Anyone know how to change the front coil springs on a 97 gmc 1500?
I own a shop, and what you are trying to do is all wrong. You could get seriously hurt this way. Do Not try to change these springs without removing the lover ball joint. You have found that you can't compress the spring that far, if you do, and it breaks loose it will come out of there with major force. The spring compressor is only useful to get the spring started back in anyway. The vehicle must be on jack stands, and place them under the frame so the weight of the vehicle is not on the lower control arm. Place a jack under the lower control arm, jack it up till it just begins to pick the vehicle up off the jack stand, stop, and keep all the weight on the stand. Remove the cotter pin, and nut from the lower ball joint. Remove the sway bar, shock, and anything else that will keep it from going down all the way. Lower the jack thats under the control arm just a little to put some pressure on the control arm, and stop. DO NOT lower it enough for the spring to pop out. Use a big hammer to smack the control arm around the sides of where the ball joint is. A few good hits, and the ball joint & control arm will seperate from the spindle. All you have to do now is; lower the jack to take the tension off the spring until it falls out. If after you lower it all the way and it won't come out, then use the spring compressor to get it the rest of the way. Put the new spring in position (pay attention to pads at top for spring to sit in) and jack the floor jack up until you can get the ball joint back in with the nut back on it. Tighten the nut to specs, install the cotter pin, and you are done. Sometimes a new spring will be hard to get in, and you will have to use the compressor to get it started, but I have never seen anyone use a spring compressor to change the springs with. There is just too much tension on the compressor this way, and it could break resulting in someone getting injured or killed. Know what you are doing when it comes to messing with things that has a lot of tension on it. Many people have been killed this way, and you are no exception. I cannot stress how dangerous this job is when done incorrectly. Glad to help out, Good luck!!!
Are coilovers better than lowering springs?
Often the issue is not wear, but stiffer springs simply need stiffer shocks or struts to keep the car from bouncing. Coil-overs have the exact same issue, but many of them already come with shocks designed specifically for the springs if you buy them from a reputable brand, and others (Ground Control, for instance) do not include shocks but can recommend what ones to use. You shouldn't use significantly stiffer springs with stock shocks or struts, whether they're coil-overs or lowering springs. The main advantage of coil-overs is that they let you adjust the car's ride height and cross-weight (the way the weight is distributed between the corners of the car). However, moving the ride height around on your coil-overs without checking your cross-weights can give you handling problems if you're pushing the car to the limits. Whatever you go with, it's worth doing things right and not cheaping out by using no-name eBay parts or trying to run stiff coils on stock shocks. Unless all you care about is the stance and don't care about how it handles.
How much would a shop charge for spring compression on uninstalled struts. The struts are not on the car.?
I have a 98 Infiniti I30 I have already taken the struts off of the car and i already have new struts, I just dont have a spring compressor. How much would a shop charge to compress the springs and install them on the new struts so i can put them back in the car?
Do coilovers replace struts and springs?
First, lets get your newly recieved facts straight. Struts and shocks are not the same. Struts are the compressed-gas component, and shocks are your springs. Second, coilovers are when the springs COIL OVER the strut *strut runs up through the middle, held in place by two mounting plates on the top and bottom*. So that being said, if you're installing coilovers on a vehicle that doesn't have them installed already, its a replacement.
Will getting new shocks lift my car a little?
No, your car rides on its springs. The shocks are just there absorb shock from the springs. If you replace your shocks, and the springs are still sagging, the car will still sag. Additional Info: It may not just need new springs, if its sagging, it could be a combination of the springs, struts, leaf springs, and shocks. If a leaf spring broke, it could put extra weight on your coil springs, which puts extra weight on your shocks, which puts extra weight on your struts, which means all of them need to be replaced. Your car may not have springs, it may only have a tortion bar. Could be broken control arm Either way, fixing ONLY the shocks isn't going to fix it. You need to have your entire suspension system checked out.
Full coilover suspension or just coilover sleeves?
DO NOT use coilover sleeves on your stock shocks, the spring rates are more agressive and will make your car ride like ****, and bouncy, and blow your shock It depends, people swear that Koni Yellow shocks paired with Ground Control Coilover Sleeves can kick most full coilovers asses, it depends which full coilovers you get i guess. I personally never rode on ground control coilovers but, koni yellow shocks are good **** (:, Full coilovers ive ridden on ksports, megans, and ZEALS. the k sports and Megans pretty much the same, i heard all the coilovers pretty much in the same price range handle and work the same. now the ZEALS on the other hand were full race coilovers STIFF AS **** and $2500. but boy did they grip the pavement like it was on rails. I doubt you will ever gonna go tracking, i suggest you just get some tein super streets, koni yellow + gc sleeves, megans, or k sports. I personally go with the Tein Super Streets, lots of good reviews, i am currently riding on Ksports, that i bought used for my 96 civic coupe, im pretty slammed and it rides almost as good as stock (: , i was on stock shocks and skunk 2 sleeves, and boy did that **** suck ***. so NO stock shocks if you plan to get sleeves or coilover or springs. Do it right the first time. As for getting coilovers, its pretty much preferenece.
Do both suspension springs need to be replaced if one breaks?
We took our Vauxhall Zafira A (1.6 Life) to a garage recently and found out that one of the front suspension springs had gone and needed replacing. The first garage said they'd replace both of them because they come in pairs for £266. The other garage where we got the car from said he'd do it cheaper than the main dealer 'cos he'd sell us the springs at trade price. When we got there he qouted us £50 for the spring + VAT (Vauxhall had quoted us £117+VAT for the two springs - so actually it would have been £120 for 2 springs from him inc VAT - not much difference in it really) I asked him if we needed both springs replacing and he said that with brakes you need to replace them in series or else you'll get handling problems, but he said springs will be fine being replaced as and when they go and as it's only one spring we'll be fine just replacing the one. We had the work done and including fitting the new spring it cost £174. When we got the car back it's started to handle really well, I'm really pleased with the job he's done on it and everything and it seems he possible oiled some of the other bits of the car too whilst doing it as everything in the car seems a lot more responsive. Today a few people on facebook (one of whom is an ex-lorry driver and mechanic and another who's a motorbike mechanic) have commented about this and shocked that he didn't replace both springs (or at the very least advised that both springs be replaced) as he should have replaced them together because the driver's side spring will have had more wear put on it than the passengers side when the passenger side one broke. I can kind of see their logic behind this, but in reality who is right? Is it safe to just replace one spring or should he have replaced both springs together? When the spring broke it didn't break fully and the car was still drive-able at the time, the garage said it was just shorter than it should and was at a risk that it could pop out of the suspension bracket.
Can you install shocks without lifting up the vehicle?
nope you really cant because of the weight of the vehicle..you need to relieve the pressure off the shocks in order to get them out..i dont really see how you can without lifting the vehicle in order to get them