I am looking to replace the rear springs on my 96 Sable wagon. The Haines or Chilton manual does not cover this. It looks like it could be easy if I could get a spring compressor on the spring while in the car. But I have done a dry run and my compressor will not fit in there. Also it will not close enough to capture two adjacent coils. I am not sure any conventional spring compressor I have seen will do it. The dealer may have some special tool. I don’t know. Has any one done this job and if so , can you offer some tips.
I don’t want to remove half the rear suspension to find out later there is some trick to doing this.
Thank you in advance.
I had same problem with my 96 Sable sedan. I figured I’d let the mechanic do it; too big a job for me.
Autozone has online repair guides and they cover this procedure. I can’t post a link b/c you have to register and plug in your car info. You can do that and then just go to the suspension and steering section. You can check it out there to decide whether or not you want to mess with it.
Each rear coil spring is controlled by three bar-like devices called Rotunda Spring Cage 164-R3555, for spring removal. Here are drawings showing these installed on the coil springs: http://www.justanswer.com/questions/kgaj-replacing-the-springs-in-a-1997-ford-thunderbird