Disaster!

[narfire]

Those spring compressors as you mentioned did not work for me either...no room when springs are in place. There is a set made that goes up the inside of the spring with "hooks " on either side that would work better and then they can be removed from the bottom before you put the shock in.
The lock wire I have is stainless steel..really strong. I obtained it back in my heli-logging days from the engineers working on the helicopters. Wonderfull stuff but I suspect kinda pricey for a full container of it. If there is a municipal airport nearby,perhaps search out an aircraft tech and see if he/she would sell you 10-15 feet of the stuff. It comes in different guages as well. I had about 4 wraps on the front springs on each side, make sure they are as close to opposite as they could/did slide together otherwise when I released the weight of the forks on the spring.

[wachuko]

These??

Internal Coil Springs compressor

[wachuko]

Jaime the last time I had to remove the springs we jacked up another car (grandpas 69 impala) put the coil under the frame somewhere and just slowly lowered the car to compress them. We used heavy gauge copper wire to bind them.

As a side this happened to me also as I pulled into a parking spot fortunately. We had a local welder fix it and off we went. Last I heard Jason over at millers mule was working on fabricating some x members tentatively to be released february, but i havent seen any on his site. I think reinforced welding on the original is a good alternative.

I have done suspension work in several other cars I have had... Miata, VW Golf, etc. But this Fiat beats them hands down in amount of work to be able to do any spring swap/replacement...

[wachuko]

Unfortunately this is a common problem. If you replace it with a used one check it thoroughly for cracks. Welding the seams will strengthen it and the spot where yours broke is a weak point.

Rob

I was going to discard the old one... what I will do is repair it, seam welded, install new bolts, etc. and keep it as a spare.

[wachuko]

Man, I feel like a fool.... guess what my father-in-law found in the bottom of one of the tool boxes



Sure beats the alternatives we were trying...





The other question we had... how to best remove the old ones to be able to install the new bushings?

[CajunMike]

The other question we had... how to best remove the old ones to be able to install the new bushings?

He he. Yeah good luck with those. When I did it last I put it in a big vise and beat the snot out of them. Your best bet is to find someone with a hydraulic press. Getting them out is half the fight. Getting the new ones in is just as challenging. We found a piece of steel pipe that fit neatly over the bushing up against the guide lip. We cut the pipe down to about 2" just above the bushing. And the beating commenced again.

Let me put it this way. I'd rather buy the whole a arm with bushings installed then mess with those again. Hydraulic press is the way to go.

[azygoustoyou]

I took the spring compressor tool back to Autozone. I told them I didn't even use it. I couldn't get it on the spring. He then told me they have a tool just for strut springs. Looks like I had the wrong tool. Oh well, I have to learn somehow. At least I didn't get hurt.

[wachuko]

The other question we had... how to best remove the old ones to be able to install the new bushings?

He he. Yeah good luck with those. When I did it last I put it in a big vise and beat the snot out of them. Your best bet is to find someone with a hydraulic press. Getting them out is half the fight. Getting the new ones in is just as challenging. We found a piece of steel pipe that fit neatly over the bushing up against the guide lip. We cut the pipe down to about 2" just above the bushing. And the beating commenced again.

Let me put it this way. I'd rather buy the whole a arm with bushings installed then mess with those again. Hydraulic press is the way to go.

Oh, brother... I needed an excuse to get a hydraulic press... this might be the perfect excuse.



We tried taking the arms apart from the wheel hub to take it to a local shop to use their press, but the ball joint would not come off... even using this to the point of almost breaking the tool did not work...

[CajunMike]

We tried taking the arms apart from the wheel hub to take it to a local shop to use their press, but the ball joint would not come off... even using this to the point of almost breaking the tool did not work...

Aah the joys of fiat suspension work. The sway bar bushings are fun too! That tool Looks kinda like what we used on the ball joints. I recall mine came off without much fuss. Hard to believe I did that 20 years ago and still recall what a pia it was.

[wachuko]

That spring compressor worked like a charm.



New shocks in:



Yeah, this is done...



It is alive and back on the road!!! Enjoy it Frank!!

A toast with espresso for a job well done

[Fiat88]

Great job!

[deftone]

great job guys....I wish the bodywork on my car looked as good as that!