Sonar_un

Ok, lets start this off by saying. I am not responsible for any damages to you, or your vehicle. This is how I did my springs, and it worked great.

Now, that being said, on to the tutorial.

1. Raise the car up and put a jack underneath the a-arm to support the spring, then remove the sway bar endlinks.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2001.jpg">

2. Take out the codder pin and use a 15/16's inch wrench to take off the ball joint nut.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2002.jpg">

3. Using an air hammer or just a large hammer, and a ball joint fork, position it between the ball joint and the a-arm and fire away. You will know when the ball joint pops out. Just don't be afraid, thats why you have the jack underneath the a-arm.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2003.jpg">

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2004.jpg">

4. Stick a peice of wood in the spring as to stop the spring from going anywhere when you lower the jack.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2005.jpg">

5. Lower the jack to relieve any tension on the spring. Now, since your a-arm bolts are tight, the a-arm will not just fall down. The bushings will bind a bit. There is still some tension on the spring, so use a long pry bar and push the a-arm out of the way. The spring will then just fall out.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2006.jpg">

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2008.jpg">

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2009.jpg">

6. Now that the spring is out, you can remove the lower a-arm if you will be replacing the bushings. If not, installation is almost reverse of removal.

Lets finish up the installation, and then I will take you to the bushing replacement a little later. Unforunately, I don't have any pictures of this process, but I will enlighten you with words.

7. Using a spring compressor, compress the spring on the inside. If you watched how the spring came out, there is a small notch where the bottom of the spring goes in. This is where the spring is "indexed". Put the spring compressor on that side.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2007.jpg">

8. Put the spring in the indexing position and raise the jack up. Then, put the ball joint threads through the hole on the spindle and thread the nut on. Lastly, put snug the nut and put a new codder pin in the proper hole.

9. There, your front springs should be on, if you loosened the a-arm bolts, make sure you tighten them up. Also, put in the swaybar endlinks. This would be a good time to upgrade to poly ones.

10. The rear springs are a peice of cake. Its so easy, I will do it in one step. Raise the rear of the car and put a jack underneath the carrier housing. Un bolt the driver side of the panhard bar, and unbolt the shocks. Then, lower the jack and slide the springs out. Installation is reverse of removal

Sonar_un

Ok, now for the bushings. These things are a major PITA and probabally are the hardest part of the entire spring replacement procedure. But, I have found a way to speed things up.

1. Take the a-arm out.

2. Take your air hammer and a good pointy bit. Position on the edge of the bushing and start hammering away. This should loosen up the bushing inside the a-arm.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2010.jpg">

3. Once the bushing is loose, start hammering on the sleeve, this should bush the bushing out of the socket. Notice the marks on the bushing sleeve in the picture.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2012.jpg">

4. The other side is a little trickier. You may notice it in the last picture. The end of the bushing sleeve is flared out. You will have to de-flare it. The easiest way is to probabally put the a-arm in a vice and use a chisel and hammer to bash the end in so you can remove it with the air hammer.

5. Now that the bushings are out, you need to replace them (This is an excuse to use a picture I took )

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2013.jpg">

6. Lube up the bushing and stick the end of the a-arm in a vise, and use a round peice of steel tube, or a very large socket to cover the recieving end of the bushing. Start squishing the bushing in. You will notice that the a-arm will not want to recieve the bushing so well and will start to bend on you. This is where you take that almighty chisel and hammer and start pushing the bushing in. The tension will straighten out the bushing and eventually slide in.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2014.jpg">

7. Now its time to remove the ball joint. If you have a handy dandy shop press, it should be a peice of cake. Set your press up like so.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2015.jpg">

8. .. and start pressing away.

<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/springs/springs%20step%2016.jpg">

9. Installation of the bushing is similar to removal. Again I do not have a picture, so I will tell you how to do it. Its best to stick a large socket over the ball joint and press right on the bottom of the ball joint. It will start going in a little cockied, but eventually, it will straighten out. Just keep pressing. Make sure the joint is well lubed and it will go in easier.

10. Get an alignment, you will need one.

Well, there you have it. I hope this tutorial helps someone. It took me about 4 hours to replace my bushing and install all of my springs. I am sure that I can do it faster now though.

Here is the end product.

Before:
<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/Tokico%20Springs/Before%2001.jpg">

After:
<img src="http://www.zbalan.com/sonarun/TransAm/Tokico%20Springs/After%2001.jpg">

<B>Special thanks to <i>Fbodtrek</i> for helping me with this project. He is the guy you see in all the pictures </B>

mrr23

here's the tech article i made about 2 years go http://www.fl-thirdgen.org/frontspringswap.html good pics you have.

Sonar_un

Cool! I didn't know about that tech article.

mrr23

no prob. it's nice to see others viewpoints on things either.

Wishmaster's87IROC

iTrader: (4)

I have to reindex my driverside spring cause its different than my passenger side so that thorws it off about a 1/4.

The way I did it was take apart from the shock but your way seems faster. Once I pop the balljoint bushing does it go back on easy? is it just screw it down tight kinda deal so it pulls itself tight like it was?

thanks!

Sonar_un

It goes on very easy, just stick it in the spindle hole and screw the nut on. You are jacking it up anyway, so its easy to relieve tension on the nut.

92 zzz28

I just pulled my front end apart a few days ago to change springs, bushings, balljoints, and steering linkage. I did just about everything you did except that I was able to just lower the control arm down all the way. The spring had no more compression left so I just popped it off the arm with a prybar. Or course having it on a lift sure did help.

Good work and great pics to go along with details