Okay, so today I decide Im going to slap on the suspension pieces I have from a SVT Focus. I figured I would just concentrate on the rear for now and do the front springs later on down the road after I can get my hands on some new shocks for up front.
I start with the sway bar, get the old one pulled out easy enough though I despirately need to replace the bushings but Im going to wait until I can get my hands on some prothane bushings and just replace all of them in the rear.
I get the SVT sway bar on and am probably done in around an hour. I start on the passenger side and was going to replace the spring there. I fight, and I fight that freakin' single bolt that holds the spring support to the cross member and it aint budging AT ALL. So I go ahead and pull out the strut and replace it with the SVT strut. I spray that bolt down with some Amsoil Metal Protector and figure I will come back to it.
I go to the drivers side and spray down that same bolt on that side but decide to start with the strut first since that was so easy to replace. So now I have the SVT sway bar and the SVT struts in. So I start on the drivers side spring and I pound on the wrench with the mallet and I finally hear it break loose. Im thinking I might get this all done after all, but nooooooooo. The bolt decides to get hung up on whatever bushing there is in there and simply will not back out all the way. Without a spare bushing I decide to just tighten the thing back down. I go back over to the passenger side and work on that bolt some more and pound on it for seemingly forever and it still isnt moving. So I call it a day so I can go see what difference the sway bar and the struts make.
It rained here today and so I couldnt really push the limits with the roads as they were, but I can say that it is a major improvement so far. The rear end definately doent squat down NEARLY as much which seems to make it a bit more responsive, I dunno. I dont know if it was just me or if it was because I wasnt loosing as much to the suspension when that rear end squats down when you punch it a little.
The Focus definately handles better and I cant wait until I can get those rear springs and new bushing on the rear end and stiffen it up just a tad bit more.
So if anyone has any ideas on how to get that STUPIDO bolt out so I can lower that cross member enough to get those springs out, I would greatly appreciate it. I even tried a spring compressor and just couldnt get it to compress enough to pull out. I would definately appreciate any ideas as I really want to get all that done.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Good for you for taking on that project. Too many immovable bolts and high tension springs and specialty tools (and mechanical skills) for me. I want to get that SVT suspension kit on my car too, but I have to find someone who will install it for me first.
Synth, if you are talking abou the rear, I don't think that you have to remove the crossmember or lower it at all. If I remember correctly, when I did mine, I just removed the lower shock bolt, and pushed down on the lower control arm and I pulled the spring out that way. Maybe it wasn't the right way to do things, but it worked and I haven't had any problems more than 50k miles later.
____________________ "Men and boys alike love burnouts because they involve machinery, loud noises, and destruction."
gr33nlemon wrote: Synth, if you are talking abou the rear, I don't think that you have to remove the crossmember or lower it at all. If I remember correctly, when I did mine, I just removed the lower shock bolt, and pushed down on the lower control arm and I pulled the spring out that way. Maybe it wasn't the right way to do things, but it worked and I haven't had any problems more than 50k miles later.
See, I thought someone had put up a proceedure on how to replace the rear springs and it included removing either the rear strut or the cross member bolt and it had pictures. I couldnt remember which it was so the obvious choice was the bolt that supports the bar the holds up the spring, but I can see how removing the strut bolt may allow the wheel to come down enough to get the spring out. I'll have to give that a try tonight and see how that goes.
Thanks for the tip.
Konaboy, its a lot of variables, but IF you get the suspension pieces, and IF I can get down your way anytime soon I'd be more than glad to install it all for you. The sway bar and the struts are really easy, I didnt have any problems at all getting them installed. If you can turn a wrench, you can put on the suspension cause thats about all it is, pulling the bolts out and changing the pieces and putting the bolts back in.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Well gr33nlemon, I tried what you said, but it did not work, even with the strut disconnected the cross memeber and spring support will not lower enough to allow me to pull the spring out. However, I think that I found out why. If Im looking at it correctly I will have to remove the sway bar to get it to extend that far. So I may give that a go again tomorrow and see how that works out. The sway bar is pretty easy to remove and pulling the wheel off and pulling the bolt to the strut mount isnt that difficult either.
Someone did a write up on replacing the rear suspension and I surely wish I could have found it. I willing to bet that the spring was replaced while the sway bar was out, though since I cant find it I cant swear to it. but looking at where the sway bar arm connects to the cross member Im thinking I will have to pull it to get the cross member to drop low enough to pull the spring out.
Thoughts anyone?
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
SyntheticShield wrote: Well gr33nlemon, I tried what you said, but it did not work, even with the strut disconnected the cross memeber and spring support will not lower enough to allow me to pull the spring out. However, I think that I found out why. If Im looking at it correctly I will have to remove the sway bar to get it to extend that far. So I may give that a go again tomorrow and see how that works out. The sway bar is pretty easy to remove and pulling the wheel off and pulling the bolt to the strut mount isnt that difficult either.
Someone did a write up on replacing the rear suspension and I surely wish I could have found it. I willing to bet that the spring was replaced while the sway bar was out, though since I cant find it I cant swear to it. but looking at where the sway bar arm connects to the cross member Im thinking I will have to pull it to get the cross member to drop low enough to pull the spring out.
