Compress Front A-Arms with Coil-Overs with No Motor

[SSTuner]

Started progress again on my 1996 Impala SS.

Frame is powdercoated and trying to install QA1 front coil-overs with no engine.

Need ideas/tricks on compressing the A-Arms.

[derekf]

My initial thought before opening the thread was "ratchet strap"; I can't get the image to open larger to get a good idea on what one would hook to though.

[dhutton]

This doesn’t make any sense to me. You are using up a lot of the shock stroke just installing it. Are you sure you have the right shocks? It looks like they are too long but hard to tell for sure in that pic.

Remove the springs, install the shocks and see how much suspension travel you have.

Don

[dontlifttoshift]

Yeah, that's a looooong way to go. Make sure you have the right stuff.

A strap or chain wrapped around the frame and hooked to a floor jack placed under the control arm will do the trick.

[SSTuner]

Sorry, the photos posted is just showing the suspension in droop position. When I pull the lower control arm and the coil spring is seated in pocket I have about 1-1/2 gap between upper ball joint and spindle. I did call QA1 and verify parts were correct.

derekf - larger photo. (not sure why photo is sideways)

[dhutton]

I don’t know what your spring rate is but that seems like a buttload of preload on the spring.

Don

[Bruce1968]

I don’t know what your spring rate is but that seems like a buttload of preload on the spring.

Don

Actually, the way I see it is he seems to have it backed all the way off.

I just installed these in my 68 Camaro. For some reason, the first time I tried I had a similar issue. I went to bed and tried again the next day and it fit right together. I was almost able to get them together enough without using the jack at all. If you are that far off, something is wrong. My 68 has a pocket the the tag end of the spring has to slip into. It was easy enough to find by rotating the spring until I felt it engage the notch. But, not all cars do. You springs may be flat on top. I noticed that with the LCA down that far, well below where it would ever be when fully install, the spring would interfere with the frame. Check to see if the spring is hitting the side of the spring pocket and preventing the LCA from coming up all the way. I think you should at least be able to get the spindle to meet the upper ball joint without any jack pressure at all. In fact, they claim you don't need a jack to install at all. And, that may have been true in my case but with only two hands it was just easier to hold it up with a jack.

[dhutton]

Actually, the way I see it is he seems to have it backed all the way off

Yes he does and when he compresses the spring to close that 1.5 inch gap he will have a significant preload in the spring, hence my comment....

Don

[Bruce1968]

Yes he does and when he compresses the spring to close that 1.5 inch gap he will have a significant preload in the spring, hence my comment....

Don

I see, I thought you meant he had the adjustment cranked up. I think he's getting spring to frame interference. It was possible on my when the LRA was all the way down because the arc the ball joint follow brings the spring closer to the inside.

[SSTuner]

Got the spindles to connect up to the upper and lower control arms by removing the upper control arm bump stop. I placed a piece of 1/4" thick rubber sheet between upper control arm and frame for now until I can get some weight on the front end. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Bruce1968]

I'm not sure that's the best solution and you should not have had to remove the bump stops. If there was no interference, it makes me think you have the wrong springs. Did you contact QA1 about it to see what they have to say?

[SSTuner]

Bruce1968, I contacted QA1 and we verified all part numbers on the components themselves. We even checked the diameter and to length of the front coil spring.

[dhutton]

Is the spring indexed properly in the upper spring pocket?

Don