I recently ordered a set of front coil springs for a 1991 AWD from Rock Auto for $70.79 plus $18 shipping. By comparison, Ford OEM are $156.00 APIECE and a custom spring manufacturer quoted $370 for a set. The springs are made by Husky in Iowa and arrived just two days after the order was placed despite being marked as special order item, requiring two days to manufacture.

I pulled out my old springs and did a side by side comparison. The first thing you notice is the new spring is noticeably taller than the old. Height to top of both old coils is 13 inches while the new ones are 16.25 and 16.45 inches. The next thing you notice is the diameter of the rod used to form the coil is smaller on the new (0.625" - 5/8") compared to old (0.75" - 3/4"). There are the same number of coils (9) in both old and new, but the new ones look spindly and elongated sitting next to the old ones.

The old coils have 260,734 miles accumulated and I do not know what their original height could have been, but I assume they must have some fatigue and sag after so many miles. The van sits 3/4 inch lower on the driver’s side and I was certain this was from spring sag. Although I wasn’t ecstatic about the smaller diameter front coils, I decided to go ahead and put them on – just to see what the result would be.

I can pop the old springs out by simply disconnecting the top of the shock absorber, the tie rod end, brake caliper, removing the pinch bolt for the upper ball joint and allowing the lower control arm to be let down by floor jack. The spring will often, literally, fall out. That extra 3 or so inches on the new spring means replacement is more difficult as there is not sufficient room to put the new spring back in the same way. I had to resort to using a spring compressor to shorten the new coil to where it would go back in the available working space.

The first mistake was using a cheap, Chinese spring compressor. I jacked the suspension to a neutral position to compress the old spring as far as possible without lifting the van off the jack stand. I put the Chinese compressor on, screwed it tight and began lowering the suspension. Five seconds later there was a loud BANG! – like a gunshot – and that spring compressor was in pieces all over the garage. Luckily, I was at the other end of the floor jack when that thing came apart or else serious injury could have occurred.

Checker Auto had a loaner compressor that was much higher quality – real steel, not pot metal. Additionally, the arms of the compressor could be taken apart. A feature I soon found to be most helpful. My second mistake was mounting compressor draw arms too near the ends of the spring. While it seems logical to draw down the entire spring, I ran into trouble getting the compressor arms jammed against the upper spring tower and lower control arm mounting. Being able to take the compressor arms apart after the spring is in place is a BIG plus.

Even with the spring compressed as far as possible, it still just barely goes into the upper tower and onto the lower control arm rest. It is so tight, it is hard to twist the coil to get the lower end to seat in the lower control arm depression. After exploding the first compressor, one gets rather nervous about banging and twisting on something with this much stored energy. The first side took about two hours to mount the spring. The other side took only about 30 minutes to mount.

The Verdict: After all is said and done, the van still lists 3/4 inch to the driver’s side, so it is not due to sagging springs. The ride height did go up 1.3 inches on both sides. The ride quality is definitely firmer over familiar roads and coming to stops, there is less nose dive. Viewing the springs from underneath, they do not sit completely vertical as were the old ones. They have a slightly bowed appearance. I’m not a spring expert by any means, but it looks as if the spring is unevenly loaded this way, with more pressure on the middle, inside coils and less on the others. The rear coils have a very distinctive bow as well and apparently this does not present a problem, so maybe this too is normal for a new spring.

Time:
Removing old coils 1.5hr
Finding new compressor 1.0
Replacing first coil 2.0
Replacing second coil 0.5
Reinstalling components 1.0

 

hi aero,
noticed about the same effects on friend'a AWD aero...his now sets abt 1" higher than my '96 AWD
his no longer bottoms out on rubber bumper stops as much as mine does....mine bottoms out on front just going over speed bumps at slow gentle speeds....new shocks and sway bar bushings
i'm still thinking abt. putting in a set but love the hwy ride too much now....great long haul crusin rig

i may try a set of inside coil polyurethane load increasers inside stock springs to decrease the bottoming out....they take effect at about 1/2 coil compression at normal ride height
click

 

Hi Dave:

I'm glad you are OK after the spring exploded on you. It's a very dangerous situation. A friend of mine went through the same thing, and it broke his arm to the point where you can see white bone sticking out through the skin.

