Suspension spring rates etc

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Originally Posted by Covo71

Thanks Mic, that is bloody awesome. I will be hooking in first thing in the morning. Got the gear, now get to use it. Seems stupid but feels like a Xmas present. There are blokes shaking there head right now. Haha

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Dont worry mate i was exactly the same as you, as soon as i got all my new kit, i was straight into it that arvo.

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Originally Posted by happygtu

Covo,

You will need to think safety, safety ....

You will need a method of jacking your car up high enough, so that the diff / wheels are off the ground, and you definitely need a set of safety stands under the car as support, just in case something goes horribly wrong - don't want to hear about a squashed Covo ......

I used my highlift jack, which sounds dangerous, but with the correct safety stands, made it quite safe and quite easy. ( Probably the only time the highlift jack has been useful )

PROCESS :
REARS :
Start by undoing the rear shocks, and remove - keeping all the nuts and washers together. ( these need to be replaced anyway but they are handy when you lose a nut/ washer in the install process )
Then undo your swaybar links and remove - keeping all the nuts, washers and links together ( these need to be replaced anyway )

Important.....undo the brake line bolt that holds the brake distribution tee block to the diff ( at the bottom of the flexible rubber brake line to the diff ), and also release the closest clips that hold the brake line to the diff, and make sure that the block is unclipped from the tag that holds it so it can move freely - I normally push it up, bending the solid lines a little , so I know it is clear and it wont catch. ( Place bolt in a secure location, as it will get reused )

Next undo the diff breather from the top of the diff.

FRONTS:
Start by undoing the front shocks, and remove - keeping all the nuts and washers together. The fronts can tend to be a little harder to get the nuts undone and you can lose a fair bit of time getting these loose - you can also twist off the bottom tag on the pins fairly easily trying to hold them from spinning. Try putting some Penetrene, CRC, or equivalent on the threads and nuts the day before, as well as half an hour before you start

Then undo your swaybar links and remove - keeping all the nuts, washers and links together ( these need to be replaced anyway )

Important ( ONE for no ABS and TWO if you have ABS ), undo the brake line bolt that holds the brake distribution tee block to the diff ( at the bottom of the flexible rubber brake line to the diff ), and also release the closest clips that hold the brake line to the diff, and make sure that the block is unclipped from the tag that holds it so it can move freely - I normally push it up, bending the solid lines a little , so I know it is clear and it wont catch. ( Place bolt in a secure location, as it will get reused )

Next undo the diff breather from the top of the diff.


You are now ready to start the actual spring changeover. Have all your jacks handy, as well as your safety stands, and for additional safety, I would advise having a second person around.

Remove the appropriate wheel rim, but only remove when needed, to keep it all as safe as possible if the car moves on the jacks.

It is a good idea to have a jimmy bar handy, but I learnt the second time that the rear springs pop out real easy and you don't need to lever them out - replace them with the new longer springs as soon as you can after removing the old ones for safety reasons, and remember that the old springs will be shorter than the new ones, so you will need to jack it up a little higher to get the new springs in. Even though you are jacking up the whole of one end of the car at the time, I advise working on one side at a time, so that if the worst happened, it would only be one corner that will drop.

I also learnt that I could place a jack between the diff and the chassis ( with an appropriate block to sit it on ) on the corner I was working on to jack the diff downwards which helped to make it heaps easier to remove the front springs, and it made it so I didn't have to have the vehicle 3 foot off the ground too.

The longer springs go on the drivers side.

Install the new gear, and don't forget to reinstall the brake tee blocks and bolts, and reconnect the diff breathers too .... :)

I hope that this gives you a few pointers.

Mic

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Good advice Mic,

the only change i would make to that system would be small. to be honest you dont need to jack the car up under the chassis until the wheels come off the ground. (Thats a Long way).

I would place the jack under the Diff or axle and jack the car up until the wheel is off the ground about an inch or so. Install the Jack stand under the chassis rail and jack the car up until the Jack stand grabs the next slot. Then let the car down on the jack stand. The wheel will touch the ground again.

Repeat this on the other side Chassis rail and now you have a Jack stand under each of the chassis rails and the spring slightly drooping.

If you have 2 jacks then do both sides at once and once the jack stands are in your home and hose.

Once the jack stands are in place jack the diff up until the wheels are slightly off the ground and remove Both wheels. Place the wheels under the car behind the jack stands for further safety.

Remove the brake lines and and Sway bar as Mic mentioned.

