front leaf springs - should I do it myself?

[chrisfa1]

HI,

What's involved in rpacing the front leaf spring in my Grand Wag? It LOOKS easy enuf, a few bolts here and there. But,let me ask you experts...As a relative newbie, is this something I should tackle myself?

[River Beast]

piece o cake!! a few jack stands and a floorjack and common hand tools...

[ROVERP6B]

Well, I would say the front are easier than the rear, BUT, It can still be a pain in the a**. You only have four nuts on the u-bolts. Mine fought to the last thread. Then, the spring eye bolts can be rusted to the steel sleave in the rubber bushing. They will eventually yield to pounding. So, it CAN be a lot of work. Plan on it taking a while,and feel fortunate if it goes quickly. Use plenty of PB Blaster or some type of rust dissolver/lubricant, a BIG breaker bar, and lots of time. If your a young guy, maybe it won't be too hard on you. I felt like I was beat the next day. Sore muscles all over my upper body. Good Luck!!

[chrisfa1]

well, young? I'm 30. so, not too bad yet. I'm not afraid of work. just technical stuff that could compromise my safety.

I have a whole new can of PB blaster so, im set there. and plenty of time. and, it's a california car so, hopefully, the rust won't be too bad.

any other "watch out for this" type tips?

[Panoscopic]

Exactly what ROVER says. Looks easy, but man those U-bolts can be a pain. Big breaker bar is the key and lots of patience.

[ROVERP6B]

Torque all nuts back to specs. Then recheck in a couple days of driving. 30yrs old, you should be OK. After the U-bolt nuts, I should have tried out for Olympic Rowing!!!

[partywagon]

start spraying the pb on it about a week b4 and let it soak in it will make a world of difference on how hard it will be to get off

[norville]

Yes easy.

Pick up a cheap grinder and cut the u-bolts, get some deep sockets. I had to grind the bolts off the rear eye(under cab) cause it was frozen. I slid the grinder between the spring and holder.

Also make sure you iunstal the new springs correctly. Facing the right way.

good luck

norv

[Gawdzilla.]

yeah. get two jacks. If you have a bottle jack on hand, use that under the spring pack. lift the truck as high as you can with the floor jack and put a jackstand under the rail on the side you're working on. raise the bottle jack to keep pressure on the spring pack, but not enough to lift the truck. Go ahead and remove the nuts at this time. First time I did mine it took more than 150# of torque to turn that wrench, so I borrowed a neighbor's air hammer. Still needed to start them by hand they were so rusty. Anyway, when you get the nuts off you can let the spring down gently w/the bottle jack, and the height of the jackstand will allow you to unload the spring fully before trying to work on it. Can't help ya w/taking them completely off. Haven't gone there yet.

[andy d]

came up with a great use for an old wag bumperjack. it makes a great cheater for my 1/2" drive strong bar and ratchet.

[pb]

Impact wrench if you have one!!! Makes it a lot easier. At least it did on my 75.

[Casey]

Can of mapp gas, sawzall w/24tpi(or more) metal cutting blade, jack stands, breaker bar, floor jack. cut off the excess u-bolt lenght, heat up the nuts with mapp gas(propane does not work too well) and use breaker bar and sockett. if that does not work cut the bolts off w/ sawzall.impact gun will help also if you have the right air compressor. smaller "Harry Homeowner" type compressors will just piss off an impact gun. but definately go for it!! i've done more with less when i did not have a clue!

[tgreese]

I haven't done a lift on an FSJ, but I've replaced a few spring U-bolts. I found that, if you drive over a lot of big rocks (streambeds, talus slopes, rocky ledge, whatever) the threaded ends of the U bolts will be smashed. It's a lot of work to try and save those U bolts - I used to cut the bottom 1/2" of the bolt off with a hacksaw (hard work!). If the kit comes with new U bolts, I'd probably use an angle grinder or torch and cut the U bolts.

[Bob Barry]

One other thing; do one spring at a time, snug up all the bolts on one side, then do the other side, and only do the final torquing of the U-bolts and spring-eye bolts when the truck is on the wheels and off the jacks. Otherwise, you'll be "preloading" your suspension in unpredictable ways. It's also very easy for the axle to shift way out of place when both springs are removed at the same time, so only do one at a time.

[chrisfa1]

this is all great advice. The offer u-bolts with the kit and I was planning on buying them anyway...not that much extra $$$.

I don't have a grinder. Should i rent one? Or are the cheap enuf? Maybe I'll just go borrow my grandfather's. What's the dif between a grinder and an angle grinder? Same thing?

[jode]

$15.00 for a cheap grinder at harbor freight - $3-4 for a cutting blade at Lowes or Home depot - or just use the grinding blade, but it will take longer

Same thing (in this context)

[AM Woody]

California, eh? Go for it. But don't think you are a real man until you've done it on a rust belt truck. Preferably using no heat or air. tongue.gif

[ February 09, 2004, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Chi-town90 ]

[chrisfa1]

haha thanks chitown. I shall remain humble !