I am trying to lower my car. I have the springs, front bolts and rear camber arms. I tried over the weekend to get this done but couldn't find a spring compressor that fits our car. The Mercedes spring compressors go for over $100 on ebay, and I can't justify spending that kind of money on something I will only use once.

Does anyone live near the Herndon/Reston area in VA that would be willing to let me borrow a spring compressor that fits our car? It would be greatly appreciated and I could return a favor with a 6 pack of your favorite beer!

 

From what I understand you don't need one for the fronts, which I haven't done yet, so I'm not 100%. You for sure don't need one for the back, you just need a free jack for lowering the arm and letting the spring de-compress. Be careful doing it this way, but it works if you are.

 

I heard that you don't need one either, but I was trying to avoid that. I have done that method with an 85 Firebird and it was scary to say the least. I live in an apartment and really do not want a spring to go flying into some little kid playing near by. Another problem is I only have the spare tire jack, which isn't exactly stable.

If I was to do this route and buy a jack to do this (which I wouldn't mind since I would use it more than once) how do you drop the arm enough to decompress the spring? Just unbolt the shock?

 

You need to be able to lift the car up pretty good, but you unbolt the arm at the subframe, the shock, and the sway bar link, with a jack applying pressure to the control arm right under the spring. Then you just very slowly lower the arm. The way the spring sits I doubt it would shoot up or out, but I could see it slipping on the arm and shooting towards the ground. Mine just stayed in position at the top, I had to actually yank them a little to get them out. The control arms pivot a ton, the deciding factor for how far, or far enough only depends on how high you have the car.

 

Use a jack under the A-arm, unbolt the 2 A-arm bolts, punch them out and lower the jack and out fall the springs. The installation is the reverse process. Getting it back together is a 2 person job IMO. You need someone to jiggle the A-arm (I rocked it back and forth pulling on the rotor) It's a simple job that can take all day, or weekend for me as I had no helper. Be prepared to take it apart a couple of times to get the height where you want it.

Les

 

Good to know you can do the fronts like this. I wasn't 100% on that process. It seemed like it would be a pain to do it compared to the back.

 

It's simple and hard at the same time. The difficulty is getting the tension off the bolts to get them out. It takes lots of playing with the jack or a friend yanking and pulling the rotor so they can be wiggled out. The same for getting the bolts back in place. If you have help, it's not bad at all. The rear is a cake walk.

Les

 

Thanks guys. Looks like I will be buying a jack this weekend and trying again, as long as it doesn't rain. I was afraid I would have to take the car to a shop. I got a quote from a well known speed shop down the street from my work, they told me anywhere from $600 to $1200. That was with me supplying all the parts! This will help save some money for more mods. Maybe even a v8 swap from Josh (two more weeks until I can afford that, two more weeks)!

 

Study this thread with pictures. Nothing like being prepared. https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ravaganza.html

Les

I'd forgotten about the sway bar. Now THAT was a bugger to get back on. Try to leave it attached. I did on one side but the other had to come off for some reason and it took lots of effort to get it re attached.

 

This is awesome! Thanks!

 

Almost any mod you may want to do is documented somewhere on this forum. Sometimes the difficulty is finding what you're looking for, check the stickies first.

Les

 

Yeah, the rear was very simple. Thanks for the tips, I might end up doing the front right control arm replacement before the car's sold.

Geez that's a lot for a spring swap job.

If you end up wanting a swap, let me know! Just mind the huge line at my door lol

Nice! How did I miss that thread?

The only difference is it looks like he unbolted the outer to get the spring out. I guess it doesn't really matter which one you unbolt, they'll both pivot. I just figured the inside would be easier because the bolts at a higher point, therefore more pivot room between it and the ground.

 

I unbolted the out side for the rear too.

Les

 

Any specific reason? Just curious for next time I have to do it.

 

Well, it's just more comfortable "our way" IMO. But at the same time since I've only done it "our way" I may be wrong!

Les

 

I'll give it a shot your way next time and try it out. Like you said the back was a breeze, the hardest part for me was lining up that bolt but with jack movement and a bit of dedication it made it lol.

 

Yea it is a lot. It seems like a really good shop, but too expensive lol.

I saw you lowered your price for the first two swaps. It almost puts it in my budget. Now the only problem is shipping my car to the other side of the country for a month or more with shipping. The shipping costs and the whole not having a car thing put it out of the budget again. I might be able to work it out during the winter since I won't really be driving it anyway but that is pretty far away so who knows.

 

Yeah, it's not just the first two now. This is going to be an, until further notice, kind of thing. I want to prove that I can make a really nice clean swap for people, and get more on board. Get my name out.

Shipping cars is expensive, but do me a favor and just look around, it might not be as much as your thinking. Every place I asked said it would cost $500 ish to ship my motor, a few said a grand. I got it here for $260 with tracking and in around 5 days. I'll research and shop around until my ear and fingers bleed from phone calls and typing lol.

 

I should do some research about the price before assuming (we all know how that turns out). I did quick searches about 7 months ago when I moved and I remember it being extremely expensive. I will look again and try to find a company with reasonable rates. I will PM you this weekend when I have some better info and see if this is possible for me soon, or if I have to wait.

 

You can get multiple quotes from here Auto Transporter.com - The Trusted and Helpful Source for Finding a Quality Auto Transporter!

Hope you and Josh can make it happen... AND maybe you can convince him to lower your car for you while he has it.. that way you can count that $1200 quote as a "discount" on the swap/shipping