Outer Limits 4x4 Board

anyone here changed their own springs?

is it true that i only have to undo the bottom shock mount and jack up the chasis??

what about the swar bars drop them or not??

i've heard stories of guys getting their faces ripped off from playing with springs so how's the danger factor?

thanks in advance
Scruffy

People can die changing their springs, they could also die from changing a tyre, it all depends on the safety that they implement in their working environment. If you are not confident to tackle it yourself, get a mate who is mech minded to help.

Changing the springs is a very straightforward thing, just follow logic and take your time. Remove the shocks, jack up the chassis, remove the wheels, lower the diffs, springs should fall out. Watch out for stretching brake lines and breathers.

This is a very basic overview, lots of other little things to consider, but its a start.

remooving springs is a fairly simple process, just follow what Area54 said,
with live axle 4wds its failry simple, when the diff is low enough they will fall out,

the dange comes round when your say removing coils from say a gemini, where you have an upper and lower wishbone, but if you use the right tools its sweet, i remember in my tight arse days i used a long pinch bar to remove em from a wreck and fired them across the yard and road,

if your too worried, you might want to grab your self a coil spring compression kit, will also help if you cant lower your diffs enough, as it compresses the coil.

Just put in 3" springs in my GU. Found it pretty easy. Lifted it up with a forklift and then put chassis stands under. Supported diff with trolly jack, removed wheels and then lowered diff, careful of brake lines and breather tubes. Had to release swaybars front and rear, undo brake bracket on front diff as to get enough drop.
The main thing is too keep it all safe. dont get under unless its supported by chassis stands. make sure all stands and jacks are rated for the weight your lifting. Good luck.

For the rear it is as simple as disconnecting the shocks top and bottom. And disconnecting the swaybar off the diff housing. Lower the axle, spring pops out.

In a perfect world yes!

Unless your shock have those steel sleeves in the loops, then chances are its seized in place and you can potentially fark the shocks trying to remove it!
And if yours has an after market sub tank like mine which looks likes it was made by a blind woods man, then chances are the filler plumbing is directly in front of the top loop which requires you to also disconnect the farking plumbers nightmare just to undo and remove the RR shocks!

Apart from that its simple.

un-bolt the coils, ramp the car and change diagonally opposite coils, then ramp it the other way and do the other two. or is that just with my car?

If you have a forklift or a hoist you can use, or even some tall chassis stands, you don't even need to take the wheels off, just disconnect the shocks and the swaybars, breather hoses, and unbolt the brake t-piece of each axle.

Wendle wrote:un-bolt the coils, ramp the car and change diagonally opposite coils, then ramp it the other way and do the other two. or is that just with my car?

That's a pretty dangerous method to recommend to a newbie. Gravity has a fair influence on the vehicle, no matter how big the wheel chock, what happens when the open diff 'differentiates' and rolls backwards?

get lockers! lol, will this work?

anyone wanna help me change some coils today? would it wreck the standard shocks running 3" lift coils?

i just havent got the equipment to do it at home.

will give ya something for helping.

Area54 wrote:

Wendle wrote:un-bolt the coils, ramp the car and change diagonally opposite coils, then ramp it the other way and do the other two. or is that just with my car?

That's a pretty dangerous method to recommend to a newbie. Gravity has a fair influence on the vehicle, no matter how big the wheel chock, what happens when the open diff 'differentiates' and rolls backwards?

won't work with most trucks anyway, mine has some pretty bizarre bump/droop ratio when the coils are unbolted.

thanks guys,,

will be changing the coils tomorrow,,,
all points noted,,

a lucky story about a lada niva,,
i still have the coffin on wheels but i was changing the front rhs drive axel as it snapped,
i read the procedure and went to play,,two wish bone set-up the lada has,mine has no front sway bar for the extra fun,as iwas undoing the shocky i noticed constant pressure all the way to the end,having at how wish bones worked i couldn't understand what was going to keep the spring in so i wedge a smaller jack under the lower wish bone just incase,,
well let me tell you that little jack is f#cked with the load it took on,,
i changed the axel and put everything back except the sway bar,,started it took it for a run then turned it off and bought a GQ,,
had a wheel bearing lock up in the lada too,lada's for sale,and i'll be selective on who buys it too,
cheers all,
Scruffy

new springs are in,,
so is the 2" body lift,
33" x12.5" MT's on 8" toyota off set rims are also on,,
need to heat and bend the H/L range stick,
need to fit my flare kit,

un locked the rear nuts with a 240v heat gun/paint strippergun.

truck is looking the part,needs a winchbar but what a transformation.
just to add for this month also,
new radiator,
new engine and gearbox mounts.
all happy here,
Scruffy

new springs are in,,
so is the 2" body lift,
33" x12.5" MT's on 8" toyota off set rims are also on,,
need to heat and bend the H/L range stick,
need to fit my flare kit,

un locked the rear nuts with a 240v heat gun/paint strippergun.

truck is looking the part,needs a winchbar but what a transformation.
just to add for this month also,
new radiator,
new engine and gearbox mounts.
all happy here,
Scruffy