Best technique for changing rear spings? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Threads
41
Messages
227
Location
Austin, TX
Decided to swap my 864's for 863's. Bought spring compressors from HF for $9 and a shiny black Costco floor jack. My best guess is to put compressors in place and lift the frame rail on that side, compress til it falls out, then stick the the new compressed spring in it's place, change sides, repeat. Is that it? Any grease on top or bottom?

I looked at one of the new spring briefly; think it was marked "A". That goes on PS, right?

Thanks,
Brian
 
This has been covered a few times but take those spring compressors back. They are not needed and add to the danger. Jack up the truck and rest the truck on tall jack stands set on the frame just behind the trailing arm hangers. Remove the wheels. Unbolt the sway bar mount on the frame. Unbolt the lower rear shock mount and remove the lower end of the shock from the mount. Have a heavy friend step on the hub and lower the axle. The spring will unload and drop out. Mount the new spring and bolt in the shock. Do the same on the other side. Refasten the sway bar mounts. Put the wheels back on. Lower the truck back onto the ground. Maybe 1 hour of work if you go slow. Use beefy jack stands-at least 6 tonners.
 
I just did my lift recently and it went very well due to all the info here. Do what Andrew says, return the spring compressers. The only thing that I did differently was I did one side at a time, jacking up one side of the frame and removing one wheel at a time. I didn't have the large jack stands, I put my 3 ton stands on a large block of wood. Use a floor jack to help raise and lower the sway bar. Good luck, Greg.
 
I also added a high lift to the rear bumper (I have a wide plate to make it stable on concrete) for added safety. I didn't use it to lift the truck, just to get right up to the height to give me an extra milisecond if she came for me.
 
Do all the above and if you still have a problem get out the bottle jack and place it between the axle and frame rail (I think I had mine on the bump stop. Then just seperate until you have enough room to get the new spring in there.
 
This is the "on-trail" way of doing it :D

DSCN0775.jpg
 
sleeoffroad said:
This is the "on-trail" way of doing it :D

DSCN0775.jpg
I love how Ty is pointing and saying (as well as he could say at his age :)), "hey dude! watch out for that spring you're about to step on!!!"
 
The "on trail" method is the way I change springs as well. Super fast.
Cheers,
Sean
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom