball joint is much easier when the dust shield is not there. And frankly, in some cases the shield has to come off. Another 5 minutes is worth the hassle. I did not use the compressor removing the old springs, just had a jack under the A arm and lowered it slowly. By the time it was down, not much energy left in the spring. Use a bar to get that spring out, and then use the compressor on the new moog spring. If you do that, the new spring is cake to seat. Goes right in. Slide the joint back in, put the nut back on and you are done. Easy! Do not go for the control arm bolts. This is a pain in the butt!! You may however need to buy a spring compressor. The parts stores I went to did not have the right ones for rent. This may not be the case in your area though. Good luck!

 

[im4darush]

One other thing....since I did the same springs, I can give you some insight on shocks. If you are looking for an affordable shock that works well with these particlar spring rates, I can tell you that the KYB gas-adjust work very well. Of course they are not bilsteins, and I do not expect them to be. But for a vast improvement over stock, for about $120 shipped (ebay) you cant beat it.

 

[~JM~]

I am replacing the springs on my GN with Moog 5638/5413's....

Are these lowering springs or standard ride height? If they are the lowering springs, how much of a drop is there?

Thank you
~JM~

 

[UNGN]

I tried to use an internal compressor, but gave up.

If the motor is in the car, its a lot easier just to use a floor jack and undo the ball joint and then the LCA bolts.

If you leave the shock in place, the spring is contained and no worries of it going anywhere.

To reinstall, just use a large screwdriver to line up the LCA bolt holes. This is the way the Service manual says to do it (floor jack with no internal spring compressor)