Safely removing rear coils

[jonathan-m]

Ya, more coil questions
I'm going to be switching from a stepside to a fleetside bed here in the next day or so hopefully, so I went ahead and bought some Jeep rear coils so I could switch those out while I've got the bed off. My question is, what is the easiest way to get the rear coils off? I've heard horror stories of coils going flying off in all sorts of directions wrecking things left and right... so I want to make sure I'm not going to run into that on my little project.

[62 Bowtie]

Well heres what I did I loosened up the top and bottom bolts while the truck was still on the ground. If you can't get a ratchet in between the coils then you will have to jack it up. Now place the jack under the frame just behind the cab, lift until the tires are off the ground what this does is decompress the springs then place jackstands near to where the jack is, then remove upper and lower bolts and retainers. I jusk tapped them with a rubber mallet swinging away from my direction so they fell inward worked great for me! Good Luck

[halfcockedcustoms]

ditto

[lakeroadster]

x3

[Hottrucks]

dont forget to unhook your shocks

[Alan's Classic]

I know your not working on the front, but the front coils have more destructive power than the rear.

[jonathan-m]

Thanks for the tips guys, I got them off today with no problems! Now I'm assuming its alright to use the original chevy retainer plates for the new jeep coils right?

[Hottrucks]

yep!! good luck hope you like your new ride let us know what you thnk when your done

[jonathan-m]

Alright, I took the first ride after the drop today and it was great
I didn't get any updated side pics, but to put it in perspective here is an old pic of the ride height. (actually higher without that load of course)




after the drop I had to remove the stepside fenders because they were banging on the tires even with no load in the bed. not a big deal though, cause that fleetside will be going on her shortly.

[Hottrucks]

kool we need a profile pic!!! what are you doing in front??

[62 Bowtie]

Hey Jonathan what back bumper are you running on that stepside it almost looks like a fleetside bumper

[65Custom]

Hey isn't that fleet side supposed to go on the other way?

[jonathan-m]

Now I've decided I think I want to do some lowering blocks in the back too, cause I'm on a roll...
Problem is I'll have to lower the front first or the back'll be lower than the front, so I think I'm going to try cutting one front coil now (funny how starting one project opens up twice as many new projects huh lol)

I guess the new title of this thread should be how to safely remove front coils

Now, I've read through several threads on here about cutting coils, so I've got the basics steps down, but heres were I'm a little unsure:
My truck has been upgraded to disk brakes & power steering in the front, so I'm guessing my control arms/ front coils may be different than stock. Also, when I bought the truck the PO said it had 2 inch drop spindles, but even after googling it, I'm not entirely sure what a drop spindle is so I'm not sure if he was telling the truth or not or if drop spindles would cause any surprises in the coil removal procedure.

As I understand it, to remove the front coils without a spring compressor I need to jack the truck up under the control arm, then place a stand under the frame nearby. then disconnect the shock, and the sway bar which is this thing (right?)



Then, disconnect the ball joint, this thing (is this very difficult? anything a newbie couldn't do?)


then slowly lower the jack so that it lets pressure off of the control arm,releasing tension from the coil. Once thats done, you hit the lower arm with a BFH a couple times and the coil should fall out...... I'm a right so far?


Sorry for all the questions guys. I don't have anyone close to me to teach me these things since my dad passed so I've been learning everything I can from you guys over the past couple years. I just want to make sure I'm getting everything right.

[jonathan-m]

Originally Posted by 62 Bowtie

Hey Jonathan what back bumper are you running on that stepside it almost looks like a fleetside bumper

Actually I think it may be a stepside only bumper, cause it wraps around quite a bit on the edges. I'm going to try it out when I get the fleetside on to see if it fits, but I'm not sure it will. I've got an original steel fleetside bumper around here and its got much less of a wrap around edge than this chrome one does.

[65Custom]

The first pic is the tie rod end
THe second pic is the upper ball joint

there is a lower ball joint too on the bottom

It is recommended that you use a spring compressor to remove the front springs as you can get hurt pretty good if you dont know what you are doing

The drop spindle is where the disc is

and yes use a hammer to get the lower or upper ball joint to come loose but I recommend getting a spring compressor some parts stores will rent them to you

[jonathan-m]

Originally Posted by 65Custom

Hey isn't that fleet side supposed to go on the other way?

In that pic we'd also packed a hood, two front grills, a set of front and rear bumpers, two steelie rims with tires, a tailgait, a large toolbox, and a cooler into that stepside. It was an interesting 40 miles back home on the interstate

[jonathan-m]

Originally Posted by 65Custom

The first pic is the tie rod end
THe second pic is the upper ball joint

there is a lower ball joint too on the bottom

It is recommended that you use a spring compressor to remove the front springs as you can get hurt pretty good if you dont know what you are doing

The drop spindle is where the disc is

and yes use a hammer to get the lower or upper ball joint to come loose but I recommend getting a spring compressor some parts stores will rent them to you

Hmmm, which one is the sway bar then? I didn't see anything else connected to the control arm or disk. maybe I missed it though.
I figured I would loop some chain through the coil and anchor it to something under there to minimize the risk of surprises as well.