Rear Spring Removal

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Hamish Freeman

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Mar 20, 2012, 5:27:34 PM3/20/12

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Nearly two years on from IVA and post house fire, I am now finally managing to find a bit of time to start improving our Beauford to make it a more acceptable car.

Managed to pick up a set of new rear springs from Monroe this week at ~£36 including delivery, which I thought was good for new components as the local factors wanted almost that much for a single spring. The current set from the donor put the wheels at an unacceptable angle and it is not difficult to top-out the suspension on some of the country road pot holes round here. Whilst removing the “GT” springs fitted should not cause too much problem as they are short and very stiff, it appears from reading the Haynes manual that the official way of fitting rear springs is to remove the half-shafts and the complete suspension system then jack it all back into place again.

Has anyone successfully replaced rear springs without recourse to removing the half-shafts and all of the oil loss and mess that such an action entails? In which case what method was involved? Looking at the space available I could not get my spring compressor in with compressed springs. I have considered long jubilee clips on the springs for assembly having first shortened them with said spring compressor – a method that I have used on other vehicles but very definitely a job to be undertaken wearing heavy protective gloves.

Still on the subject of springs, to get the car horizontal it was necessary to wind down the front springs to the point that there is very little travel left – have others encountered this problem? With a higher rear end this problem is going to get worse.