Help needed: 63 Electra lower on one side - suspension or frame?

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

If it works like the older king pin cars, and it should, once the lower control arm is lowered there should be no tension on the spring.  If I am in doubt, I tie the spring to some part of the car with a small chain.  

 

   Ben

[arnulfo de l.a.]

9 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

If it works like the older king pin cars, and it should, once the lower control arm is lowered there should be no tension on the spring.  If I am in doubt, I tie the spring to some part of the car with a small chain.  

 

   Ben

Yup, thats exactly how it worked when i didi it

[60FlatTop]

I own a variety of suspension spring compressors and have never had luck positioning them to properly clamp a spring in the car.

 

Usually jacking the car under the A-frame in front in enough weight to compress the spring. If the rears are coil there is usually enough swing to relax them. As I mentioned in an earlier post one really needs to free up the pivot points of the inner bushing sleeve to avoid tearing the bushing or having the car not set level.

 

There is a mid-1950s Rolls-Royce shop manual that shows a number of sandbags placed in the front sheet metal of a saloon to help compress the springs. I wish I could find it. I would probably pick up four 80-100 pound bags if my usual method didn't work.

 

When I was much younger I compressed my Riviera springs by hand with very little weight to help. Two guys and some grunts.

[steelman]

Anything can be a problem if you are not careful. You need an internal spring compressor. Ones shown are external. You can borrow or rent these from O’Reilly’s or AutoZone or similar parts house. Remove the shock and insert the compressor up through the lower arm where the shock was. 
make sure when you jack up the frame you have room for the lower arm to be completely vertical when the spring is removed. You will still have some pressure on the arm, so lower it easy and remove or readjust the spring. You might get it compressed enough to move it into the notch correctly without completely removing it. A light is your friend to be sure you have it seated properly on each end, then remove the compressor.

[Electra63]

Thanks for all the inputs.  My plan is to remove the right  (passenger side) spring since the dimension is off on that side and hopefully find there is a shim or shims that I can remove or some other adjustment to bring it back in spec.

If not, I may remove the spring on the other side and shim it to increase the shop manual Y dimension and hopefully bring the two sides level.

I'll post again once I've managed to recruit my son to assist me and done the work

 

 

[telriv]

When the lower control arm is lowered as far as it can be there will be little tension left on the spring & it will "pop" out with little to no danger.

Remove the sway bar link 1st. to get as much movement from the lower control arm as possible.

 

Tom T.

[Skips63Rivi]

Maybe an adjustable panhard bar could replace the original.

[telriv]

Panhard/track bar have NOTHING to do with suspension height.

 

Tom T.

[Electra63]

the only additional items I think I may replace when doing this job are the sway/stabilizer bar bushings and perhaps the links.  All those items look original and seem pretty easy to replace, especially if I'm disconnecting the links to get the movement on the control arms

 

By the way, all 4 shocks and the rear track bar were replaced by the previous owner.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Electra63 (see edit history)

[EmTee]

21 hours ago, Electra63 said:

the only additional items I think I may replace when doing this job are the sway/stabilizer bar bushings and perhaps the links. 

The sway bar should normally not impact ride height -- unless it is bent or improperly installed.  Changing the links is probably a good idea anyway, as they're pretty cheap and easy to replace.  Before you install the new ones, cut out the old ones and check the ride height again.  Measure the distance from the sway bar link socket to the same reference point on each side to make sure the bar isn't bent and applying a torque to the front suspension at rest.  Also make sure the two sway bar links that came out are the same length.  If one of the old ones is shorter than the other, that could cause the bar to exert a torque on the suspension.