whats the easiest way to install 2" front drop coils?

[hpcgmc]

I've ordered 2" drop front coils from ECE and hoping they will come in tomorrow. Got the truck on stands and wheels off and am soaking all the bolts in PB now. Ball joints and front suspension parts are all working well now, and I will be replacing the front suspension with a disc brake setup in the next year, so no need to do preventative maintenance right now.

Do I put on coil spring compressors, unhook the lower ball joint, drop the spindle with a jack, then remove the spring? I'm also gonna put a chain on the spring, so if it goes "boing" it will stay with the truck, and not decapitate me.

Thanks!

[BuiltwithIvy]

sounds like you got the right idea, always better safe than sorry!

[leddzepp]

No need for a spring compressor. Loosen the castle nut, but do not remove it completely. Smack the edge of the spindle with a 3lb sledgehammer to "pop" the ballpoint out of the spindle. The castle nut will prevent it from popping all the way off and having the spring fly out. You can then use your floor jack to slowly lower the lca. Use of a chain for safety is a good idea. This is a much easier way than using a spring compressor in m opinion.
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[hpcgmc]

Should I disconnect the front shock absorbers also?

[BigCountryx]

It won't go boing if u keep the castle nut on but chain can't hurt. Disconnect the shock and watch your brake line. May need to disconnect it of ur running drums. Quick job.
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[Ben.Riley]

Hey guys, I really want to do the 2" drop coil as well.. Do I need to buy new shocks? Sorry if it's a dumb question.. I'm new to this.

[cdowns]

make sure you have the frame high enough up on jackstands to allow the control arm to come down enough to remove the spring

[BigCountryx]

Stock shocks will work. Shorter shocks may be slightly better.
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[Ben.Riley]

Originally Posted by BigCountryx

Stock shocks will work. Shorter shocks may be slightly better.
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Thanks man.

[Square_78]

You don't need to remove your shocks during this process and you don't need to replace them for such a small drop, unless of course they are worn out and need replacing.
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[hpcgmc]

Getting the ball joint out was a bit more work then I expected - since I did not remove the drum brake, spindle or upper ball joint, I didn't have as much room to swing a hammer. I eventually got the left side off with the help of the small jack out of my Honda. The right side came out a little easier.

I got a ball joint separator from OReilly - it was to small to remove the ball joints, but worked to press them in. I also purchased ball joints from OReilly, since I banged up the old ones getting them out. One of the new bjs was the wrong diameter - it just slipped into place without any need to press in. I'm exchanging that for a different one (correct part number, but wrong part). I also had to disconnect the shocks to allow the lower arm (lower control arm?) to drop far enough to get the old spring out.

The ECE springs showed up right on time. I was able to get one in, but not the other. Installation was pretty easy, with my wife to work the jack while I was doing the dirty work. Cant wait to get the other side in and get the wheels back on to see the stance.

Overall, would be a pretty easy job "if" everything worked right. I think a proper size ball joint separator would have made the job much quicker and cleaner.

[weever82]

Glad it worked out and subscribing for future reference.
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[CC69Rat]

You want to make sure the spring is seated in the lower control arm correctly. There is a grove in the LCA that sometimes gets filled with dirt and debris, the end of the spring needs to seat down in that grove, otherwise the truck might be leaning when you get it back together. Just look for a drain hole in the cup on the LCA, the 'grove' I'm referring to is just on the other side of it. (hard to explain, but you'll feel it)

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

You want to make sure the spring is seated in the lower control arm correctly. There is a grove in the LCA that sometimes gets filled with dirt and debris, the end of the spring needs to seat down in that grove, otherwise the truck might be leaning when you get it back together. Just look for a drain hole in the cup on the LCA, the 'grove' I'm referring to is just on the other side of it. (hard to explain, but you'll feel it)

There is an equally important "D" shaped retainer up inside the spring pocket,... that the springs needs to also get clocked correctly against.
That one is also hard to see.

[PanelDeland]

hpc,don't bet on a bigger pickle fork being easier.I beat on one for 2 days getting the pass side of mine apart.I saw a vid on here and just whacked the top part of the spindle on the drivers side twice and both popped loose.

