Removing rear springs on a vt without spring compressor?

[DmanVT]

Hey all, i just had a thoight, is it possible to remove the rear springs on a vt without spring compressors?

So for example, raising the vehicle on jack stands and take off wheel, then place the jack just under the rear shock arm, control arm, whatever its called just enough to lightly take the tension then remove the bolt and lower the jack slowly?

I live in the country and don't want to have to pay $60 for a spring compressor i'll use once

Would this method work?

Cheers, Darcy

[showbags]

Undo your swaybar link as well and the control arm should drop down far enough to pull your spring out

[DmanVT]

sorry swaybar link? sorry i'm stupid but where is that located?

[showbags]

It's a little futher in towards the diff centre. It's a small metal rod with a rubber bush and I think 13mm bolt. If the control arm doesn't drop down you may need to rotate the hub till the drive shaft is in a position to let it drop down. I hope this helps you out

[DmanVT]

ahh, haha there you go i thought they only had sway bars on the front. And so do you think it will work putting a jack under the diff or shock area to take the tension of the spring?

[sweefu]

Are they the stock springs? Probably not mate. If you want to be really dodgy you could gradually tension the spring with cable ties and garden twine etc etc. Drop the bottom shock bolt, take the handbrake off and see how you go. I highly doubt it though.

[CAPRILICIOUS WL]

Firstly you need two people to do this.
Jack up the car high enough so that the rear wheels have about 20cm clearance of the floor.
Hand brake needs to be released so make sure your on a flat surface and that the car is on car stands as well as the jack.
All you need to remove is the bottom bolt that holds your shock. No need to remove tyre but do so if need be.
Now here you need the person that weighs the most to climb up on top of the tyre and take big jumps up and down while the other person is under the car grabbing the spring and pulling hard at it from the top or bottom of the spring during the jumps. It will eventually click out of the bump stops.

It will take several attempts but thats how Iv done it

There may be other ways to do it so have a good read thru the threads.

This isn't the safest way to do it so please do be carful and think ahead and i am not liable for any damage caused this is only a suggestion of help.

Hope Iv helped

Cheers
Dave.

[DmanVT]

yer stock springs :/ got airbags today to go in, Someone said you can do it with a jack under the spring and slowly lower it, but this is why i asked haha thanks though, i'll see what a few others say ( if anyone else reply's) just to get another opinion

But thanks heaps

[Reaper]

ffs - just undo the shock, get a tire lever/bar and push the swing arm down a tad and hold it there with your leg whilst you remove the spring. WTF do people make jobs harder than they need be???

Reaper

[DmanVT]

:S sorry mate i've never done this before so was just asking around, Thankyou, and so undoing the shock you mean at the top yes? or bottom bolt? ( unless it is too rusted/stiff to budge)

[Reaper]

:S sorry mate i've never done this before so was just asking around, Thankyou, and so undoing the shock you mean at the top yes? or bottom bolt? ( unless it is too rusted/stiff to budge)

Bottom. The sway bar will stop it dropping down too far.

Reaper

[DmanVT]

ok sweet, thanks heaps mate, that is what i had in mind at first but people where saying that you can do damage that way or something? so i thought id ask

[thekid93]

if you dont need the std spring?

angle grinder? has worked for coulpe of mates

[DmanVT]

yer i possibly could but i thought i'd just keep them in case i dnt get a roadworthy or have trouble with cops or something, we'll see anyway, that will be the LAST resort

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

It's easier to get them out when the swaybar mount is undone. It still takes a bit of effort to get them out though.

[DmanVT]

ah ok, so how long am i looking at for this to take?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

I can get the rears out in about 10 minutes. Allow 20 mins to 1/2 an hour if you have never done it before.

[DmanVT]

sweet thanks heaps so like 3 hours should be enough, meaning i can probably get it done tomorrow :P

[CAPRILICIOUS WL]

sweet thanks heaps so like 3 hours should be enough, meaning i can probably get it done tomorrow :P

3 hours will be more than enough, just never under estimate time when your working on a car. Lol

Good luck with it man and it will take a fair bit of attempts to get it out.

[DmanVT]

haha i know but the bags just sitting there is driving me crazy i want to put them in soooo bad :P haha i'be got frees from 12:45 today so coming home from school early and have till like 6 tonight, hopefully i'll get them in :P, Thanks for the help everyone

[Reaper]

if you dont need the std spring?

angle grinder? has worked for coulpe of mates

Angle grinder is a bad idea if the spring is in the car as it will be under pressure. When you cut the spring it will jolt, possibly breaking the blade. Broken grinding blades rotating at however many thousand rpm will hurt a lot if they hit you.

Reaper

[DmanVT]

haha yes very much so, i wasnt planning on doing this but yer, Last LAST resort maybe but i shouldnt need to

[Reaper]

haha i know but the bags just sitting there is driving me crazy i want to put them in soooo bad :P haha i'be got frees from 12:45 today so coming home from school early and have till like 6 tonight, hopefully i'll get them in :P, Thanks for the help everyone

So you are fitting a bag setup??? I'd suggest from your questions that for your (and everybody elses) safety you employ somebody who knows what they are doing to do the work.

Reaper

[DmanVT]

I know what I'm doing in terms of the bags I just wanted to make sure that if I removed the spring that way I won't damage anything

[thekid93]

well. grinder has worked for me and couple mates....

if you drop ur shock and sway bar. the amount of pressure on the spring is still fck all...

if u rly dont wanna try a grinder... drop ur cvs?