Replacing front coil springs

Issues with shocks/springs, tires, steering box, stopping, etc.
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edj710k
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Replacing front coil springs

Post by edj710k »

Hello, I am having my mechanic replace the front coil springs on my 710K. He has jacked up the diff, and removed the limit strap and shock. But even with the coils squeezed together is unable to get enough space to get the spring assembly to come out. Is there a trick to this?
-Erik in Colorado
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pcolette
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Re: Replacing front coil springs

Post by pcolette »

There is a custom coil spring compressor that is specific to the Pinzgauers. They were only available from Steyr and no third party ones exist as far as I know. You might try contacting Expedition Imports. They at one time would rent the special tools. A few members on this forum own the compressor and perhaps may offer some help.

Here's a link to the process: http://madscientisthut.com/sdp-pin/html ... ement.html
Paul C.
_________
'73 Swiss 710M
'89 Puch 230GE
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4x4Pinz
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Re: Replacing front coil springs

Post by 4x4Pinz »

yet another front spring change. I can not count the number of people who go down this road. It seems that every one of them has reported no difference or very little, myself included in this group. I even went so far as to have custom springs made but still no change, all it did was break a lot of limiting straps. The pinz naturally seems to have a little camber issue and people just can not live with it. As always when they do get changed post up some photos and what you did so we can see the difference.
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rmel
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Re: Replacing front coil springs

Post by rmel »

Two comments,

First NEVER EVER attempt to replace a Pinz spring with anything but the Pinz spring compressor or you will risk serious injury.
Ironically I loaned out my Spring compressor to a local custom shop, they attempted to replace the springs on a customers 710,
using what they thought to be a heavy duty OEM spring compressor, it nearly blow up in his face -- the jacking screws bent and
the spring nearly sprung. He then reached out to me to borrow my Pinz compressor, he was amazed at it's robustness. Truth be
told this is a repo from Fat Fab and worth every penny. I just picked it up today from that shop !!

Second comment, check your toe-in, a low or "squatting" stance in the forward direction could be improper toe-in and not the
springs. A quick check is to roll forward 12' measure the height to ground in the front then roll backward 12' measure the height.
You should be lower in the reverse direction and higher in the forward if it's the opposite then your toe-in needs to be corrected
or if there is no change then your toe-in is about Zero and that's not good either. There should be about 1" to 2" difference.
Puller: 71' 710K 2.7L EFI aka Mozo
Follower: Sankey MK 3, 3/4 Tonne
Rescue Pinz: 73' 712MK

Driver: Ron // KO0Q
Bumber
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Re: Replacing front coil springs

Post by Bumber »

It seems no one ever does the math. If you do the math, and if I remember correctly, these springs exert over 6000 lbs pressure. Most normal spring compressors won't fit, and if they do, they will explode on full pressure. You can make a spring compressor, which is what I did. My local speed shop, Black Dog Speed Shop charged me a pretty penny to make it, but we used thick hardened steel plates and robust screws. It worked fine.

There is, however, a special technique. While the Pinzgauer is on the ground, remove the limiting strap and apply the spring compressor, and tighten by hand. Now lift the front end of the Pinzgauer to a fully lifted position with both wheels off the ground. If your truck is stable, you can use another jack to lift up on the axle you are trying to compress as much as possible to get just a little more compression. Now tighten the compressor again. Now when you lower the jack holding the axle/wheel, there should be enough space for the spring to fall right out. BE VERY CAREFULL. THERE IS ENOUGH POTENTIAL ENERGY IN THAT COMPRESSED SPING TO KILL OR MAIM YOU. With the spring laying on the floor slowly and evenly loosen the compressor until it all falls apart. Install in reverse order. Before installing be sure to inspect and replace the caps or spacers as necessary. It is common for the top to rust out.

Hope this helps.

Bumber
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4x4Pinz
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Re: Replacing front coil springs

Post by 4x4Pinz »

bumber,
very similar process with the exception that I use my shop press to install/remove the spring compressor in a similar fashion to the way you mention using the truck and jacks. This has been about as safe a process as I have found when dealing with these springs. As has been mentioned above the lowered/raised front ends is usually a result of something else other then bad springs.
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