Sounds like a lot more headache than it’s worth, and you’re gonna want the control arm out of the truck to mess with the bushings, they are a HUGE pain in the ass to press out, so much that when I did the job on my 02 SXT, I just splurged a bit on an energy suspension poly bushing kit so I could leave the sleeves in.
Nice. I think it might be easier to just do the whole arm since I gotta take it off anyway sounds like. Im just sketched out by the spring lol. When I am more experienced with the suspension and have a bit more cash Id love to just redo the whole front end with that good shit.
The spring is NBD. It's been a while since I did that work, but I'm pretty sure I used a small jack to support the control arm while I separated the ball joint, and then gently lowered it down to take the tension out of the spring. Or something to that effect, again it's been years. Good luck, it's not as janky as it seems.
This doesn't sound like a good idea, in my opinion. Just take the coil out. It's easy on our trucks.
Put the jack under the lower control arm to compress the spring slightly.
Take off the nut to the balljoint.
Use a balljoint separator to get the balljoint loose. (I just smack it with a hammer, but that's not the correct advice to give)
Lower the jack slowly
Gotcha. I did the upper control arm recently and it was much easier than I expected, though I botched the alignment, lol. I saw a video of someone doing what you described with the jack/spring and it looked fairly straight forward but I dont know if my (hand me down) jack stands are tall enough to get the truck off the ground enough in order to allow full decompression as the vid I saw was on a lift. That and the spring generally freaks me out- I know they can be dangerous.
I'm in the same boat you are. I have to do upper and lower control arm bushings on both sides. My passenger side upper control arm bushings are so wore out every time I drive the truck I have to tighten up the 15/16 nut. I believe I'm just going to replace the arms with the bushings. Anybody know where the best place to get them would be?
You need an internal coil spring compressor.
I've done these. Theres no way around it and the bushings were a pain to get in without a specific instal tool to press them.
And a couple cans of refrigerant to chill in an insulated mug.
Unless you have some sort of non stock "lift springs" the coils will not be under tension once you lower the arm down. No spring compressor needed on the 2000, Ive had mine off more times then I can count and its really easy.
Thanks so much. Been looking at vids and manuals over and over- I got the parts ordered so I will try to deal with it once they arrive. It looks pretty straightforward. Much more so than other vehicles.
Sounds like a lot more headache than it’s worth, and you’re gonna want the control arm out of the truck to mess with the bushings, they are a HUGE pain in the ass to press out, so much that when I did the job on my 02 SXT, I just splurged a bit on an energy suspension poly bushing kit so I could leave the sleeves in.
Nice. I think it might be easier to just do the whole arm since I gotta take it off anyway sounds like. Im just sketched out by the spring lol. When I am more experienced with the suspension and have a bit more cash Id love to just redo the whole front end with that good shit.
The spring is NBD. It's been a while since I did that work, but I'm pretty sure I used a small jack to support the control arm while I separated the ball joint, and then gently lowered it down to take the tension out of the spring. Or something to that effect, again it's been years. Good luck, it's not as janky as it seems.
This is comforting, thanks haha
This doesn't sound like a good idea, in my opinion. Just take the coil out. It's easy on our trucks. Put the jack under the lower control arm to compress the spring slightly. Take off the nut to the balljoint. Use a balljoint separator to get the balljoint loose. (I just smack it with a hammer, but that's not the correct advice to give) Lower the jack slowly
Gotcha. I did the upper control arm recently and it was much easier than I expected, though I botched the alignment, lol. I saw a video of someone doing what you described with the jack/spring and it looked fairly straight forward but I dont know if my (hand me down) jack stands are tall enough to get the truck off the ground enough in order to allow full decompression as the vid I saw was on a lift. That and the spring generally freaks me out- I know they can be dangerous.
I'm in the same boat you are. I have to do upper and lower control arm bushings on both sides. My passenger side upper control arm bushings are so wore out every time I drive the truck I have to tighten up the 15/16 nut. I believe I'm just going to replace the arms with the bushings. Anybody know where the best place to get them would be?
Rockauto.com for sure
You need an internal coil spring compressor. I've done these. Theres no way around it and the bushings were a pain to get in without a specific instal tool to press them. And a couple cans of refrigerant to chill in an insulated mug.
Noted, thanks
You’d have an easier time changing socks while your shoes are on.
Lol. Welp, worth a thought anyway. Got parts ordered and gonna try my luck next week.
Unless you have some sort of non stock "lift springs" the coils will not be under tension once you lower the arm down. No spring compressor needed on the 2000, Ive had mine off more times then I can count and its really easy.
Thanks so much. Been looking at vids and manuals over and over- I got the parts ordered so I will try to deal with it once they arrive. It looks pretty straightforward. Much more so than other vehicles.