Hey guys,

Got the rear hangers done today. It was a royal PITA, and I'm still pulling some shrapnel out of my arms, legs, hair, etc from grinding down and popping the rivets necessary to swap hangers. But, that is over.

However, went to install the front springs and had problems. Unbolted the shock and removed it, unbolted the sway bar to lower A-arm, and then got stuck.

PBGas has said to bang on the upper A-arm where it bolts to the knuckle after loosening the castle nut. Tried this, but the A-arm will not come loose.

Chris Thomas suggested just removing the upper two bolts that hold the upper A-arm in place. I thought of this, but got nervous about the reinstall lining up correctly.

I tried a gear puller on the knuckle to A-arm like the "book" says, but that did not work. This was on the lower A-arm.

Anyway, I'm a bit frustrated, tired, and am wondering if I just need to let the dealer do the front springs. This is definitely more difficult than the Mustangs which have no upper A-arms.

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)--364rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html

 

When my front left spring came out of the saddle, they fixed it by popping the lower ball joint with a stand under the a frame and then raising the truck until there was enough slack to reposition the spring and then lower truck to reattach the ball joint.
noelvm

 

i just got done lowering my 97 f150 and it really is easier than you think. put your truck on jack stands at the frame any where after the engine compartment. remove front shocks and sway bar from lower a-arm on both sides so you can rotate it a little to get it out of your way. remove cotter key and loosen castle nut until its flush with the end of the ball joint bolts. now if you have toget a small block of wood or if your floor jack will fit jack up on the end of the ball joint nut a couple inches to put spring pressure on the lower a-arm. now with a hammer hit down on the a-arm as close to the end(by the ball joint) as you can without hitting anything that you could damage. it may pop when it comes loose (mine didn't but my friends did) but the nut is still on and the floor jack is still under it also its not going anywhere. always stand to the side to be safe. after it comes loose lower floor jack and replace it under the a-arm so that you can remove the nut the rest of the way. lower floor jack slowly, remember its under pressure until its all the way down, remove spring. hope this helps you out.

 

Got it done...thanks guys. I'll report in another post.

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Wes Tarbox
90 LX 5.0 (10.69 @ 134.7)--597rwhp/590rwtq
96 Cobra (12.63 @ 114.5)--392rwhp/433rwtq
99 Lightning (13.20 @ 103.3)--364rwhp/444rwtq
00 Expedition XLT 5.4
http://members.aol.com/Wa2fst/index.html