Leaf Spring Install - Need Incredible Hulk

[spridgetracer]

Okay, finally got the freakin right rear spring removed after about 400 sawzall blades and a few grinding wheels.

What a nightmare.

Now I've got the new spring in place and the front bolt is in place. I've tried everything I can think of to put leverage on the spring to get the rear bolt holes to line up to no avail.

I've gotten close, but then the whole Jeep starts to lift up rather than the spring bending any further.

Help, before I accidentally kill myself.

[Ted_Z]

Get some junk in the trunk!

Adding weight to the cargo area will help by letting you put more force on the spring before you lift.

[spridgetracer]

Great idea! "Honey, I need you to get in the back of the Jeep...trust me. Just do it. It will only take a few minutes!"

[ChiefTawny]

i've used a porta-power between the military wraps. also a bottle jack with a piece of steel tube welded to it with the other end just crushed flat. put either setup in and start pumpin...it will stretch the spring out easly. just be careful they slip!!!

[Spectre]

I (recently)found that a 6" length of 2x4 used as a skid or pad between the top of the shackle and the flat floor panel works great. Make sure you don't pin anything under the pad, then jack it up with a trolley jack under the center of the spring. Pretty easy.

[ December 07, 2005, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Spectre ]

[Josh Schweitzer]

Bahhhhhh Spectre I was about to use that very same pic of my waggy as my Avitar lol

Guess ill use the hood ordament

[GWJoe]

thanks for letting me know that this isn't a job that I want to do myself. Good luck.

Joe

[FSJ Thing]

Originally posted by spridgetracer:
Okay, finally got the freakin right rear spring removed after about 400 sawzall blades and a few grinding wheels.

What a nightmare.

Now I've got the new spring in place and the front bolt is in place. I've tried everything I can think of to put leverage on the spring to get the rear bolt holes to line up to no avail.

I've gotten close, but then the whole Jeep starts to lift up rather than the spring bending any further.

Help, before I accidentally kill myself.

Ummmm...I hook the springs to the frame before I hook the axle to the springs, this makes them easier to move around. Are you forgetting the shackle and trying to mount the spring to the frame at both ends? Generally, bolting the spring to the spring mount isn't that hard, and then sticking a bolt in the shackle and using a prybar to move it around so the spring eye lines up with it isn't that hard either. Or did I misunderstand and your talking about something else entirely and I look like a jackass? I'm cornfused...

[nsanebiker]

Originally posted by Ted_Z:
Get some junk in the trunk!

Adding weight to the cargo area will help by letting you put more force on the spring before you lift.

Agreed, drop the tailgate and add 200-300 lbs and try to add another set of hands underneath to help get the spring in position and put the bolt through. I had the same issue as the wag would lift up off of the jack stands. Once you get one side in the other will be a snap.

[Elliott]

Originally posted by FSJ Thing:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by spridgetracer:
Now I've got the new spring in place and the front bolt is in place. I've tried everything I can think of to put leverage on the spring to get the rear bolt holes to line up to no avail.

I've gotten close, but then the whole Jeep starts to lift up rather than the spring bending any further.

Help, before I accidentally kill myself.

Ummmm...I hook the springs to the frame before I hook the axle to the springs, this makes them easier to move around. Are you forgetting the shackle and trying to mount the spring to the frame at both ends? Generally, bolting the spring to the spring mount isn't that hard, and then sticking a bolt in the shackle and using a prybar to move it around so the spring eye lines up with it isn't that hard either. Or did I misunderstand and your talking about something else entirely and I look like a jackass? I'm cornfused...</font>[/QUOTE]Right, that's how I put 4" Sky Jacker springs on a chero and had no problem. Should be able to reach the shackle without the axle attached.

[spridgetracer]

First I had the shackle on the axle and the front bolt attached and couldn't reach the rear bolt attachment.

Then I detached the shackle from the axle and was able to get the rear bolt lined up.

Finally, I took one of my tie-downs from the race car trailer and hooked one end to the left rear leaf spring and the other end to the right rear spring and I used it as a come-along to get the spring lined up over the hole/seat on top of the axle.

Still, this job sucks. I'm learning that working on a British car for years has made me into a pu$$y and that working on this Jeep is going to require a dramatic increase in testosterone quickly.

[Tahnka]

$150 for the local shadetree to do it. It took him 4 hours with a full complement of shop tools and 2 extra helpers. He swore he'd never take a spring job on a Wagoneer, ever again.

[Dive 30]

It took three of us a full day to pull my old springs and put the lifted springs on. We used a ton of pry bar and extra hands as well as a good dose of BFH to get them swapped. The fronts weren't bad once we got them off, the backs were bad all the way around.

Phil