# Front coil spring interference



## kevin1727 (Aug 4, 2021)

Trying to find the source of some strange front end noise and I think I may have found it. Maybe even the cause of some handling issues?
The driver side front coil spring is not centered and seems to curve outward over the length. It hits against the upper a-arm housing.

Any ideas on what was done wrong during installation to cause this?

I'm guessing the spring wasn't indexed correctly and doesn't sit flat at top or bottom.
If that's the case, can it be compressed and rotated without taking the whole a-arm assembly apart?

This is the driver side. Spring hits where arrow marks. You can see the spring is not centered around the shock.










Here is the passenger side for comparison. The spring is centered around the shock and plenty of clearance between the spring and a-arm.


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## AZTempest (Jun 11, 2019)

Defiantly looks like it's not seated properly. Note in the manual also states, "Upper end of coil spring must be visible in frame pocket hole at upper control arm shaft". You should be able to adjust the spring with a proper compressor with just having to pull the shock to allow clearance for the tool. One thing I would also do is get in there and make sure you don't have a cracked/broken spring. Happened to my Father-in-law and his looked similar before we saw the damage. 

Jim


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## Sick467 (Oct 29, 2019)

I have the body off my 67 and have been walking around it scratching my head as to what to do next...Both of my front springs are not centered around the shock. Not as bad as your first pic, more like the second. It makes me wonder if worn A-arm bushings could contribute to that? Just a thought.


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## kevin1727 (Aug 4, 2021)

It's an all new front end. Two inch drop spindles. Some parts were reused but it was supposedly checked by the alignment shop.


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## lust4speed (Jul 5, 2019)

Looks to simply be the installer didn't insure the spring was centered properly in the upper mount. The top has the frame steel folded over about a half inch all the way around the inside to form a shallow locating pocket and very easy to offset the spring. It will take a spring compressor to compress and take the pressure off the top of the spring so it can be moved, but the process can be done without taking off either of the ball joints. If you had someone do it for you I'd go back and have them properly center the spring.

I think you are going to hate the drop spindles. My experience is that the car will sit too low and the crossmember might only end up about 3" off the ground -- or low enough that if you have a flat the frame will be lower than the bottom of the rim. While I say crossmember, the headers or transmission pan might be the contact point even with just compressing the suspension going through a dip in the road.


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