I have tried connecting the lower a-arms and jacking up the spring to compress it enough to bolt everything else up,and I have tried unbolting the a-arm and jacking it up to run the bolts through, nothing works! what is the easiest and best way to compress the springs to reinstall them, I dont see any way other than using some type of tool to compress the spring while bolting everything up help!

'

[This message has been edited by 454Fiero (edited 04-12-2004).]

Check with AutoZone or Checkers, they lend them for free........

Good Luck!!
-Michael

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88GT/Auto/Beechwood Leather/Sun Roof/ Wing/Sub-Woofer/w-EQ/225/45/17 Michelin Pilots/All Opts Ex.T-Tops-Mores Pix https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/031475.html
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[This message has been edited by 2000RagTop (edited 12-28-2003).]

You can't get a spring compressor on the front springs. On my 84 I was able to install the control arm, then the spring and then jack up under the control arm. On my 88 I couldn't get the spring seated properly with the controla rm installed. I did a three point jacking system (this pic is after lowering the florr jack) to bring the control arm up level and then install the bolts through the bushing. I used a cable hoist connected to suspension on the other side of the car to tweak the control arm into position to align the holes/bolts. If you do this make sure you have a safety cable or chain on the spring.

Add weight to the front of the car. Eventually you'll be able to jack the arm up and nut in the ball joint.

quote Originally posted by stuartlowery: Add weight to the front of the car. Eventually you'll be able to jack the arm up and nut in the ball joint.

The problem I had on the 88 is that the top of the springs fit into a rubber boot. I couldn't get the top of the spring reasonably seated and still catch enough of the bottom of the spring to even begin to jack up the control arm with the pivot bolts in place.

[This message has been edited by sanderson (edited 12-29-2003).]

Quite a problem, isn't it? In spite of what some of the helpful members would like you to belive, there's no room for spring compressors on the front springs. Is there an easy way to put it back together? No. But there is a method that works:

The car's front end is up on jackstands, right? OK, install the upper control arm, attach the ball joints to the steering knuckle and let the lower control arm hang from the ball joint. Insert the spring between the lower control arm and the spring seat.

Now, place a hydraulic jack under the lower contol arm - and attach a "come along" (cable winch) from the lower control arm to the jackstand on the opposite side of the car. By jacking the lower control arm up and using the come-along to pull it into the proper position you can coax the lower contol arm bushings into their homes and poke the bolts into place.

The first time you try this it probably won't line up - but you'll be able to see where to make adjustments in jack and come-along position. Keep trying and eventually it'll go together.

They had assembly fixtures at the factory that aren't available to us; it was easy for the factory but not much fun for us now...

quote Originally posted by sanderson: You can't get a spring compressor on the front springs. On my 84 I was able to install the control arm, then the spring and then jack up under the control arm. On my 88 I couldn't get the spring seated properly with the controla rm installed. I did a three point jacking system (this pic is after lowering the florr jack) to bring the control arm up level and then install the bolts through the bushing. I used a cable hoist connected to suspension on the other side of the car to tweak the control arm into position to align the holes/bolts. If you do this make sure you have a safety cable or chain on the spring.

i didn't have the winch at the time i was trying install the lca. i was trying to jack lca with the spring seated up into the mounting tabs, this was not working. i tried plan B, i figure i would install the lca into the mounting tabs then try and jack up the lca and forcing the spring into position. you get the top of the spring seated but not the bottom. after getting a winch to do what what was done in the pic i came up with a plan C. i modified plan B, instead of seating the top of the spring i seated the bottom as best as i could, this left the top off centered. then i decided to attach the winch to the spring near the top. as i was winching the spring began sliding into position (need to put tension on the lca). i think it would of slid easier if i had lube the top and bottom of the spring. the only problem i had was that the bottom did not get seated in the notch of lca. i just release tension on the jack until i was able to turn the spring.

I used tie down straps with a winch. If I had used two, one on each side it would have been easier.

There are some compressors that will work and they're cheap. They're sold by JC Whitney, Autozone, O'Reileys, etc for lift kits and other uses. Here's what they look like:

All they'll do is compress one coil together so it doesn't give you much, and I had to use longer bolts than what came with it, but it worked fine because on the '84-'87 models you're not too long with the springs by very much, just a little bit shorter makes a whole lot of difference. Look at your local parts store or get them from JC Whitney

John Stricker

[This message has been edited by jstricker (edited 02-05-2004).]

John's method of using the clamps sounds very reasonable from an 88 perspective, too.
I cut one coil from my 88 front springs and had *no* trouble getting them back in.
Compressing them by one coil ought to have about the same results.

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Raydar
88 3.4 coupe.

Coming soon...
88 Formula, presently under the knife.

When I replaced the bushings in my front control arms on my 86 coupe, spring compression and decompression was very big concern of mine. I tried spring compressors from Auto Zone and they didn't work. There wasn't enough room. I found the spring lifts and compressors that "jsstricker" suggest worked fine for me. I used two on each spring to get them out, but the spring didn't compress the spring enough to put everything back together. Upon re-assembly, I put a floor jack under the control arm and used my legs to force the spring back into the cups, while I compressed the spring with the floor jack. Mind you this was with the spring compressed with two of the compressers. It worked well enough for me to get the ball joint bolted back into place. Then it was a matter of taking of the spring compressors off, most of the time a quarter turn at a time. Took a long time to set up and undo, but safe enough. I hope this helps.
Jim