I have to pull the engine out of my 71 because it ate the cam, so I thought while it was out I would change out the upper control arm bushings and ball joints.

I was thinking about taking the wheels off and lowering the car down on to some 4x4’s placed under the lower control arms and then removing the upper one while I have unlimited access to it from the engine bay. The weight of the front end would be more than enough to keep the springs compressed while the upper arm is out I would think. I will probably run a chain through the spring just to be sure it doesn’t decide to visit the next zip code if something were to go really wrong.

Is this going to work or am I missing something ?

Thanks !

Tom

Is your suspension topped out right now? When I pulled my motor my upper arms were resting on the rubber frame stops. That means that, no, the weight of the front end is not enough to keep the springs in.

Put a spring compressor on them.

Tim.

I'm pulling the engine tonight and I'll see where the arm ends up.

Good point - I KNEW this was too easy !

I've replaced front spings before by running a 2x4 from the front frame horn to the ceiling of my garage. Use another 2x4 as a spreader to span a couple of rafters if need be. The mental picture of ramming a 2x4 through the ceiling sheetrock makes me chuckle though. Yours, not mine. I rebuilt my front suspension this way, with no motor installed and it worked well. You won't need to remove spring or lower a-frame if you're only doing the top bushings though. Good luck,

Cam

I checked my upper arm stops last night and they are about 1 1/2" from the arm so I am going to try this and see if it works.

It will be nice to get this out of the way while the BB is out.

If you have 4 stands, you can use 2 under the control arms, and 2 for safety under the frame.

K