Wouldn't want to loose a member in good standing

Oh, by the way, about the thing still sagging on the driver's side, loose some weight

 

Can you try to weigh each corner of your van, to see if the left front has more load on it than the right? Also, some of this can be caused by stiffer spring rate in the right rear.

 

"One of these days, Alice.....bam!... to the moon!" Actually, I told the wife to get out but no change. Surely you can't mean moi?

xlt4wd90,
The rear springs were replaced last year, so I'm trusting they are not contributing to the sag. On the way into work this morning, I was wondering if an imbalance in the front sway bar links could be the problem. I replaced the originals a couple of years back with one of those universal style (long bolt, lots of washers and red bumpers). I'm going to disconnect those links and see what that does in a static mode.

 

Ralph Kramden's city bus did set lower on the driver side and the NYC Bus company did have to put a special HD driver seat in for him

Ed Norton "The first time I took the test for the sewer I flunked---I couldn't even float!"

on the helo tours in Hawaii and elsewhere, they have to put on a waist belt extender for me....i weighed 126 lbs when i went in the service years ago

 

Well, a simple (?) thing to do would be to swap springs side-to-side to see if the condition changes. I'm sure you got all that spare time on your hands to do this...

 

Isn't there be some easier method of say, putting a small, high capacity scale on a floor jack? Each rear spring mount could then be raised (compressed) an equal distance and the amount of force compared? The rears are certainly easier to swap around but then for 3/4 inch difference is it worth all the bother. It could have been this way for years but once you notice, its like seeing a mole on someone's face, you can't stop looking at it, no matter how hard you try.

 

Hi Dave:

Sorry about the weight comment, but it was to tempting

Anyway, assuming the springs are identical, I think the list on the driver's side might come from the shocks, which are sort of spring loaded themselves. Try swapping the shocks to see if it starts to list the other way. Sure beats swapping the springs????

 

copper,
Nothing to apologize for, it was a funny comment and I certainly enjoyed it. Keep them coming.

Shock swap is a good idea. When I release the sway bar, I'll release the top shock mount as well on the driver side and see if that could be pulling it down. Yeah, anything but more spring work. At least not right away.

 

Update: Some photos added for reference

This shows the height difference between new and old springs. Old springs had 260,000 miles.


This shows the slight bulge in the new spring after installation. It remains this way after driving. Spring is correctly seated in its isolators and the indentation in the lower control arm.

 

look about the same as new Husky front springs installed on friend's AWD Aero....he claims his handles better on corners, not as much front end sway and lean plowing....probably 2k miles on his now, some rough logging road and snow driving....no failures...he likes the extra front center clearance in deep snow...doesn't have to push as much

mine does not handle as well on rough logging roads as his does now...i've driven both...may have to replace my springs next heat wave when rains stop in June

wish they made a progressive with 7/8" rod and less turns, 1" higher ride height from original and extra 250 lbs load carry rating per spring

 

How about installing those air bags in the front springs? You can install an on-board air pump, and tune the spring rates to the conditions of the road.

 

> Luckily, I was at the other end of the floor jack when that thing came apart or
> else serious injury could have occurred.

I posted about this before in other places on the site. I always run a length of chain through to make sure it does not bounce out under any condition and it does not hurt to run a length of chain through the compressed coil and tighten it down slightly either.

Sorry to hear about that guy's arm, that must have been brutal. Luckily it did not hit him in the head!

I am more afraid of compressed springs then cutting down a punky tree!

FWIW: High quality tools count in some conditions more then others. Compressing springs or where you need a flarenut wrench.