danoid Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 Might not need to know this, but just in case it fails MOT as it was an advisory last year...How do I go about removing the standard springs and replacing them with standards?It doesn't look like the springs are held in by bolts, so guessing I need to loosen the rear shock bottom bolt, then the real axle beam will lower, then I can remove the spring? But how do I then put the new spring up and lift up the axle beam or do I need spring compressors for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 According to Ray, you can literally just drop the bottom shock bolt and remove the spring so long as you jack using the hard area of the floor pan. Me personally, I would jack up on the wishbone and then use a spring compressor myself. Extra work but I think I would feel safer doing it that way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 If I remember correctly: seat the spring correctly on the bottom platform and then jack the beam back up slowly to seat it at the top.Refit the bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupogtiboy Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I think you would struggle if you used a spring compressor on the rear as there isn't much room for it when the spring is compressed. When I had to change one of my coil over springs, I jacked the car up, put it on axle stands, then put the jack under the rear beam, undone the shock absorber bolt, pulled the spring out, new one in, jacked up the beam, bolted the shock back up, raised the car, axle stand out, drop car back down, job done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 I think you would struggle if you used a spring compressor on the rear as there isn't much room for it when the spring is compressed. When I had to change one of my coil over springs, I jacked the car up, put it on axle stands, then put the jack under the rear beam, undone the shock absorber bolt, pulled the spring out, new one in, jacked up the beam, bolted the shock back up, raised the car, axle stand out, drop car back down, job done!Interesting, so without taking the shock absorber out, i'd be unlikely to fit a compressor in there? I don't remember it being too cramped when I changed my shock absorber but I had no intention of changing the spring I guess. Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupogtiboy Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 My understanding is that you would use a spring compressor on a front shock as the top mount is preventing the spring from uncoiling and puts it under load, so you use the compressor to squash the spring down for safety reasons as much as anything. The rear springs are compressed by the weight of the car, so when its lifted in the air, the weight of the car is taken off the spring and it springs to it maximum length, which is usually enough to be able to pull the spring out as it is. Plus the springs are not flat on the edges like front springs, they are usually concave so using a compressor would possibly be difficult because of this. I have never seen a tech here use a compressor for a rear spring.Not saying you are wrong, and for safeties sake you probably are right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danoid Posted December 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 Ah excellent thanks for that. Hopefully won't need it, but the lupo has passed all it's MOT's first time for the last 6 years, surely will fail this year, and the slightly corroded spring was the only advisory last year, and since last years it's probably only done about 800 miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skezza Posted December 2, 2014 Report Share Posted December 2, 2014 My understanding is that you would use a spring compressor on a front shock as the top mount is preventing the spring from uncoiling and puts it under load, so you use the compressor to squash the spring down for safety reasons as much as anything. The rear springs are compressed by the weight of the car, so when its lifted in the air, the weight of the car is taken off the spring and it springs to it maximum length, which is usually enough to be able to pull the spring out as it is. Plus the springs are not flat on the edges like front springs, they are usually concave so using a compressor would possibly be difficult because of this. I have never seen a tech here use a compressor for a rear spring.Not saying you are wrong, and for safeties sake you probably are right!Interesting stuff. Used a compressor to remove the front shock for sure. Very necessary on mine as the top mount had sheared off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted December 3, 2014 Report Share Posted December 3, 2014 Back of the Lupos are very easy to do:1. Jack up car and support on axle stands at the jacking points.2. Support the rear beam/axle with a trolley jack.3. Remove one bolt either side at the bottom of the shock.4. Lower down the trolley jack until the springs come loose.5. Reinsert new springs, the right way around and with the correct rubber seating attached (either old one if in good condition or a new one)6. Raise the jack up supporting the rear axle, making sure that the springs seat correctly where they are suppose to and line up the hole for the shock for the bolt to go back through.7. Tighten up the bolts and torque to spec (or use the 3 grunt method...)It really is painless, and if the bolts aren't seized should take you no more than ten minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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