Rear Coil Spring Removal -Wagon

[dano40]

I have a 2000 wagon with disc brakes and I'm trying to remove the rear springs. Thought I had read you could disconnect the shock and lower the lower arm enough to get the springs out, but that's not the case. I have both sides hanging and have also taken the nut off the control arm on each side (lots of work on rusty bolts). I know the stabilizer can come down more with both side hanging, but the upper ball joint or something appears to be still holding it up. I'm hoping there is a way without trying to disconnect some of the other rusty suspension parts.

[sousa632]

Get a pair of coil spring compressors. They will come right out.

[dano40]

I tried briefly to get my spring compressors in there but its really a long way in and tight quarters. I could only get 3 coils on one side and two on the other due to the short springs. Do they make a shorter spring compressor, since it seems like the long bolts would make it difficult to get out?

[the_intimidator_02]

Not to sound like an ass, but why would you not pull the strut completely off of the car so you can work on it with room? If it were me I'd take the struts out of the knuckle.

[sousa632]

Originally Posted by the_intimidator_02

Not to sound like an ass, but why would you not pull the strut completely off of the car so you can work on it with room? If it were me I'd take the struts out of the knuckle.

Because he has a wagon........ Wagons dont have rear struts, they have seperate shocks and springs

[the_intimidator_02]

Ah, I learned something new....lol

[dano40]

Tried again with the spring compressors but its still too tight to remove. Can only get the compressor around 2 coils on one side and 3 on the other (these are short springs in the back), and even with the compressor as tight as it can go on the 2 coil side, its still too tight to remove. I put it all back together and will try again another day. Looks like I'll have to try unbolting some more of the suspension, but I want to order some of the parts ahead, since I know at least half will break.

[crackhead]

Well, if you have a lot or ratchet straps, you could use them to compress the coil. I would use as many as you can fit on the coil.

This is a little trick from the Wrangler world.

[dano40]

Looking at it some more, I think I'll try disonnecting the ball joint on one side and see if that will let the control arm drop lower. If I can separate them relatively easily, I'll probably replace them as well, since they are original (165k miles).

[dano40]

Gave up and paid my local shop $215 to replace the coils using the ones I bought.

They are now suggesting replacement of both rear ball joints, one front one, and one tie rod (and an alignment) for a whopping $1,970. I am putting in the tie rod today and will be checking the referenced ball joints. Both fronts were done about 55k ago by Ford, so I'm not happy with that. Rears are apparently only sold attached to the arms through Ford. The car is not worth that much to me (between the miles and rust), so I am hoping to skip the rears if they are not too bad.