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turbojimmy's avatar
turbojimmy
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014

Front Air Bag Replacement - Chevy P30 Chassis

I'll acknowledge that this subject has been beaten to death, but all of the replies have to do with squeezing the new bags through the little hole in the bottom of the control arm. Has anyone simply removed the coil springs?

I have done this on several cars - disconnect the lower balljoint and lower the control arm with a jack until there is no more tension on the spring. There is the possibility that the spring will fly out and remove your head from your shoulders, but so long as you stand clear it can be done. I've never had a spring fly out. Reinstallation is pretty much the same - you wedge the spring back in the pocket with a crowbar and jack the lower control arm up using the weight of the car (or RV) to compress it. Put the nut back on the lower ball joint and you're good to go.

It seems to me that this is less time consuming, and less frustrating. Or am I missing something? Can you not safely remove the coil spring in the manner I described?

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