Hi all ... springs?

[darklord]

Hi all; I’m new here but I have been reading the bulletin board for some time. My wife has bean wanting a 60 – 63 truck for years, and last week I bought her a 62 on a 63 – 66 short wheel base frame. It is a total hunk of junk at this time but I’m hoping to rebuild it into something really great for her. I know one thing I want to do is install front disc brakes. And I understand all my options and the basic procedure, but what about the springs? If I just undo the A – arm won’t the spring fly out and bust me in the face like Mike Tyson? I have a set of spring compressors, but I don’t think they will work on this particular setup. Could any one tell me how to take this apart and keep myself in one piece? Thank you.

[Frizzle Fry]

What I do is get the truck jack up pretty high and put jack stands under the frame rails near the front bumper. Make sure it's stable and all that (chalks behind rear tires too). Then put the jack under the lower arm you will be working on. Wheel off, take the lower castle nut loose and good luck breaking the ball joint free... Once it's free remove the nut and lower the arm with the jack. For me, this allowed all the spring tension to let out slowly and when the arm was low enough the spring just fell out.

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

What I do is get the truck jack up pretty high and put jack stands under the frame rails near the front bumper. Make sure it's stable and all that (chalks behind rear tires too). Then put the jack under the lower arm you will be working on. Wheel off, take the lower castle nut loose and good luck breaking the ball joint free... Once it's free remove the nut and lower the arm with the jack. For me, this allowed all the spring tension to let out slowly and when the arm was low enough the spring just fell out.

I agree. here is a link to a story about it.

http://www.webrodder.com/article.php...6&SID=5&CID=12

[darklord]

Thanks guys, I thought this might be the way to do this but I wanted to ask someone who knew first. I have already found a 72 downer truck; it’s complete and even has the wheels we want. $350.00 I will be doing most of the body work my self, but a friend that has bean doing body work for 20 or 30 years will be doing my floor pans for me. And between the two trucks I should be in good shape except for the fenders and bed. I can’t weight to get things caught up so I can get going on this truck.

[Sillyoldman]

I could'nt break the ball joint. I busted my ass all day. I decided to leave the ball joints in tact. I removed the upper A arm from the frame side. Be sure to document how many and where the shims were. Once the upper A arm is loose simply spin it 180o and jack the truck up until the spring calmly falls out.

[raphyel]

The way I got the springs out was put the lower arms on jack stands loosen the castle nut on the lower ball joint to give a quarter inch window and then hit it with a hammer the lower joint will be free and now you just use a ratchet to finish. Just make sure the threads are all in the castle nut when you hit it or you will never get it off. The ball joint will pop out but the weight of the frame and the castle nut will hold it from flying. After taking the castle nut off, leave the other side supported and lower the arm you are working on and the spring will be free.

[Sillyoldman]

I forgot to mention that the front clip was removed when I did mine. It was so dang easy that I wanted to kick my own ass for wasting a day doing it the other way.

[salazar44]

read my blog here. i have step by step instructions on how i removed and replaced my springs

Direct Blog Link on Spring Removal

Good Luck!

[Chevy230]

@nd time here good site--Using the jack is the easiest way to unload the spring; to get the ball joint loose use a tool called a "pickle fork". Has two tongs; put it between the lower A arm and ball joint and use a 4 or 5 lb hammer and drive it between the ball joint and A arm and it will pop the ball joint out of the spindle. The tongs are tapered. You usually damage the dust cap on the ball joint; new ball joint from MOOG are about $35.00 ea. Just did this over this last weekend. Good luck; be careful and have fun!!

[salazar44]

Originally Posted by Chevy230

You usually damage the dust cap on the ball joint; new ball joint from MOOG are about $35.00 ea.

Absolutely correct! I messed them up. I considered doing the cheapie route and just buy dustboots. Dont do it... First of all, you wont be positive they fit correctly and second, the ball joints are probably need replacing anyway. You wont realize how worn they are until you buy new ones to compare them too. My old joints were just all flopping around. The newer ones were really tight. Buy them from Truck and Car Shop for $14 each. Here is the link The Truck And Car Shop - Orange, California

[Demmit_Hemmit's 65]

Yep.............Anytime you work on the front ends of these trucks it's usually a good idea to replace the ball joints and tie rod ends with new...........most of these parts are easy to come by and are very reasonable............Plus good insurance............Hemmit