Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Topic: Finished the 5 Lug! But.... (Read 8390 times) previous topic - next topic

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #15 – March 03, 2010, 12:48:48 PM

Quote from: Aerocoupe;312513

Gotcha. Mine are basically parallel to the ground with the Griggs suspension so there was a huge difference between the two.

Darren

By at an angle, I mean in reference to the centerline of the car.

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #16 – March 03, 2010, 04:57:02 PM

I think I understand what you are saying. What I was referring to is as the LCA changes angle it effectively changes the track width of the front end. So when the LCA is parallel to the ground the track width is at its widest and when the angle is the greatest the track width is the narrowest. This would mean that a lowered car having the LCA parallel to the ground would have a wider track width than a stock height car. Granted it would be very little but the longer the control arm the more this would effect the width. Anyhow, at least the way I am seeing the geometry in my head is telling me this. Its been a long day so I could be just out of my mind.

Darren

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #17 – March 03, 2010, 05:28:25 PM

ok, my turn to muddle things.

first, i believe the most current number is 1.22" longer rather than 1.33"
re: http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=463571&postcount=21
and you are not gonna gain that full 1.22" per side, as chuck mentioned, due to the angle of the LCA mounts relative to the vehicle centerline.

Quote from: Aerocoupe;312546

...
but the longer the control arm the more this would effect the width.
...

second, longer control arms have lesser effect on track width change through suspension articulation. the longer the arm induces less lateral movement of the lower balljoint.

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #18 – March 03, 2010, 05:46:21 PM

it, I had to re-read all that three times to catch the mistake.

Aero, sorry about that, I caught the error of my calculations, but I'm still going to try it due to the offset on my rims, I think it will work ok. If not, I'll use the stockers and mill some wheel spacers.

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #19 – March 03, 2010, 09:58:47 PM

Roger that. I reread my earlier post and I was too far into a pipeline design problem and should have waited to post until after work. My biggest thing was to just get you to to weigh all the possibilities and make sure you were going to end up with what you wanted.

Darren

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #20 – March 04, 2010, 05:56:14 PM

Oh, Ok....guess I missed that detail!! Thats what ya get for playing online AND watching NCIS at the same time!! LOL

Good luck with the install!!

Later, RAY

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #21 – March 27, 2010, 08:39:55 PM

guys, now I'm screwed. I took the Drivers Side apart for the five lug and now I can't figure out how to get the spring back in! Compressors don't work because there is no clearance and I'm not sure I can safely muscle the arm back in on a jack with the spring seated AND still put bolts in!

I fail so badly right now. HELP!

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #22 – March 27, 2010, 09:16:34 PM

you can use a spring compressor to squeeze it down, then tie off the spring with bailing wire or a coat hanger. take the spring compressor off and see if its compressed enough to get the spring back in.

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #23 – March 27, 2010, 09:39:12 PM

I don't seem to have any of that readily available, any other ideas guys?

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #24 – March 27, 2010, 11:58:14 PM

I used spring compressors on mine, and it was a tight fit.
Some have taken the arms off, used a jack to push everything up into place. Myself, I don't know how that'd go over.

Whatever you do, be safe. Obviously, a compressed spring will be dangerous.

When I did mine, I stuck a tire spoon down through the strut hole to act as a safety, just in case the spring compressor(s) broke or let go somehow.
I had a large Vice-Grips on the upper end, the spoon down through the top of the strut tower, through the spring, and then down through the hole in the k-member/frame, etc.

I don't know that I'd trust a coat hanger to squeeze a spring down.:hick:

Maybe a couple of ratchet straps, but something with enough capacity to hold...

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #25 – March 28, 2010, 02:47:48 PM

Of course it can be done.

I have heard of some folks who it went pretty smoothly. I wasn't one of them.

Getting the front springs in was by far one of my worst projects. The right spring compressor will work, but there are a few models out there, it took me a few rentals to find one which would fit (don't even think about the one's that go on the outside of the spring). It was a very tight fit to get it and the spring in place . It was a bit of fight to get the compressor back out. I fought with it for about three days (the compressor would slip, the spring would slip, couldn't get the compressor out. It took dozens of attempts on each side).
I didn't quit till I figured it out, but it was absolutely frustrating and aggravating! I was se from swearing and sore from the fight.

Tried taking the A-arms off and pushing it up as an assembly, didn't have any luck.

As far as trying to tie the spring down while under compression, I didn't find anything that held (not that may not be anything, I just didn't find it). It was pretty scary!

I vowed never to deal with conventional front springs on a Fox body again. I'll spend the money on a coil over kit to avoid it in the future (in my mind, it's well worth the price!).

Hope you have better luck!

Mark

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #26 – March 28, 2010, 04:32:43 PM

Are you guys using internal spring compressors? Mine worked really well and it took one time per side once I got it figured out. I compressed the spring with the drive end of the spring compressor (the end that you put the impace wrench on) so it is at the bottom of the spring. Compressed the spring and installed the whole assembly between the K-member and the LCA. The drive end of the spring compressor came through the hole in the LCA and then you would use the impact to back it off. You have to completely disassemble the spring compressor inside the spring and retrieve all the parts through the hole in the LCA.

I think I did this at least a dozen times on my two birds. I switched to coil overs and would recommend them as well but its not cheap.

Darren

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #27 – March 28, 2010, 07:07:26 PM

Quote from: 86T-bird;316245

Of course it can be done.

I have heard of some folks who it went pretty smoothly. I wasn't one of them.

Getting the front springs in was by far one of my worst projects. The right spring compressor will work, but there are a few models out there, it took me a few rentals to find one which would fit (don't even think about the one's that go on the outside of the spring). It was a very tight fit to get it and the spring in place . It was a bit of fight to get the compressor back out. I fought with it for about three days (the compressor would slip, the spring would slip, couldn't get the compressor out. It took dozens of attempts on each side).
I didn't quit till I figured it out, but it was absolutely frustrating and aggravating! I was se from swearing and sore from the fight.

Tried taking the A-arms off and pushing it up as an assembly, didn't have any luck.

As far as trying to tie the spring down while under compression, I didn't find anything that held (not that may not be anything, I just didn't find it). It was pretty scary!

I vowed never to deal with conventional front springs on a Fox body again. I'll spend the money on a coil over kit to avoid it in the future (in my mind, it's well worth the price!).

Hope you have better luck!

Mark

Thanks, Mark, for chiming in, I was beginning to get worried. Of course, it doesn't help to try high energy/focus tasks while you're sick, and apparently I was yesterday(And still am) I will definitely check out a couple of different compressors, I just had a set of externals, but will also look into coilovers, because these standard springs suck!

Thanks also to Darren for his ideas.

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #28 – March 28, 2010, 07:24:20 PM

Darren's post is much more clear on how an internal unit should work and will work with right compressor. I spent a lot of time fighting to make it work with a compressor that didn't quite fit (It was tough to keep centered, and then I couldn't get it out once the the spring was in place).

It'll make a better story after it's done!

Finished the 5 Lug! But....

Reply #29 – March 28, 2010, 07:28:19 PM

the problem is getting them seated. once they are, jack it up, but take the compressor off while you still have the space between the coils to do so. It only took 15 min a side to put them in. this was the easiest,/quickest way I found to do it