how hard to change coil springs?

[chevyjr73]

thinking of changing the coil springs on my 86 2wd c-10 to heavy duty to level it out. what all is involved in changing them? any special tools i will need? thanks.

[bigblock73]

Here you go.

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/chas...ion/eibach.htm

[Slonaker]

I do it a little differently. I just pulled this from a post I made last year:

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On the front springs, assuming you are just replacing them (and the shocks) and nothing else, try this. Jack up the front end and support it on stands. Remove the wheels and shocks. Remove the cotter pin on one of the lower balljoints. Loosen the nut enough to create a little gap under it, but do NOT remove it. Make sure to leave plenty of threads holding it one because it will need to be able to take some abuse without ppping off. Take a BFH (big F'in Hammer) and beat on the side of the spindle where the lower ball joint goes through it.

Usually after a few swings, the balljoint will separate from the spindle. This is why you don't want to remove the nut all the way. The spring pushing down on the lower control arm helps push the two pieces apart, with the help of the BFH, and the nut on the lower balljoint keep everything from flying apart and killing you when the two separate.

From there, put a floor jack under the lower contol ar and lift the LCA up just enough to take the tension off the nut on the balljoint. Do all of this from the front of the truck, just to be safe. Remove the nut from the lower balljoint. (If you want to be extra safe, you can use a piece of chain to hold the spring in place in case it tries to fly out.) SLOWLY, from the front of the truck, lower the floor jack. This takes the tension off the spring, allowing it to just fall out.

To put the new coil in, first push the LCA down as far as it will go. Look at the pockets the spring fits into in the upper and lower contol arms. You can see that the small end of the spring goes up into the upper control arm, and it has to fit in the arms just right. When you get it oriented to match up to the control arms, slowly raise the LCA with the jack putting the new spring back under tension.

You can use the chain on this step as well if you like. This should be also be done from the front of the truck in case the spring decides to fly out the side. Line up the lower ball joint so that it pokes back through the hole in the spindle. When it pokes through, carefully thread the nut back onto the balljoint, replace the cotter pin, and remove the jack.

Lather, rinse, repeat, for the other side.

You can break the balljoint loose using a pickle fork, but that will break the rubber boot on the balljoint. Popping it from the side with a hammer leaves it intact.

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Slonaker

[Prerunner1982]

i agree with Slonaker, I have used the jack method in the past with good results.. the main thing when working on the suspension... BE CAREFUL!

[chevyjr73]

thanks for all the tips, hopefully get to them this weekend. are the TRW ones from ADVANCE any good?

[chevyjr73]

one more question. would the little bit taller of a spring mean i would have to get longer shocks? also will it throw the front end alignment off any just raising it that little bit? thanks

[84 400]

you might be able to keep you shock i mean how mich are we talking here an 1 inch. also make sure you use the chain i have seen them fly and you don't want to hit that . in the 10 i have done the flew maybe once so it is rare but somthing to watch out for. i am no expert on thease trucks but have done front coils on many other vehicals. good luck to you. As far as the AA springs ur looking at i don't think there will be a problem asur not trying to drop it. Most people level it from the rear by lowering or a flip kit.
anu waus good luck and be safe and Slonaker's got it down packed fallow that and your set!

[79BIG10]

Originally Posted by chevyjr73

thanks for all the tips, hopefully get to them this weekend. are the TRW ones from ADVANCE any good?

Yes they're good. They're the ones I got and have had no problems with them at all. You shouldn't need an alignment since you're not messing with the upper and lower ball joint angle. I didn't use any different shocks either. Most shocks should have enough travel to compenstate.

[boxrodz]

I'd also probably follow instructions Slon posted only because the HD coils may make more difficult to install the U-bolts as pointed out in Jeff's link. I'm guessing the HD coils would put some pressure on the LCA when you're trying to align the U-bolts and shaft whereas lowered coil springs don't exert any pressure on the LCA until some weight of the truck is on the suspension. (When rebuilding the front suspension, I had to compress the U-bolts a bit when installing in the front crossmember.) Since you have things apart, you may want to check your ball joints. If they're worn (especially if they're the originals), you may want to replace them.

Like 79Big10 said, your shocks should be able to compensate for a slight rise in the suspension. But, as far as the alignment, you could always take it in to get checked. Some shops don't charge to check the alignment, just to make the adjustment. I would think a rise in the suspension by changing to 'longer' coil springs would change the camber.

Good luck.

[Justins76]

Originally Posted by chevyjr73

one more question. would the little bit taller of a spring mean i would have to get longer shocks? also will it throw the front end alignment off any just raising it that little bit? thanks

As long as you don't remove the bumpstops, the factory length shock should be long enough.

[Prerunner1982]

boxrodz, i am not sure what Ubolts you are referring to, as there arent any that you have to take off when swapping coils.

An alignment certainly wouldnt hurt, better to have it done and know its done than to not do it and waste a set of tires..

[boxrodz]

Originally Posted by Prerunner1982

boxrodz, i am not sure what Ubolts you are referring to, as there arent any that you have to take off when swapping coils.
...

Pre-
In Swervin's write-up that Jeff posted, I think he's swapping the coils by removing the U-bolts that hold the LCA Cross Shafts to the front Cross Member (instead of detaching the lower part of the spindle as Slon suggests.)

[Prerunner1982]

ahh, thats what i figured, but that just seems like the hard way to do it to me.

[79BIG10]

I agree that would be the harder way to do it. The way Slonaker described was the way I did mine and worked great.