spindle pin removal needed for spring/strut removal?

[deadflo]

I am going to have my mechanic put my new springs and struts on. I happened to look in the Haynes manual last night under rear suspension and for spring removal it shows taking the pins and the individual rear suspension A frames out. is this right? i didn't think you needed to go through that the spindle pin headache for the springs.

I know my mechanic, who has owned a couple 240-Z's mentioned something to me in the past about being able to cut the rear springs to get them out, thus saving alot of time.Does that sound logical?

[MikeW]

As I recall you can jack the car all the way up, use a spring compressor, remove the three nuts at the top of the strut assembly, and simply swing the whole thing down just barely clearing the wheel arch. Hopefully someone who's done this recently can confirm as I'd hate to give you bad advice.

[Arne]

By actual count, I've R&R'd the springs in my 240Zs at least 7 times in the past 12 months. (Long convoluted story.) I never pull the spindle pins or the control arms, I always pivot them down as noted by Mike.

[ggarrard]

I was just discussing this same topic on the phone last night with a fellow club member here in Ottawa. We agreed that the process is to also disconnect the half-shaft, brake line, etc, and you should be able to swing the whole strut assembly out from the wheel-well. (I remember using a big persuader bar to get it past the fender lip).

GWGarrard

[=Enigma=]

Here's a confirmation for you. I just took off the three bolts on the tower and swung the whole assy down and away. Next step is to use a spring compressor on the assy and remove the nut on the top of the strut insert to dissasemble and remove the spring.

[deadflo]

Here's a confirmation for you. I just took off the three bolts on the tower and swung the whole assy down and away. Next step is to use a spring compressor on the assy and remove the nut on the top of the strut insert to dissasemble and remove the spring.

Thanks for all the infor guys!

Enigma, you impress me. I posted less than one hour ago, and you've already taken your whole assembly off just to show me!!

[Arne]

Enigma's picture shows it all. Disconnect the halfshaft, brake line, parking brake cable, and sway bar (on later Zs). I normally disconnect the brake line at the chassis end, and leave the hose connected to the backing plate as it is easier to cap the metal line than trying to plug the hose. Also watch out for the drum, if your brakes are not adjusted tightly it's possible (although not likely) that it could fall off the hub when the strut is pivoted out.

[=Enigma=]

Enigma, you impress me. I posted less than one hour ago, and you've already taken your whole assembly off just to show me!!

Well gooooooolly, that's the least I could do for a fellow Z head. Anything to escape the monotony of work.

Disconnect the halfshaft, brake line, parking brake cable, and sway bar (on later Zs). I normally disconnect the brake line at the chassis end, and leave the hose connected to the backing plate as it is easier to cap the metal line than trying to plug the hose.

Thanks for filling in the finer points Arne. Note that this picture was taken when stripping off the entire front and rear suspension for refinishing so things like plugging the brake lines or bleeding the brakes weren't a concern at the time.

You can find more pics of this process here including spring removal, and spindle pin and strut insert removal using Beandip's spindle pin puller.

http://jaderunner.com/Gallery/240Z-Suspension-TearDown