Why replace your rear coil springs?

Over time and with heavy use the coil springs will eventually sag. Even more so when off-roading and carrying heavy loads. As soon as you spot this it’s best to change them as soon as possible.

While we were changing the coil springs we took the opportunity to inspect some other parts: tie rods, silent blocks, connecting rods... Most of the parts have already been changed recently on the vehicle, but not the rear stabilizer bar connecting rods. As we have to remove the rods to change the coil springs, we’ll replace them at the same time.

In this article, we explain step by step how to replace the rear coil springs.

We will be changing the coil springs on a Toyota KDJ 95.

This tutorial is valid for a number of 4x4 models.

TOOLS REQUIRED

To change the rear coil springs on a  4x4, you will need:

  • Workshop jack or bottle jack
  • Axle stands
  •  Blocks and planks of wood
  •  Flat spanners
  •   Ratchet + sockets
  •   Hex keys
  •   Hammer
  • Releasing oil

DIFFICULTY LEVEL

To give you an idea of the level of difficulty of our tutorials, we have rated them from 1 to 5.

Replacing the rear coil springs on your 4x4 is a level 2 job.

WORKSHOP

1 - We started by securing the vehicle with the axle stands and then removed the rear wheels. 

2 - The rear coil springs are not bolted in position, they are simply held in place by compression.

To remove them, you will have to disconnect the stabilizer bar (in our case, from the drop links), then loosen the lower bolt of the shock absorbers, and finally tilt the axle from one side to the other to gain some movement.

We started with the drop links, this was the longest part because they were a little tired and seized up.

3 - Due to their condition, we ended up using a grinder, which is not always necessary.

4 - Next step was to loosen the lower fixing of the shock absorbers. All it needed was a simple turn of the spanner.

5 – The axle was now free to move. We repositioned the jack to raise one end of the axle thereby releasing the coil spring on the opposing side. We removed it by simply pulling on it. We then did the same thing on the other side.

6 - Seeing the old one next to the new one, it was definitely time to change them.

7 - Fitting the new spring is done the same way but in reverse order. Take care to properly seat the first coil of the spring in the notch on the mount on top of the axle.

The operation is identical on both sides. Don’t tighten the shock absorbers yet.

8 - Next step was fitting the new stabilizer drop links.

9 - You can now drop the vehicle back down and tighten up the shock absorbers.

10 - We chose the slightly harder springs designed for the eight-seater version, to suit the set-up of our KDJ95 (a 5-door converted into a 2-seater). Be careful though, these are not heavy duty coil springs capable of supporting steel bumpers, double tanks, etc.

Parts

Find the coil springs to suit your vehicle:

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Article d'Alix et Gauthier - blog.pumbaoverland.com

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