1) Loosen all of the front wheel lug nuts 1 ⁄ 2 turn.

2) Apply the parking brake, block the rear wheels, then raise and safely support the front of the vehicle securely on jackstands.

3) Remove the front wheel. Unbolt the brake caliper and suspend it out of the way.

4) Remove the engine skid plate, if equipped.

5) Support the lower control arm with a floor jack.

6) Remove the 3 nuts and bolts from the control arm, or remove the castellated nut from the ball joint, and separate the control arm from the steering knuckle.

7) Disconnect the stabilizer bar from the control arm.

CAUTION

The coil spring is under pressure. Make sure control arm is firmly supported with a hydraulic jack before continuing with procedure. If this precaution is not observed, serious bodily injury may result.

Fig. 1: To remove the coil spring, first remove the steering knuckle. Next, lower and pull down on the control arm and grasp hold of the spring

8) Remove the lower strut mounting bracket bolts and disconnect the strut bracket from the steering knuckle.

9) Lower the control arm enough to remove the steering knuckle assembly.

Fig. 2: Pull the spring down and away from the vehicle. Note that the spring’s top (A) is a smaller diameter than its bottom (B)

10) Lower the jack until all tension is removed from the coil spring. Remove the coil spring from the vehicle.

To install:

1) Install the coil spring onto the control arm and slowly raise the jack.

NOTE: The bottom of the spring has a larger diameter than the top. Make sure that the spring is installed correctly.

Fig. 3: When installing the spring, make sure that the end of the coil (A) is fully seated in the control arm pocket (B)

2) Install the strut-to-knuckle mounting nuts and bolts and tighten to specifications.

3) Connect the stabilizer link to the control arm. Tighten the nut to the value specified in the torque chart located at the end of this section.

4) If removed, install the 3 nuts and bolts connecting the control arm and ball joint. Tighten the nuts to 51–75 ft. lbs. (70–100 Nm).

5) If removed, install and tighten the ball joint castle nut to 33–50 ft. lbs. (45–70 Nm). Insert a new cotter pin through the castle nut and ball joint stud holes, then bend the cotter pin ends over. If none of the castle nut grooves are aligned with the hole in the ball joint stud hole, continue tightening the castle nut until one of the grooves is aligned with the stud hole, then install the cotter pin.

6) Install the engine skid plate. Tighten the bolts to 40 ft. lbs. (54 Nm).

7) Install the brake caliper and the front wheels, then lower the vehicle.