Putting Town Car suspension back together

[bulls12]

I bought a pre-ran 95 town car with the front suspension taken apart. It has the box vic a-arms installed but I am needing to put everything else back together and this is my first time. What is the correct order to do this in? I am getting puzzled on how/when to get the coil springs back in. Do I need a spring compressor? Thanks for the help in advance!

[dhash]

Coils go in last. If engine in car, you might can squeeze them back in with a floor jack. Spring compressor is safest for first time. Be careful, they will scare you.

[bustedknuckle242]

i like to get everything assembled.. lower, spindle, upper, then i use 18" threaded rod through the shock hole, 6x6 plate towards the bottom, slid through the coils, nut and washer on both ends and suck up. flop the top over and install upper bolts. sometimes need a ratchet strap to pull bottom of spring towards the inside if it wont catch the lip of the lower. just did this last week and both sides in and done in less than 2 hours

[cheezwhiz31]

Apr 27, 2021 10:39:17 GMT -5 bustedknuckle242 said:

i like to get everything assembled.. lower, spindle, upper, then i use 18" threaded rod through the shock hole, 6x6 plate towards the bottom, slid through the coils, nut and washer on both ends and suck up. flop the top over and install upper bolts. sometimes need a ratchet strap to pull bottom of spring towards the inside if it wont catch the lip of the lower. just did this last week and both sides in and done in less than 2 hours

exactly... Lube the washers and nut when tightening it up to pull spring up.The Friction there takes a lot of extra torque. Use 3/4 rod... Hook about 2 to 3 coils up from bottom. Too high and you won't get it short enough too low and it swings around a lot more and harder to get stuff out when compressed... I leave ratchet strap on the bottom coil like said to keep it in. Also floor jack under it helps some too. Be careful and ya it looks sketchy at times...

[bulls12]

Thanks for the responses guys. So I attach and tighten everything before trying to put the springs in? Like the lower a-arm is connected to spindle and upper a arm?

[bustedknuckle242]

Apr 30, 2021 9:49:15 GMT -5 bulls12 said:

Thanks for the responses guys. So I attach and tighten everything before trying to put the springs in? Like the lower a-arm is connected to spindle and upper a arm?

 Yes, have everything assembled except the 2 bolts that hold the upper a arm to the frame. Leave whole assembly hanging down, install and squeeze spring in, flop top over and install 2 bolts and nuts. Like stated above, once get the lower under the spring, use floor jack to help up rest of the way

[dhash]

The way i do it is install upper, knuckle, insert spring & jack up lower raising the lower up , compressing spring into its pocket. It might be helpful to compress spring, with coil spring compressor, then insert in pocket and jack up.
Install the last lower ball joint nut. Good luck on your first. Just pay attention.

[bulls12]

Thanks guys. Going to try it today. The shocks would be the very last step correct?

[Luke Wells]

Apr 30, 2021 15:17:30 GMT -5 dhash said:

The way i do it is install upper, knuckle, insert spring & jack up lower raising the lower up , compressing spring into its pocket. It might be helpful to compress spring, with coil spring compressor, then insert in pocket and jack up.
Install the last lower ball joint nut. Good luck on your first. Just pay attention.

This is exactly how I do it. I set the bucket of a tractor on the front bumper so the car doesn't try to lift up while jacking.

[dhash]

Yes on the shock.

[bulls12]

Thanks. Is there an easy way to get the spindle to go all the way down on the lower ball joint? It doesn’t want to go down all the way and it seems like the whole ball joint is spinning when I try to crank the nut down. The rubber isn’t in the best shape around it