Changing rear springs (Van has possibly been lowered)

[Peepshow Paddy]

Hi there,

So the rear springs on my van are both cracked and need replacing – I’ve heard this is a pretty straightforward job, so have bought replacement springs and was hoping to do it one evening this week. However I’ve never done it before, am not especially confident with this sort of thing, and I think the van may have been lowered in the past and I’m guessing this would need the springs to be adjusted.

Please either re-assure me that it’s a job I can do (in the street, in the dark) and if you have any tips, please pass them on, or tell me to go to a proper mechanic if there’s any chance I could really balls this up!

Thanks,

Paddy

[Titus A Duxass]

Take a look in the Wiki - http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/St ... on_springs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Peepshow Paddy]

Thanks very much, and apologies - I did look through the wiki, evidently not hard enough. I'll have a proper look at that later on. Thanks again,

paddy

[Peepshow Paddy]

Ok, I did look at that then after all, sounds easy, I've never seen these things but will have a buthers later on. I might need a bit more handholding - but no worries, I should be able to get some help if needs be!

Thanks again,

Paddy

[Titus A Duxass]

There's an article on the Brick-yard about lowering, it has some good info that you may find useful - http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/VehicleSpec ... wering.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Peepshow Paddy]

Brilliant, cheers. I'll have a look...

One last question, possibly a silly one, do I need to take the wheels off to do this?!

[j4jon]

I guess you could do it without taking them off, but it will make access much easier if you take the wheels off and then you can do it from the side of the van instead of from the back / underneath. Make sure you support the van properly on axle stands

[g60steve]

I've always changed the shocks and springs with the wheels on....10-15 minutes each side.

[happy camper]

Whats your location fella ? maybe a techy member livin near you, its an easy job to do you'll need a trolley jack, an axel stand, wheel brace, decent socket set and a fat mate to put his weight on the trail arm when the bottom shock bolt is removed so that the spring can be popped out, as G60Steve said can be done 15 mins a side but its more like 30mins to an hour each side for the less experianced.

Good luck

[g60steve]

and a fat mate to put his weight on the trail arm when the bottom shock bolt is removed so that the spring can be popped out

Exactly why i leave the wheels on as they become that "fat mate" when left on.

[Peepshow Paddy]

Nice one, cheers all! I'll leave the wheels on then, I don't mind getting underneath it! Not sure how the missus would take to being my fat mate like, but she's happy to help!

I'm in N4 - Finsbury Park, North London. Hoping to do the job tomorrow night as I need to drive it to the Peak District on Friday! Yikes!

Cheers again everyone,

Paddy

[Peepshow Paddy]

Hi again,

Finally trying to get this done, I've a couple of Am-Tech spring compressors (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-Piece-S ... B001SGFMXA), but they don't look strong enough to compress the spring enough to get it in to place. Concerned they're the wrong tool.

Looks like we might need to remove the drive shaft even so it drops far enough to fit the spring in - any suggestions?

Proving to be a very long 15 minutes!

Thanks again,

Paddy

[gaz f]

You don't need to compress the spring. With the shock disconnected the trailing arm xcan be pushed down to release the old spring. That's what everyone meant be getting a hand from a 'fat bloke'. To push the arm down.

E D I T... Just realised your fitting standard springs.. Doh! Sorry, I've never fitted standard ones!

[R0B]

even with standard springs you dont need compressors..

[Peepshow Paddy]

Thanks everyone! Managed to do it in the end, and yep - didn't need the compressor. We found it worked better if you put the top in first.

The first one took about 2 hours! But the second one about 20 minutes, including taking the wheels off, which definitely made it easier.

Anyway, huge thanks - couldn't have done it without this forum so the help and advice was massively appreciated! The drive home was much more pleasant!

Paddy