After many months of attempting, I finally sold my 1995 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra. Great car, but I never used it, and it went to a younger guy with more enthusiasm and no other project needing the space in the garage. So now my C10 has it's own slot in the shop, where it will likely stay for some time. My frame is now completely POR15-ed, but in need of an enamel top coat. But before I do that, I plan to get a few other items ready for the same thing. First up is the front end suspension. Since the suspension that came with my short frame also features the optional front sway bar, I decided I would rebuild that front end instead of the one on my long frame. I have never disassembled a suspension before and the coil springs on a truck seemed a bit threatening at first. They pack a lot of power when compressed and I watched a bunch of youtube videos before taking on the job. |
I had removed the entire front end as a single unit before cleaning up the frame. Now I wanted to take apart the front end to have access to only those parts I plan to re-use. I've already purchased a Grand Slam lowering kit that includes new springs and spindles so the old ones weren't going to be needed. My major concern was getting the springs out without them killing or maiming me in the process. So, I rented a coil spring compresser tool from the local Advance Auto Parts store (free) to safely remove them. In my ignorance I brought home the "inside" kind and it didn't fit inside my 1965 coils in any way that would allow it to work. So I returned it and came home with the "outside" kind. Unfortunately, again, there was no way the tool would fit onto the springs...there was not enough vertical room to allow them to work. Having no idea how powerful these springs can be, I did consider just loosening the bolts and letting them fly apart hoping that I would be lucky enough to not get hit by flying components in the process. But then I recalled how much the frame wanted to kill me earlier and decided against it. In the youtube videos, the guys removing the springs always had the weight of the vehicle or at least the frame to work with in controlling the removal... as they took off bolts and lowered the control arm with a floor jack... but in my case I had nothing holding down the spring power. My solution was to use the outside spring compresser tools on the outer edges of the control arms. I placed one on either side and tightened them up. After I was sure they were snug, I began to unbolt the top A-arm. As I progressively loosened the bolts, I thought I could tell the tension was increasingly on the tools. I also added a couple of C-clamps over the connection so if the thing wanted to explode once I had the nuts off, the clamps would prevent it from going berserk. Once the nuts were at the point where they were ready to come off, I realized the upper arm was not holding the spring in place (the spring compresser tools were) and it could be removed without affecting the spring. This I did and moved it out of the way. At that point all I needed to do was loosen the spring compresser tools a little on each side at a time until the spring had lost it's compression. While I would not recommend this method to anyone because there is still the danger of the tools slipping off, it did work and I was then able to take the rest apart with no more death threats. |
So, now I have the front end parts I need to clean, sand-blast and POR15 just like the frame....