Hello,
I need to replace the broken front spring on my 94 aerostar. It looks like the spring towers are too long to get a good grip on the spring with a spring compressor.Is there a better way to replace them? (without going to a shop)

Thanks,
Ed

 

Set the van on jack stand on the frane. Put floor jack under lower A-frame and take the strane off the sepension. Unbolt the shock and the upper balljoint where it has a pich bolt in the spindle. Then VERY slowly lower the jack down to let the wieght off the spring and lower A-arm

 

Thank you!!!!
I wasn't sure how, but I was sure there had to be a way. I'm going underneath the Van right now to check this out!

 

You might want to put a chain around the spring and part of the frame as an extra safety measure. In case it decides to pop out, it won't go very far with the chain around it.

 

Thanks! that sounds like a good idea, I will.
Will the control arm swing down far enough to easily clear? or should I expect to struggle with it? Sorry to sound so dumb, but will the upper ball joint com apart RELATIVELY easily?
Thanks EVER so much!

 

With the pinch bolt out the ball joint will slip up and out of the spindle. Would be a good time to replace the ball joints, or at lease look at them.

 

Thank You again! I'm going to order the springs in a couple of days. Tomorrow I'm replacing the brake pads in front, and the wheel bearings.

You've been extremely helpful! Thanks Again!
Ed

 

Minor point: You will also need to disconnect the outer tie rod end from the steering knuckle before trying to lower the A-arm.

New springs do not come with replacement rubber isolators - make sure your old ones (upper and lower) are in relatively decent shape. There is a small notch in the bottom of the A-arm the spring end/isolator fit into - make sure they stay in place while you put the new spring back in.

 

Hi Guys,

I have the springs replaced, and I was wondering, How did you accomplish getting the new, longer, stiffer spring into the spring pocket? I struggled with it and finally won, But I can't help but feel you guy's would have had a better idea.

 

The Springs on the front of my 1995 Ford Aerostar 4.0 AWD are both cracked at the base of the springs. I ordered replacement springs from AdvanceAutoParts and they should be here today. So, I plan to do this job tomorrow (Saturday) morning.
About how long did it take you for each side?
Thanks.

 

While it was'nt the most difficult job I've done on the van it was the first time for suspension work. The job took me about 6 hrs. to do both sides. The hardest part was getting the new spring to compress into the lower perch. I ultimately used a pry bar to get the back side of the spring to set in the perch, and have my son start jacking the lower control arm back up. I'm sure there is a better safer way, but I was getting tired and desperate. Please make sure you put a safety chain through the spring and the shock hole in the lower control arm. Good luck

 

Sounds encouraging, as I thought I was gonna need special tools or a spring compressor. Hopefully, Mine will go back in easier, since you said that you installed longer springs & I plan to use the same size as the originals. Anyway, I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks.

 

Actually, the spings were longer because of being new, they were the stock height replacement from MOOG. Good luck, take your time, and work SAFE

 

Ok, Followed everyone's recommendations, and here is what happened:

I actually realized I had a Spring Compressor Kit, from a job I did before.
Probably could have gotten away with just disconnecting the Tie Rod, the Upper Knuckle Ball Joint, the Strut Upper Retaining Nut, and the Sway Bar End Link.
However, I ended up determining that all of the below parts were bad/worn and in need of replacement:
Coil Springs (of course, as about 6" of the bottom of each spring was cracked off and just laying in the bottom base).
Struts (both sides).
Inner Tie Rods (both sides).
Sway Bar End Links (both sides).
Lower A-Arm Ball Joint (Passenger-side)

So, I ended up taking the Rotors AND Steering Knuckle off of the van & setting them aside, so that doing everything would be with easier access (hung the Brake Calipers up outta the way, of course).

It was time to get some more Never-Sieze (for the Upper Ball Joint bolt/nut and the Wheel Lug Nuts) & some more Blue Lock-Tite (for the the Inner Tie Rods & the Sway Bar End Links), I had trouble getting the new universal-type end link kits to compress enough to fit the bolts that came with them far enough thru to put the nuts on (so I purchased some slightly longer bolts to compress them and then put the ones from the kits back on), and the A-Arm Strut Studs were rusty/worn (one even broke off with the nut/so I purchased 4 new Grade 8 Bolts and nuts for those and Lock-Tited them on).

Since I decided to use the Spring Compressor, I had to manually crank the hell outta the spring compressor tool to take the old springs off and then manually crank the hell outta the spring compressor tool to put the new springs on.

Also, I wasted alot of time on the following (3) issues:

1) Putting the new coil springs in, I kept on having problems with the Rubber Isolators sliding out of the positions that I wanted them in (because I was re-using the old ones, I wanted the pressed areas to match up to the new springs). Finally ended up using Zip-Ties to keep them in place - zip tied them to either end of the springs and then cut them & pulled them out after the springs were in place).

2) Spent alot of time wondering if the new springs (which seemed a tiny bit wider) were in the a-arm cups good enough, because they didn't look totally seated/were slightly up on the edge of the a-arm cup. This ended up being a non-issue, as I finally decided to settle with how they were and just put it all back together, and then when I test drove it I intentionally drove in & out of my driveway (which has a steep apron/entrance) a little harder than usual. After I got out of the van and looked at the springs, they were now seated perfectly in the a-arm cups, as I call them.

3) And finally, Zip-Tying the top of the new strut to the top cup, so I didn't have to hold it up AND putting the Jack where I could operate it from the side of the van withoout moving, were instrumental to making it easier to getting the new springs installed.

All in all, because I had other issues and broken/worn parts along the way, I spent $290 total and it took me about 10 hours of actual labor time (not counting the time it took for parts to arrive in between, at the local Parts Store).

Ok, Ok, I know I am slow. Hope some or all of this info helps someone else.
Thanks for all the advice guys.