Finally replaced the front springs - nothing to it

Here's a video of the suspension noise I was having


From discussion on V8Buick.com, and talking to other Buick guys, I knew the problem was the springs. Its one of those problems where people tell you what to check, but you cannot picture it.

So for a $22 diagnosis, Pepboys immediately heard and saw the problem and I got to stand under the car for the first time. The springs were in right side up, but they were clocked wrong. The end of the coil was about 3" past the 'peep hole'
To remove and replace the springs (I had new ones) Pepboys wanted $108/hr and said it was almost a 3 hr job. I declined as I had thought about doing them myself anyway.

After the mechanic at Pepboys showed me what was wrong, how the spring was not clocked right, I could immediately see the problem.
My first idea was to use a spring compressor and compress the spring in place, then twist it to the proper location and release.
I rented a spring compressor at Autozone, but I could not get it into the spring though the coils or up though the lower control arm.

The scary part, besides not having done any spring work before, was reading about springs that pop out and fly around the garage taking a chunk of your skin with it. After all the springs are huge and under a lot of pressure

For anyone planning to do this.. here's the basic steps I took.

Raise the car and support it on the frame behind the front wheels
Let the front wheels hang
Remove the brake caliper and hang it, I used some wire to tie it to the frame
Remove the top shock bolt
Remove the bottom shock bolts and slide out the shock
The sway bar can get in the way, at the very least you'll have to remove the end links. I loosened the bushing brackets too

Remove the cotter pin in the upper ball joint bolt
Loosen the castellated nut - my ball joints are new enough that the pressure from the spring was enough to separate the joint
You may need to smack the knuckle with a hammer or use a pickle fork to separate. if using a pickle fork take care in not destroying the rubber boot if you don't want to repalce the ball joint too.

At this point, I took all the safety considerations I read about and I did put a change though the spring and lower control arm and bolted the ends

Put a floor jack under the lower control arm, and take the weight off the spring.
The upper ball joint should get loose now, and you can likely remove the castellated nut by hand

Stand away from the wheel well opening, the handle of my floor jack was at the front
Slowly lower the jack and the ball joint will separate. Keep lowering
The spring will 'pop' loose as shown



When I did the other side, I didn't realize I put the chain around the sway bar too..it kept the control arm from lowering fully
Seeing how uneventful the passenger side was I had the guts to push on it, thats when I realized the chain was too tight.




So I removed the chain, and the spring popped right out



Here's what it looks like, with the spring removed



To put the new spring back in, push it up in the upper spring pocket, there are a couple tabs up there that fit inside the spring to keep it centered.
Hold the spring and lift the lower control arm, aligning the bottom of the spring into the lower spring pocket. It went in with a 'snap'
It does not fit in there easily, so get your jack under the control arm to take the weight.
I then used a 3ft pry bar, to pry the spring into the pocket.
I got both springs aligned on that 'peep hole' on the first try
Once the spring is in, jack up the lower arm and guide the ball joint into the spindle
Put on the castellated nut, tighten and replace the cotter pin
Remove your jack.
Put the brakes back on
Put the shock back on

After both sides are done, put the sway bar back on

The job took me about 4 hrs
That included staring at the springs for a while to decide if I was actually going to do it
And gathering tools and cleaning up the garage
With help it would go much faster.

The springs I removed were Hotchkis
I really didn't have any issues with the ride, but decided for factory springs to go back in.
The Hotchkis springs are really heavy duty, and just a little shorter than the replacements, but I never felt the car was low in the front




Only one booboo too... When I was taking the castellated nut of the passenger side ball joint, the wrench slipped off and I scrapped my arm on the wheel well molding. A very minor scratch but it bleed like I dont know what. One of those cuts you get where there's zero pain, but you sure look like a tough guy with blood running down your arm and dripping on the floor LOL

All back together now




And on all 4 wheels




Test drive today at lunch time!!!!