front spring replacement

[JS91Z34]

Has anyone ever changed front springs on a 91-94 Lumina Z34. I'm not sure on how to get them out of the car. I don't want to guess and possibly hurt myself. I'm a technician in Illinois and never had to change front springs on a W-body before. Anyone know?

[90TGP]

Ask on http://www.efi-street.com A ton of people can help you on this. The major thing you'll need is a W-Body spring compressor [yes, they actually make a w-body special spring compressor]. But any spring compressor will do.

[GnatGoSplat]

I have done it before, both in place and with the strut assembly out.

I highly recommend doing it with the strut assembly out!

 

I'd say it's almost REQUIRED to have an impact wrench, even the cheapie $20 12-volt "spare tire changer" impact will be a LOT better than nothing. It's a huge pain to try to loosen the upper strut nut without one (plus, all too easy to strip a torx bit). Anyway, with the entire strut assembly out, you'd just put a set of $10 spring compressors on it. Harbor Freight sells them for that price (they sell the $20 impact wrench too). I got the compressors on sale for $8. Anyway, just turn their bolts until the spring is compressed enough that you can easily rotate the spring on the strut body. The bearing will also start lifting off its perch a bit when you've compressed the spring enough. Then use the impact wrench to power off the nut on top. Once the nut is off, voila! You're done! The top mount, spring, bearing, etc. will just lift right off. Slowly remove your spring compressors from the old spring, then attach them to the new spring and compress it until they will fit on the strut assemblies and the strut shaft will extend far enough that you can get the upper strut nut on it. Tighten it to spec if you can, or just tighten it to where you think it's plenty tight enough, then remove the spring compressor. You should now be able to reinstall the entire strut assembly.

 

To replace the spring in place... well, I don't recommend it.

I had to replace a spring in place due to a slight mishap when changing front struts. I didn't know I had to support the strut body and keep it from moving when I pulled the strut cartidge out, so SPROING!!! The spring popped out sideways, and I had to pull the wheel off and pull the spring completely out, and then find a way to get it back in. It took 2 sets of spring compressors to compress the spring enough that it would fit back in that tiny space.