Installing front springs-is there a "trick" to this?

[cowboy33713]

Howdy:
I am nearing the end of my 67 front end rebuild but am having trouble installing the driver's side A Arm spring; had some initial trouble with the passenger side, then suddenly it all came together. The driver side acts as though the spring is too long, which I know ain't so 'cause it was in there before. Know that positioning is a bit of an issue on the top side, with the "small" coils and their seating, but spent more than 4 hours yesterday doing the "reposition and try again" driil without finding a postion the spring liked. The a-armshave full travel without binding, the spring will not compress enough ( when the lower a arm is raised with a floor jack to compress it, per the manual's procedure), to allow the lower ball joint's stud to get all the way through the steering knuckle and allow the nut to be installed. Am I overlooking something?
Thanks for any help.
cowboy33713

[unixadm]

I've had it where the upper A-arm will not come down low enough on A and B body cars. I've also found that if you've got a couple of buddies who can sit or pull down on the fender to add more weight to the front end, it can help compress the spring even more. If all of that does not work, you can also compress the spring with a spring compressor.

[cowboy33713]

unixadm;
will have to give the added weight road a try - there is no way to get a conventional spring compressor out of the spring again once it has been installed; the hole on the bottom of the A Arm is too small for a spring compressor to go through. Thanks for the suggestion!

[raggedjim]

I had that problem once when I tried to do it without the front clip, engine or trans in the frame... The frame kept coming up. My buddy who works in a collision shop had a portable hydraulic set that he used to pull everything in place. That was a long time ago...

Good luck, Rg

[cowboy33713]

Roger:
Theres's another idea or two in your contribution! Would require a bit of fabrication, but a fairly simple thing like "c" clamp that would fit under the lower ball joint and over the lower eye of the sterring knuckle ,with a small hydraulic cylinder jack to power it could be really nice! There's a tool idea.
Will try to use gravity first, though. I have a brother who lifts weights. A bunch of his bigger plates on a chain (say a hundred pounds or more), hanging from the frame rail on that side should help gravity pull it together.
Thanks, to all!
cowboy33713

[LONGHAIR]

The "trick" is to run a chain around the frame and the front axle of your floor jack. Then gravity is not a factor, the vehicle's upward travel is limited by the jack which is then raising only the lower control arm...........

[newin72]

I think maybe your spring is not seating properly in the top cup. I had this problem with mine. make sure the bottom of the spring is set properly, then push the top of the spring ALL THE WAY BACK (towards engine) as you jack up the bottom, this will help it fall into place.

hope this works....

[cowboy33713]

longhair:
Well, I wouldn't have thought of that bit with the chain for at least another week, if at all. Sounds like the clear winner for the guy whose "buddies" are always busy when dirty (they think) work is to be done, like the couple of guys I know. Well, the one guy I know locally. Okay, he's my brother,and has two jobs while going to college. Anyway, chain I have.Will post an outcome.
Thanks
cowboy33713

[cowboy33713]

Update:
The chain around the floorjack's axle proved itself out. As described, it removed the need for extra wt to compress the spring. Once it was all set up, with the spring properly placed, a few strokes of the jackhandle had the
lower balljoint stud through the steering knuckle easily.
Thanks to all for the help. Can now move on to replacing the brake lines (which crumbled when I was disassembling the front end) with the nice stainless stuff LMC carries.
Thanks again!
cowboy33713