LCA U-Bolt Replacement

[cantada]

This may not be a good idea, but I got a set of the 73-87 u-bolts coming and an trying to figure out the easiest way to change them. Can I do one at a time with the spring in place or do I have to separate the lower ball joint and remove spring first to change the U-bolts ? Opinions? Thanks.

[1963c-10]

I would remove the spring. They are not something to mess around with considering the amount of tension under load.

[Rich 5150 69]

As Jon says, any other way would be suicide.....!

[Clyde65]

I would take the spring out personally.

Another way that I wouldnt recommend is to use spring compressor to keep the pring compressed and then change one at a time.

[Sharps40]

REmove the spring. I tried it one at a time and with spring pressure and working around the cross shaft, it sucked and was dangerous. Jack stands slip around, the cross shaft gets in the way....things got better and safer once the spring was out and I could drop the entire lower control arm and shaft out of the way.

[Z POPPY]

Rent a coil spring compressor. Compress the coil spring with it installed on truck. Make sure coil pressure is off the control arm. Replace one u bolt at a time. AutoZone rents tools for free with a deposit or just about any parts store.
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[cantada]

So I bit the bullet and removed the springs. I have recently done the ball joints so it wasn't too bad. I am becoming an expert in spring removal... lol. Those new LCA u bolts are way beefier. It appears that at some point one of the u bolts had been replaced (pass rear) with the larger ones. The remaining three were the originals. Hardest part after the springs were unloaded was reaming the holes away from the cross member a bit to clear the 7/8 nuts on a couple. Stockers were 5/8 nuts. Thanks again guys!

[gofastnut]

Hey Cantada,
Where'd you get the u-bolts from?

[cantada]

Rockauto.com. Dorman part number 13503. Nice and beefy.
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[gofastnut]

Thanks Man!