How hard is it to install new springs and struts? What special tools will I need, I know I need a spring compressor, but is there anything else. Thanks for your help!

 

two bolts for the rear (each side)

about eight bolts for the front (each side)

It takes about 2 hours, just dont follow the instructions in the Haynes manual. You Do NOT need to remove the hub assembly to do the job. (ask me how I know and how much wheel bearings are )

peace

 

yeah, just take the 4 bolts off the top of the fronts, and two at teh bottom, and the whole thing comes right out...

Ya gott take the caliper off, but that's just 2 more bolts.

Changing the rear shocks takes about 10 minutes per side tops once you get the interior panels apart. One bolt at teh botton, one at the top and they slide right out.

take note, be careful off the ball joint when you take the fronts out, if it's old rubber it can get pretty brittle...

 

Something to think about - I did this job last weekend on my 84SE, and the front shock struts have a rod with nylock nut on the top. If you try to loosen the nylock nut, the whole rod spins and you will not get the nut loose enough to remove the top bearing mount and the spring perch. This was seriously problematic, even after trying all the tools at my disposal and even buying a few.

My 80 LS did not have this 'problem', and the nuts were easily removed with a socket wrench, no hassle. The 84SE, however required the use of a 7/8" (yes, it fit, not metric) open ended socket designed to remove Oxygen sensors, no kidding. This, combined with liberal application of an air impact hammer w/120psi of pressure got the nut loose enough for me to remove. I had to hammer an 11/32" long-neck socket over the oblong shaped shock rod to keep it from rotating, then, once removed, was able to drop the strut and spring assm out the bottom.

You'll need to remove the stabilizer bar mounts and tension rod mounts first, of course. And be careful with these springs - use a hydraulic floorjack under the lower arm to prevent it from fly out from under the tower. HTH,

 

So you took the big nut off the top with the assembly still bolted to the car? Tell me you at least used a spring compressor when you did that... either way, it's still not the best way to do it. And about the tension rods - if your bushings aren't crap then you're going to have a hard time sliding the strut assembly back in place when you've swapped out the struts and springs - easy way is to remove the two attaching bolts on the control arm. Oh, and make sure you lift the whole front end of the car when you loosen things so the stabilizer bar isn't fighting you along the way, and then torque everything to spec when you put it back together.

 

You don't need to unbolt the sway bar or tension rod. To get the strut in/out you simply lever the control arm down with a bar of some sort. (trolley jack handle works well)

 

carefull with the 2 big bolts on the bottom of the strut, i broke both of mine on the left side, added about 2.5 hours to the job. soak everthing in liquid wrench, way beforehand, and with those bolts, hit them with a hammer really hard to break the rust.

 

With the struts out, just get an impact wrench onto the top nut. It works very quickly. Once I had everything out I just went down to the local garage and had them spin the tops off no problems. My springs were probably saggy but one person holding the spring down while the other pulls the nut off was fine, no compressor needed.