Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension Install death

Well today was going to be the day I did my suspension swap. I have a Haynes manual, read all the post I could and still it's whoop'n me. I've managed to only remove one strut today and haven't even got it back in the car.

Plan was to swap out my stock gl suspension with SVT springs and new stock struts. I also am "planning" on changing my 4 bolt LCAs.

Here are my problems. I can get the strut re-assembled to put it back in the car. Stazi's instructions say that you don't have compress the spring to reassemble it but I can't see how to without compressing it. However the crappy spring compressors that I rented from Autozone are a beating to use. I am only using hand tools (no air) so I know that it will take longer but dang! The compressor keep slipping off the spring and at one point can loose and caught my finger in a bind. My left ring finger feels like I ran it over.

Iam not sure what help I expect at a 8:45 on a Saturday night. I am just desperately hoping I can get this all back together by Monday so I can go to work. Looks like if I can just get the fronts done this weekend I'll do the rears next weekend.

Just a whoop'n boys.

Jon

Using the svt springs, I can see having to compress them, with lowering springs you usually don't have to.

I've never had a problem using the autozone compressors, so I'm not sure what to tell you there.

you could try one of these

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43753

they work somewhat decently. i guess im spoiled by the nice wall mount one we have at work

Now that is a nice spring compressor. Safety catches, single screw operation. I could change a strut in 10 minutes with hand tools using that...

yep, that would have helped a great deal. Too bad the nearest Harbor frieght store is 50 miles away. I am just going to take the assemblies to the for dealer in the morning and have them dis and re-assmble the struts. Then all I need to do is drill out the rivets and replace the ball joints and I'll get it back together again.

You don't think that Sears would have one of those do you?

I never bothered to at how to take the suspension off my 'Tour, but I did help my brother do all for struts and springs on his subaru.

The first one we took off horribly wrong. Probably the stupiest automotive move we've ever done. We were trying to compress the spring while it was on the car The Subaru strut unbolts from the tower with what I assume is a chamber plate. The plate remains bolted on the strut. You won't need to use the compressors until you've remove the strut from the car, and are ready to take the plate off to get to the spring.

It probably took use about 3 hours to figure that out...

So if the 'Tour is setup the same way, and you're doing the same thing. I just saved you a world of head aches.


Putting the first strut back in, and doing the other 3 struts took us ~2 and 1/2 hours.

If we did it again we could proably do the whole car in an hour and a half. It really should take you that long like mentioned above.

no, I'm not trying to compress the springs on the car. Just using the strut compressor off the car and it has proved rather difficult. So this morning I am taking them into the dealer and going to have them compressed.

The difficult parts so far were trying to figure out how to lower the lca to clear the ball joint. What I didn't undertand was the the strut needed to be pulled to the side. I couldn't figure out why the ball joint wouldn't go far enough down to clear the hub and allow me to pull the hub off the strut. The second one I did (the driver's side) came out in about 15 mins because I knew what I was doing.