In a message dated 7/8/01 12:06:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
barneymg@ntsource.com writes:
> Now for another method, some folks occasionally suggest removing the four
> small bolts to separate the spring pan from the lower arm without unbolting
> the outer links, and then lowering the jack to let the pan come free of the
> lower a-arm. That seems like such a PITA way to do it that I don't suppose
> I would ever try it, but if I ever did I would indeed be very cautious
> about letting the spring force go suddenly. Once the spring pan comes free
> of the lower arm there is nothing to guide it, so it has the potential of a
> sudden sidewise motion if the jack were to slip. I suppose it would also
> be a bit of a pain for reassembly in the reverse manner.
>
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Chances are we are not discussing a 1500 Midget here, but I just came off a
weekend doing this to my car with three other listers. We took the springs
off by removing the top of the king pin from the shock and lowering the A-arm
all the way down. The spring is still captive as Barney said, but can be
removed without too much difficulty.
Getting it back in is another story! Larry Macy suggested removing the
spring pan and putting the jack under it to raise it back into place. He put
two screwdrivers in two of the bolt holes to line it up and then put the two
bolts in the empty holes when it was close. It seemed to work pretty well,
even the one we did in the dark! Kevin Valentine was the other knowledgeable
suspension helper this past weekend.
A suggestion from chuck christ was to safety wire the spring under
compression before you raise the car (or raise the car by jacking up the
spring pan). Then keep the spring compressed until you put it back in.
Needless to say there are some VERY BIG safety issues with that procedure,
but it sounded pretty logical to me.
Allen Hefner
SCCA Philly Region Rally Steward
'77 Midget (with new king pins and bushings!)
'92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
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