Its time to replace front coil springs on LeSabre. I dont want to spend $45 for the "j-tool" mentioned in FSM. Can I just use a peice of black pipe or thick peice of bar stock to put under lower control arm? My jack has "grooves" that the bar can sit in nicely. Thoughts?
Front springs are under massive load. I would at least see if you can rent a spring compressor. I believe I've read that securing the spring with a thick chain is a good extra precaution. In the event the tool fails or something else goes wrong, it will stop it from flying out and killing you.
After literally doing 1,000 's of front springs on every kind of car and never using a spring compressor I know it can be done . You just have to think ahead and be SAFE . Main thing is to get the car High enough so when the lower control arm is hanging down it has to be about 4 inches from the floor . Take the tire , caliper and rotor off .Tie the caliper out of the way . Take the shock out . drop the tie rod end and remove the stabilizer link and loosen the lower ball joint but leave the nut on a few threads . Hit the spindle where the lower ball joint goes thru with a BIG hammer . This will break the taper of the ball joint loose from the spindle loose . Place a Floor jack under the "CUP" of the lower arm where the spring sits . Be sure the jack handle is parallel to the front bumper. It can be from either side . Nest to be safe and not be in front of the spring . Jack up the arm and take the lower ball joint nut off . SLOWLY lower the jack until it is unsprung . Then a pry bar to pop it out of the pocket in the lower arm . It goes in the same way just make sure you have the spring oriented in the right position . I forgot to mention when you go to put it back in have 2 prybars at least 2 foot long .Longer is better . Place 1 thru the hole inn the lower control arm pocket and the other thru the spring about 2 coils up. Put pressure UP on the lower pry bar while at the same time putting pressure DOWN on the other pry Bar . The spring will "POP" right into the pocket of the lower control arm . Then just jack up slowly and put the ball joint stud thru the spindle and install the nut . Next time I do a set of Front Springs I am going to make a video to show how easy it is . Just keep safety in mind
I appreicate the advice. We did some more snooping and found the upper control arm bushings are fraying, cracked and worn. So now its full frontal replacement of the bushings as well. Ball joints and tie rods are still good.
