Changing Springs

[Turb()]

I need new springs on the front of my SJ which I should be getting at the end of the week.
To keep costs down I was going to have a go at doing them myself, how easy are they to do?
They look like 2 bolts at the top and 2 U bolts at the bottom? Anything else I need to bear in mind? Do I need to do anything with the shock absorber? Is it going to fall apart if I remove it?

[Henry]

Hear is a write up i did many moons ago...

Right hear we go again

This is my write up for the removal of springs, bushes, and a full replacement for a sj/sammy.

First off park the truck in a good position...

Slacken all of the bolts you are going to be undoing. (4x U-Bolts 14mm, NOTE sj410 are 12/10mm 4x Shackel bolts 14mm, 2x rear spring bolts 17mm)

And jack the chasis up and sit it on blocks.

Undo the U bolts and remove, followed by the plate that holds the spring onto the axel also the shock is mounted to this plate. Once this is out of the way you will be left with this.

Repeat on the other side then jack the axel up so no weight is on the springs.

Once that is done undo the front shackle and remove and allow the spring to drop right down

Followed by the rear bolt so the entire spring falls down.

Do that on both sides and you will be left with the 2 old springs.





PART 2

Im my case my "new" springs are actually reclamed standard springs with the Add-a-leaf fitted to the spring pack.

Now these springs are fitted with completely shot bushes, and are unfit for re use.

So i have a new set of bushes from Bits4Vits


First off i need to remove the old bushes.
One hell of a job without a press ect, but i had a cunning plan, and since we arnt going to reuse the old ones why not????

Take a metal barrel or similar

Cut it in half, (mind sharp edges)

Punch some holes in the bottom and sides of it and start a fire!

One the fire has established itself, chuck the end of the spring in, and go for a cuppa.



Part 3

Once you have come back, the rubber should be well alight and will leave you with this


Leave it to cool and start refitting the new bushes.

I tapped mine in with a hammer using the clock face method


After that fit the rear of the spring, and do the bolt up finger tight

With that done, pop the old bushes out of the front of the chasis and pop the new ones in

Once thats done, pull the spring up and refit the shackel


With both sides done, all finger tight, we can position the axel back in place.
Get the axel back into its postion and refit the U bolts, and tighten up finger tight



With that start to tighten up all of the bolts



After that is all done at tightened up to the correct torque settings, take the anus of the stands, stand back and admire.

BEFORE

AFTER



After its all down and you have taken it for a drive, check all the bolts again, re torque, and job done!

[twiss]

Have you got a body lift on there are well, looks taller than mine

[Henry]

Yeah i have a 2" body lift on it too. When i put the add a leafs on they where pushing out about 3" (2" springs already fitted to rear). Now they are around 2" lift.

Since then ive moved the cage mounts up my 2", and the bumper so all sits level and looks standard.

The tires in the pics abover where 29"

[ScottieJ]

Nice write up Henry, its now a sticky

[ROBBIE]

i really like the way to remove the bushes don the same thing on a bicycle 1 time with a blow torch

[Turb()]

Changed my springs yesterday:



The old springs are the ones on the right obviously, they were well and truely battered

The only thing I would say is the truck is now seriously bouncy on the road. Like every tiny bump makes you bounce, its like when you see tractor drivers bouncing all over the place lol. Is that because the springs are new?

[Edweird]

I think the fact they're new will contribute, be also, to me, the shortest leaf on your new springs looks longer than the shortest leaf on your old springs. That might also be a factor.

[Turb()]

Yea they kinda went from being 2 and a bit leaves to 3 whole leaves
Its just a shame as its gone from being a nice smooth drive to being really bouncy lol.
I took it for a 20 mile drive and it did get gradually better but its still not fab lol

The 20 mile drive was to my mates workshop for some dreaded welding tho that I spotted when I was underneath changing the springs

[ScottieJ]

new springs tend to be a bit stiff at first but they'll bed in eventually. Where did you get them from? are they standard height? they look like they have a slight lift.