Front end arms way too low

[markintheair]

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of restoring my 124. I got new front arms from VAS a couple of years back. Now i'm trying to put the front end together again but something is clearly wrong:




The arms are pointing down and i can't for the life of me get them up. It looks like the spring is too big or whatever. Does anyone have a clue what I'm doing wrong? At first I thought maybe I switched the rear and front springs, but they are different diameters.

[bobplyler]

The spring cup at the top looks too big.

[Nut124]

Did you use a spring compressor?

The spring needs to be compressed somehow before the final assembly in place so that the shock top nuts can be put in place.

Looks like the top arm may be interfering with the coil, is it?

I would consider separating the top arm from the knuckle and raising it up. Then jack up the bottom arm compressing the spring until the shock top nut can be installed. Then fit the top arm to the knuckle.

Or, jack up the bottom and use a prybar or similar to try to relieve any interference between the coil and the upper arm.

[Nut124]

This vid is pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHr8TYjeiBw

[markintheair]

Did you use a spring compressor?

The spring needs to be compressed somehow before the final assembly in place so that the shock top nuts can be put in place.

Looks like the top arm may be interfering with the coil, is it?

I would consider separating the top arm from the knuckle and raising it up. Then jack up the bottom arm compressing the spring until the shock top nut can be installed. Then fit the top arm to the knuckle.

Or, jack up the bottom and use a prybar or similar to try to relieve any interference between the coil and the upper arm.

Yeah I used a compressor, compressed it nearly all the way in.
Indeed the top arm is interfering with the coil. I couldn't see it from the outside, but when looking closely indeed it's stuck there, so thanks for pointing me in that direction. I'm going to try the prybar today!

Wish me luck... I'm scared of these coils, seen so many accidents online with them. Not my cup of tea.

[markintheair]

The spring cup at the top looks too big.

It's a plastic ring first, and then a rubber cup that fits neatly over it. It's all new and quite bigger than what I took off. The old one was worn down greatly, but ths is supposed to be original.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong here?

[markintheair]

This vid is pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHr8TYjeiBw

Great vid! Crazy to see how similar the Ladas and Fiats are...

[18Fiatsandcounting]

If you do decide to loosen one of the ball joints from the steering knuckle, be very careful with the compressed spring. Lots of energy stored in that spring, and it can (will) do some damage if it lets loose all of a sudden.

I noted that you have vented brake rotors. Very nice! But is there anything else about the front suspension that isn't the stock configuration? Anything that might cause the issue you have?

To me, it looks like the suspension is hanging way low because the top mount of the shock absorber is loose, and of course the car is off the ground. I'd try jacking up the car by the lower a-arm and see if that compresses the spring enough to be able to insert the top of the shock through the hole in the body (with the appropriate rubber bushings and cupped washers on each side) and secure it with a nut from the engine compartment side. You may need to extend the shock to its full extension by hand.

-Bryan

[Nut124]

You will need to get the jack placed so it acts on the outer end of the lower arm to compress the spring. I'd place it right under the lower ball joint.

If you jack it up as shown in your pic it will lift the car rather than compress the spring.

[Anbele]

Also—and this might be the picture—but those springs coil gage look much thicker than stock? Thus, much difficult to compress?

[markintheair]

OK, so it's been a couple of days (and Christmas of course) but I've ended up taking the whole thing off again. Indeed the coil was interfering with the arm:



At first I tried the prybar method, but that did not work.

I changed the top ball joint nuts one at a time with long studs:



Also, I put a jack under the arm to "catch" the arm. I started decompressing the coil very slowly so I could safely take it off.

Another angle:



I recompressed the springs at my local shop and wrapped them in wire. Removed the compressor and put the spring (in compressed state) back in the arms, but this time I've put the upper arm in the upmost position first. After that, I've put my jack under the arm again and started jacking the lower arm up. Slowly but surely, I could reconnect the upper arm again. With the regular bolts this time, not the long studs.

Long story short, my car is now finally on it's wheels again. Properly this time!

Oh and I didn't forget the rubber by the way, I've put it on before reassembly.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Congrats for getting it back together, but I'm curious: What was the issue the first time you tried to put it together?

Also, in looking at the final picture, something just seems odd to me, but I can't put my finger on it. When the car is sitting on the ground normally, the lower A-arm is pretty much horizontal, just like you have it in the picture with the jack supporting the lower A-arm. However, the upper A-arm seems to be bent at an extreme angle. It's almost like the upper A-arm is attached to the car body in the wrong place, or the wheel spindle / steering knuckle is the wrong one for this car. Did a different steering knuckle get swapped into this car for the vented disc brakes?

Just looks odd to me, but what do others think?

-Bryan

[markintheair]

You're right, Bryan. That picture was still from before I took the whole thing apart.

The initial problem was that I started assembling the arms when the upper arm was all the way down. I placed the spring and started jacking the compressed coil and as soon as I could, connected the upper joint to the upper arm (still all the way down), thus locking the arm in one of the coil rings, so to say.

The final product looks a lot better:



It's still angled a bit downwards, but that's because the engine is yet to be installed.

Next up: some new steering joints!

[18Fiatsandcounting]

It's still angled a bit downwards, but that's because the engine is yet to be installed.

Ahh, I didn't realize the engine was out of the car. That would explain things, and my recollection is that the front of the car is 1 or 2 inches higher with the engine out.

-Bryan