Hello all. Anyone have any tips or how to's on how to replace leaf springsin my 1968 firebird? Or should I just take it somewhere and have it done? I don't have a floor jack or jack stands, I would have to get them somewhere so I'm thinking price of parts plus jack and stands would be about the same as having it done. Any thoughts?

A floor jack and jack stands are absouletly necessary (unless you have a lift). Replacing the springs is not all that difficult and once you have the jack and stands, they will be there for the next job. The biggest problem I had when I replaced my springs was a few bolts that didn't want to give up. Other than that just take your time and be careful.

Those darn cage nuts on the forward mounts gave me the hardest time.. Other than that it was not too bad of a job...

A few other considerations for someone who does not own a jack and stands...

Do you own:

1. Torque wrench? For proper and safe installation...
2. A torch, or plasma cutter, or angle grinder, or cut-off wheel, or other method of cutting off the fasteners that don't come off voluntarily? (Success of bolt removal will vary by the amount of rust on the car)

As for how-to...it's pretty common sense for many if you look at it...and not for others. Service manual could be a valuable reference depending on your capabilities. But it's far from brain surgery for a mechanically inclined person...support everything, remove bolts, remove spring, reverse. Do one complete side at a time.

Now if it were me? I'd take the opportunity to pull the whole axle out of the car, replace U-joints, brake lines, clean & paint it...the BEST time to do all this is when replacing springs. But like everything else on these cars, a simple project often ballons.

In 2001 I set out to replace my rear leaf springs on my 1968. It led to a full frame rail and floor replacement project...essentially a rotisserie restoration without the rotisserie...all done on jackstands. This was not planned. It all started after a struggle with those dang cage nuts mentioned in the post before mine. But upon getting them torched out and removing the spring pockets I realized how bad the rest of the car was, and at that moment decided to just handle it all...took me over a decade in my spare time (cuz I burned out and let it sit for several years) before the car was driven under its own power again...I finally actually installed the springs I set out to replace in 2001...but not until 2012.

Yet others will just replace the springs and call it done. Every car and every person is different...

Sky's the limit.

Gotta love those simple quick little jobs.

Thanks for the advice guys. And Crazecars, wow talk about ambition. I don't think I have as much as you in this case. I may take on the task myself, I'm keeping my eyes out for used jack stands. Shouldn't be hard to find at all. Thanks again guys.

Start spraying the bolts now with pb blaster or wd-40 to help loosen them up while you're collecting tools.

Always recommended especially when dealing with cage nuts!

As a side note. I have found over the years two great products for helping with rusty fasteners. Aerokroil by Kano labs (www.kanolabs.com) is by far the best penetrating oil I have ever used. Gibbs oil (www.gibbsbrand.com) is a great product to coat any unpainted metal with or to use as a penatrating oil. I oil all my guns with this and they do not rust.

Both these products have saved my bacon on several occasions.

Tony, I hate to be a downer but if you lack these basic tools, or unless you have alot of money or VERY good friends that are handy, you might as well sell your Firebird because you prctically can't even replace a cotter pin without using a floor jack. And don't even think about getting under the car without jack stands or your momma will be very sad one day soon.
We all have to start somewhere but I just think about all the tools it takes to do a simple spring replacement and if I had to go out and get them all to do it...well it kind of boogles the mind.

Well said.