Now the easy bit. Let the front diff down on the jacks until the springs fall out, both sides at once. Your car is going no where if the jack stands are in place correctly. Let the jacks all the way down. With the wheels off the diff will near on sit on teh ground. If necessary you could push a side down with your hand or foot to get the spring in, there will be plenty of space. Do both sides. Then Jack the diff up until you can fit the shocks.

Jack the diff up until you can fit the wheels back on. refit all and your done.

I have done a 5" spring without spring compressors with ease using the systems above. Fortunately Mic i have extended Brake lines and dont have to think about them but the rest is simple enough as you have listed. good job mate. Trying to do this with the sway bar connected is a bugger and will do your head it.

Have fun.

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Originally Posted by MudRunnerTD

Good advice Mic,

the only change i would make to that system would be small. to be honest you dont need to jack the car up under the chassis until the wheels come off the ground. (Thats a Long way).

I would place the jack under the Diff or axle and jack the car up until the wheel is off the ground about an inch or so. Install the Jack stand under the chassis rail and jack the car up until the Jack stand grabs the next slot. Then let the car down on the jack stand. The wheel will touch the ground again.

Repeat this on the other side Chassis rail and now you have a Jack stand under each of the chassis rails and the spring slightly drooping.

If you have 2 jacks then do both sides at once and once the jack stands are in your home and hose.

Once the jack stands are in place jack the diff up until the wheels are slightly off the ground and remove Both wheels. Place the wheels under the car behind the jack stands for further safety.

Remove the brake lines and and Sway bar as Mic mentioned.

Now the easy bit. Let the front diff down on the jacks until the springs fall out, both sides at once. Your car is going no where if the jack stands are in place correctly. Let the jacks all the way down. With the wheels off the diff will near on sit on teh ground. If necessary you could push a side down with your hand or foot to get the spring in, there will be plenty of space. Do both sides. Then Jack the diff up until you can fit the shocks.

Jack the diff up until you can fit the wheels back on. refit all and your done.

I have done a 5" spring without spring compressors with ease using the systems above. Fortunately Mic i have extended Brake lines and dont have to think about them but the rest is simple enough as you have listed. good job mate. Trying to do this with the sway bar connected is a bugger and will do your head it.

Have fun.

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Wow Darren - that is great as the lower you lift the car the safer it is, and I will try your method next time.....
I had trouble with the heavy duty 5 inch springs, and trying to lever them out was dangerous to the point where a bouncing released spring could cause injury ...... That is why I lifted mine higher to remove the springs, and I felt it was safer.

First time is always fun though, and it will be interesting to see how Covo goes with it all.

Mic

What a day. Got the back done, what a nightmare. Getting the bolts off the top of the shockies was terrible. Some ratchet spanners would have been handy. Anyway finished the back and disaster. The bloke from Dobinsons showed me the white tag and said this goes on the drivers side. What I didn't realise was that both springs had white on them but they must have been on different ends in the shrink wrap. Finished the back and it was leaning with the passenger side higher. Could have spit blood at this stage. Had to take it out and change them over. Wasn't watching what I was doing and let the jack down and the sway bar rod got bent 90degrees. Phoned Nissan and they wanted $65 dollars for it so I decided I didn't want to get robbed today so I straightened out as it doesn't look load bearing and it came out straight as. Anyway finished off the back and very happy with it. Started the front, pulled the shocks out un-did everything. Going great and then pulled the springs out and the rubber boots are virtually non existent. 5 o'clock at this stage and have a job interview first thing in the morning so that will have to wait till tomorrow.

Sounds like you had a bad run mate. Good luck with the fronts and with the job interview

Cheers

Thanks Punderhead. Still good to do it myself instead of getting someone else to do it. Had a good day today. Old shocks were clapped out, not even pushing apart at all. Advice from thread is great. Would have really struggled without it.
Cheers everyone.

Well done so far Covo,

It is always harder the first time you do it.

Last time I was done in under 3 and a half hours on my own.... and it was only the front shocks that slowed me down

Mic

Well all finished this afternoon. Looks great and drives great. Did have a shudder at 105kmh and thought it was the muddies but that is all gone. Old shocks when I took out and compressed didn't push out at all with no load on them. Grew about a 100mm. Sweet. Thanks again to everyone for the advice and tips. I was going to replace the old rusted out bull bar and add a winch but I think I might go the exhaust to give it some more berries given you don't use the winch that much.