the sitting of the uncooperative coil spring!

[PaperSocks]

driver side spring went in like a charm.
pass side is not in the mood to play along.

am i making a mistake in leaving it like this? or should i grind/sand until i rotate the coil to the right some more?

thanks for your time.

 

[corkey]

do it right before it bites you,,

 

[shran]

You need the bottom disconnected from the axle and no weight pulling on it. Should just be able to turn it into the tabs on the coil tower. You can bend them a bit if necessary but there's no reason to grind them off. If you've got any weight pulling on the bottom of the coil you will never get it in.

 

[PaperSocks]

i couldn't do it.
it was a 12-round fight with the coil winning, unanimously.
my promoter is already working on the rematch.

so, the top end of the coil is almost touching the next ring. the coil that was removed had much more space between the end and the next ring. shoulda checked out the new springs a bit more thoroughly.

with the sun falling out of the sky i had to put all back together to go home. i live in an apt. building, can't do much there. the coil spring holds. it grabs onto the tab tight, just won't go past that point.

i tried prying it, but what i used wasn't thick enough. i have no weight pulling on it from the bottom. shock is off. i even removed the lower end of the end links.

if i pry it on, i'm thinkin' it is gonna be royal pain to remove it in the future.

 

[RangerX]

Why couldn’t you rotate it freely into position before the bottom was clamped?
I would not grind or bend anything. It should stay in place for now with just city driving.
If you went off-road and caught some air, it would drop right out.
Next chance you get to work on it, unbolt the bottom retainer and rotate it.

What springs are those? In the first pic, there seems to be zero space between coils, which isn’t right. Are they made for an Explorer?

 

[PaperSocks]

i can't rotate it past a certain point. the spring holds on to the back tabs, it just won't go over the last one. it grips it tight. i have to make an effort to remove it, so it doesn't just hang loosely, but i could see how catching air could be a problem.

i'm thinking this particular spring is the issue. i did the other side and it rotated on properly.

i cross referenced the part# with rockauto. they should be explorer coils. the box is at the spot i work on it.

i wanna remove the other side and match up the coils, see if one is off.

she drives great. i've replaced broken radius arm brackets, luckily non-riveted. replaced bushings on the arms and the sway. replaced end links, shocks, springs, brakes, belt, and the dreaded spark plugs. best condition its been in since i've had her. love driving her.

still, that coil spring not sitting right bugs me.

 

[gmanpaint]

Wrong coils.

 

[shran]

Try bending that little tab down. Sometimes they are just stubborn. I have also had to rock them back and forth to get it past that tab. My theory is that either the metal is thicker than the original, or the powder coating is thick enough to prevent it from going in, or both.

You could also have someone else try to turn the coil while you tap it with a hammer.

Are these Moog springs? I had the same issue with one of mine last year.

 

[BKennedy]

I agree with shran, try bending the tab down a little. Those coils look like either progressive coils or they are way too soft for a Explorer. Turn the coil back so its off that tab. Bend the tab down a little. Take all the weight off the spring and disconnect the bottom so it hangs free. Use a pry bar to separate the coils a little and turn it into place. Don't ever grind on a coil spring. It creates a failure point.

 

[PaperSocks]

Try bending that little tab down. Sometimes they are just stubborn. I have also had to rock them back and forth to get it past that tab. My theory is that either the metal is thicker than the original, or the powder coating is thick enough to prevent it from going in, or both.

You could also have someone else try to turn the coil while you tap it with a hammer.

Are these Moog springs? I had the same issue with one of mine last year.

they sure are Moog springs. part# CC868.

i wasn't planning on sanding the coil, or the tab completely off. i started sanding the top part of the tab just to give some extra space and a smooth surface to slide over. it worked a bit, millimeters worth of a bit.

the girth of the pry bar would probably be enough.
will it bend with hand power?

i won't be able to make the attempt until Thursday tho. bum. mer.

thanks again guys for your input. i'm a noob. still learning as much as i can about the Ex.

 

[gmanpaint]

Those Moog springs are a variable rate spring, with 1280 load lb rating. Your picture shows coil bind, meaning they are compressed onto each other. Is that side under a floor jack by chance? If not, those coils should not be touching each other as shown.

Under normal compression, sitting at ride height, the spring should measure 10.5" from top to bottom. Loose they should be 13.25" tall.

 

[shran]

You can bend that tab with a hammer or a crescent wrench if you need to adjust the angle of entry a bit - that may be all it needs. You can sure scrape off the powder coating as well, just don't get crazy removing metal.

 

[PaperSocks]

well, i got crazy removing metal.

some metal. just a tiny bit.

so check it out... (blurry flashback effect)

finally got to the space where i can work on her. i removed both springs. here is a side-by-side of 'em...

the spring that did not sit properly is on the right. doesn't it seem like it took a bend warp up top?

switched them up, took the "problem one" over to the other side and it went on with ease. i tried the other and it was a full stop.

removed both again.

stuck my index digit on the easy side and my finger was able to wiggle up and down. i went to the problem side and my finger fit snugly. no wiggle room.

problem found.

bought a grinder long ago, never used it, never even used one, no better time than now.

plugged it in, started spinning, spark show ensued.

did it little by little, nothing excessive. checking each time if i could get the spring to slide over. on the fifth grind it finally slid over. what a feeling.

did my best to keep the integrity of the tab. i did it at an angle, keeping the width at one end of the tab.

shout out to Corkey for instilling the fear and pushing me to fix it.
huge thanks to Shran, RangerX, Gman, and BK for your advice.

your help was invaluable.

please rip me apart if you feel i went about it wrong.

 

[shran]

You did fine!

I had the same problem last weekend - I was removing a lift from a Ranger and put factory brackets and springs in it. The old springs came out fine but the top loops of the new ones had to be spread out a little with a chisel to get over the tab.

Probably goes without saying but now would be a great time to get an alignment... best to have it at least checked every time you replace a major component in the front end.

 

[410Fortune]

if it does not seat fully into the retainer you will have one side of the truck sitting slightly higher then the other.
You NEED to get the end of the coil into the proper indent in the coil bucket
You could have hammered a small wedge in between the two upper winds, to make enough clearance for the tab....then rotate.