[tinlid]

Truck on stands. I removed the upper A arm bolts to frame with a jack under the lower A arm. Amazing how easy it is. That is also how it is said to do it in a service manual. I didn't need the special tool mentioned in the service manual. No taking the whole thing 1/2 way apart and worrying about tearing up boots.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by Square_78

You don't need to remove your shocks during this process and you don't need to replace them for such a small drop, unless of course they are worn out and need replacing.
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You do have to remove the shocks, or at least one end of them.

Without dong that, there is no way the control arm will swing down low enough to get the spring out of the pocket.
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[55chevy]

I read somewhere that people tested several penetrating oil/Liquid Wrench/PB/WD-40 type solvents, and the best one for loosening rusted bolts was a 50-50 mix of acetone and Automatic tranny fluid, I keep waiting for someone to market it. Correction, after google search, it was power steering fluid and acetone, looks like 33% acetone is a good ratio, going to hafta try it.

[hpcgmc]

So, I got the job done tonight. If I were to do it again, I'd probably do the shocks at the same time, since I removed the bottom of each shock to release the lca (lower control arm), then had to remove the top bolt to get the bottoms to line up again. I would peel the rubber back from the bottom of the ball joint to spray PB blaster in a few days in advance (that really seemed to work on the bolts). I would try to find a bigger ball joint press that would work to press out the ball joints from the lca. I'd also take a look at removing the upper a arm bolts that Tinlid suggested.

When I went to re assemble the right side, I couldn't get the spindle to drop onto the ball joint the last 1/2". After much cussing, I realized that there is only a small space between the bottom of the lca and the backing plate for the drum brakes. When I was banging on the ball joint to free it from the lca, I placed it on the edge of an awl. This bent the end of the lca out just enough that it caught on the brake backing plate and kept the ball joint from slipping into the spindle. I had to use the bfh to bend the end of the lca in enough to clear the backing plate (see picture).

The ball joint press worked well to install the ball joints (see picture). When installing the springs, having a helper jack up the lca while I aligned the bottom of the spring in the lca and the top of the spring in the correct indent was very helpful.

I saw a posting about buying a whole lower control arm with the ball joints installed for about $90 per side. If/when I tear apart my front end for disc brakes, I might just replace with the new lca assembly to have all new bushings and a clean and new lca.

The job took me about 4 hours total. If I did it again, I'd probably be able to do it in 2 hours or less (with a good ball joint press). One problem I had was that one of the ball joints (from OReilly) was to small, so was to small to press into the lca (it slipped right in). I had to go to Napa to get the correct part and finish the job the next day - now I have one Napa and one OReilly lower ball joint. In the future, I'll probably stick to Napa parts, but since OReilly had the ball joint press for rent, I tried to save time and get the parts at OReilly.

The springs themselves went in easy. I got about a 1 1/4" drop from 2" drop springs, I assume my 40 year old springs were a little droopy. I'm not sure if the drop springs will settle in a little more or not. Last pic is of my truck after the front drop springs (I did a 2 1/2" rear leaf drop last week).

[CastIron]

About the correct position... Most old GM vehicles have 2 holes drilled in the spring seat on the lower control arm. The end of the spring is supposed to be located between them. It should work with aftermarket/lowering springs too.

[67c10rustbuket]

Looks good! I just installed drop springs today too. That loan a tool BJ press works well but be warned it will scratch the crap out of the top of the arms if you have them powder coated like I did.



Are those F150 wheels???

[JOJABOY]

Originally Posted by hpcgmc

Last pic is of my truck after the front drop springs (I did a 2 1/2" rear leaf drop last week).

What did you use to obtain your 2.5" leaf drop?

[hpcgmc]

Castiron - it's pretty easy to tell how the spring should sit - the lca has a notch that the bottom of the spring obviously sits in.

67C10- the wheels are Toyota Tacoma rims (with snow tires) that I kept from my last 4runner. The tires that were on my truck were installed in 1990, so I didn't trust them.

J0jaboy - I had 9 leafs in the rear, I removed three on each side and installed a 1 1/2 drop shackle. Here's my rambling posts on that endeavor: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=582903

[77 shorty]

Im interested in doing 2 inch drop coils up front too... I have to replace my 45 year old shocks so should I buy regular ones or are their companies that make shorter shocks?