Is it easy to replace front springs?

[Guest]

Hi guys is it easy enough to replace your front suspension by your self with the help of some mates, or do I need to send it in to a mechanic?

[Guest]

It depends on how familiar you are with the front suspension. I've taken mine off and put it back together about 4 times in the last few months. It takes me about 30 minutes to completely remove both strut housings.

[Guest]

So I should try my luck and see how it goes, would I need any special spring compressors ?

[jamie325isport]

Yeah spring clamps would be helpful i changed my set up the other day all depends what your planning to do if its just springs easy enough. I found that i only needed the spring clamps when putting the struts back in. What i did was compressed the spring and with the clamps still on i put the strut back in screwed the top nut on by a couple of threads had to do that so the thread of the damper goes through the top mount. I suppose you could also use a jack at the bottom of the strut and jack it up until the thread is through enough to get a few threads on it. Hope that helps you.

[scintaar]

At the risk of sounding like someone's mother.... you should ALWAYS use spring clamps if you're doing any work on the suspension units themselves. if yer just gonna take 'em off and leave the entire setup intact (springs and struts) then you don't need clamps. but if yer plannin on removing the springs then better safe than faceless!!

[E30Adam]

I don't mean to sound rude here but from what you're saying it sounds like you're not familiar with the front suspension. I would therefore NOT recommend trying to do it yourself because it's not a simple job for a novice mechanic.

Suspension is an important part of the car and it you screw it up the consequences could be dire.

No-ones mentioned taht you'll need a decent ball joint splitter in order to remove the struts. Even with a good ball joint splitter, it you aren't sure what you're doing you'll end up mashing the top of the thread and you won't be able to get it all back together and you'll need a new ball joint in the control arm or a new arm. Arms shouldn't be replaced singly so you'd have to buy 2. If you buy new arms you'll need new TCA bushes... the cost is gradially increasing you see!

Take my advice, if you aren't sure, get someone to do it , it'll cost you less than fixing up mistakes you've made.

[Guest]

I've taken them off plenty of times without a splitter. Just get an old nut, thread it on a little ways, and then whack it with a hammer - your CA drops out and your ball joint boot is still intact.
If you replace the springs, you're going to want to take the whole strut out. If you have a vice and a friend you won't need spring compressors to take the old one out. Just put the strut in a vice and have a friend pull back and compress the spring a little while you zip the top nut off with an air gun. It'll jolt forward a bit, but nothing too bad.
If you're putting sport springs back on you wont need a compressor for them since they're so short already.

[E30Adam]

I've taken them off plenty of times without a splitter. Just get an old nut, thread it on a little ways, and then whack it with a hammer - your CA drops out and your ball joint boot is still intact.
If you replace the springs, you're going to want to take the whole strut out. If you have a vice and a friend you won't need spring compressors to take the old one out. Just put the strut in a vice and have a friend pull back and compress the spring a little while you zip the top nut off with an air gun. It'll jolt forward a bit, but nothing too bad.
If you're putting sport springs back on you wont need a compressor for them since they're so short already.

Yeah okay, that's the bodge way of doing it

[Richy325iTouring]

Its easy enough if you are a capable home mechanic.

What i mean by that if you never done anything on a car and need to go out and buy a set of tools then dont bother.

but here what tools you will need. ( i should have done a how to as i changed my springs on the weekend)

19mm socket spanner for
17 mm socket or spanner
13 mm socket and spanner
ball joint splitor and not a crap one i broke one on weekend then had to rip shed apart to find my old one.

spring compressors which you can hire for about Ԛ£10 or buy a half decent set from halfords for Ԛ£17

Idealy you need to take the calipar off the hub then undo ball joint track rod and drop link. you will need the ball joint splitor to crack thetrack rod and ball joint other wise you will destroy the threads if you hit them with a hammer. Once they are cracked there are 3 13 mmm nuts on top of the strut these need undoing, then the whole strut will come out.

Once this is free use the spring compressors to clamp the spring. You will need the 2 of them and have them placed opposit each other for eve compression. Once the spring is clamped you will need to undo the top mount from the strut. I did this with a 19mm socket but ground 2 edges on it to get a 24 mm spanner on it as you will need an 8 mm socket to going through it hold the the stut in place while you slacken the 19mm nut.

Is easy enough takes about 30 to 40 mins a sde depending on how capable you are

[E30Adam]

Once the spring is clamped you will need to undo the top mount from the strut. I did this with a 19mm socket but ground 2 edges on it to get a 24 mm spanner on it as you will need an 8 mm socket to going through it hold the the stut in place while you slacken the 19mm nut.

Best way of doing that is just stick a 19mm socket on it while the struts still in the car, it should come undone without the need for the 8mm. You can fully undo once the struts off and the spring compressed.

[Richy325iTouring]

tried that on mine the whole lot turned
hence y iground doun 2 edges on an old socket
did the job nicely