Thoughts anyone? D'oh, I forgot about the sway bar. Try removing the lower shock bolt and unbolting the sway bar from the end-links. That should work. I'm so stupid for forgetting about the sway br. Now I feel like a crack addict. After I read your post, I was like, oh ya, I did that too. I think thats all I had to do to get the rear spring out. Give it a try, cause that sou nds like what I did.
____________________ "Men and boys alike love burnouts because they involve machinery, loud noises, and destruction."
Just kidding. Thanks for the help, I got home too late today to try it out so we will have to see how it goes tomorrow if I can or on my next days off.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
3. if no torch or ineffective, go to vatozone and rent the spring compressor. not the one for the macpherson struts, the one for just the coil spring. you can compress the spring and pull it out of the perch.
4. have you tried putting a jack under the coil spring to releave the tension on the bolt?
5. if you really have to, you can make a paint mark on the eccentric bolts and remove those. just make sure to get an alignment done after wards because your toe will be off.
#1. Shocks, struts, whatever. I wont sweat the small stuff. They functionally do the same.
#2. I dont have a torch, and I dont think I would put any amount of heat on that bolt due to the fact there is a bushing in there that I dont want to risk ruining. As a last resort I would try that, but the heating up things to get them to cooperate isnt first on my list, I was able to get the other side loose so I imagine a good cheater bar would be sufficient on the other side.
#3. I have both a coil spring compressor and a macpherson struts/shock spring compressor, neither will bring the spring down enough to remove it.
#4. Yes.
#5. There is only one bolt that needs to be removed. If it comes out the cross member support drops and the spring comes out. No need to mess with the eccentric bolts. But that brings us back to it not budging in the first place.
The wheel disconnected from the strut/shock almost lowers it enough to pull the spring out, so Im pretty sure that if I pull the sway bar it will come down enough to pull it out without the need for spring compressors or any other assistance.
I appreciate the tips, but even if I had a torch and a spare bushing I would be reluctant to take that course of action. Just always been a little reluctant about such measures.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
what Im saying about the eccentric bolt is: if you cant get the lower control arm bolt to come out, you can remove the inside eccentric bolt and that will release the spring too. you are going to need an alignment anyway so it wont hurt to take out that bolt.
Well I guess I'll have to take a look at that. I think I know which bolt it is you are referring to, but I'll have to double check to make sure. I wasnt able to get to it again today unfortunately, the Amsoil business spiked again and I ended up having to go pick up a big order for inventory and that took a lot longer than I had wanted it to.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
you can get a compressor for a dime a dozen from harbor freight and thru rebuild shops. butthey also make electric impact guns. craftsman makes a good one. they are pricey-er for the power but you can get a 300 pounder for about 250. that will take car of most bolts.
since you do like a mobile lube service, you could buy the compressor and gun plus other goodies and write them off as bussiness expenses.
Yep I had one heck of a time doing my rears and learned a lot in the process. I have a thread on it in the NE section I think... I may not tho. the inner sleeve of the bushing is probably rusted to the bold hence why you can't get it out. Heating will melt the bushing and you have 2 options to fix it: 1) get new control arm from ford $50 or $90 (can't remember and I had to get a new thailing arm due to melt-age) or 2) get 12 piece rear urethane bushing kit from Prothane $80. The bushing is NOT available alone. What I ended up doing is having one person spin the bolt and another hit it with hammer/pry/pull basically force it out when being spun.
Good luck on getting the bolts out. The spring compressor idea seems to be a good easy way to get them out and back in. Than you can do the fronts also.
Edit: and the other bolt in the center is an alignment point so remember how the washer was and than bring to ford for alignment. That bolt was also a bitch to take out. They are the only one's I have had luck with to get the Focus to align correctly. I had to have Ford fix a local alignment shops shoddy job, so $120 for 4 wheel alignment in all for me.
TXFO wrote: you can get a compressor for a dime a dozen from harbor freight and thru rebuild shops. butthey also make electric impact guns. craftsman makes a good one. they are pricey-er for the power but you can get a 300 pounder for about 250. that will take car of most bolts.
since you do like a mobile lube service, you could buy the compressor and gun plus other goodies and write them off as bussiness expenses.
Yeah, I have been thinking about that TXFO. I have an electric Impact gun already that I picked up at Wal-Mart. It works well for general purposes but I would much rather have an air impact gun. Ive also seen some really nice but small Air Compressors at Lowes, but I guess I need to check harbor freight to see if they have something similar that would be cheaper.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
I was just on their website and they have the IR "street legal" thundergun. 625 ft/lbs 1250 ipm, and 5.4cfm @90psi for 170$. they also have a 4hp compressor that makes 5.6scfm @90psi for 110$. Just barely big enough for the beast! 280$ takes it home.
Im going there tomorrow to get me a crap load of tools. my friend went there yesterday and told me they are selling strut spring compressors for 7 bucks! they also have a kickass tappet micrometer for 50! cant beat that, mounts right to the head so you can measure lash without the feeler gauges.
Crack Monkey!!!!
