Quick And Easy Rear Spring Replacement With Zip Ties (No wrenches required)

[old guy]

Yes you read that right. With High Strength industrial Grade Zip-Ties available from McMaster-Carr ($7 each) Each zip-tie is rated for 1,130 lbs. I used three per spring for a total holding force of 3,400 lbs.

First jack up the rear of the car and place jack stands under both sides. You need to jack up both sides to unload the rear sway bar and allow more downward movement of the suspension.

Remove rear wheel.

Place your floor jack underneath the bottom of the rear spring perch and fully load the rear spring. Attach three zip-ties around rear spring. Lower floor jack and remove spring.

Here is the spring zip-tied and removed from the car.


Next you will need to use you spring compressors (Available from Harbor Freight $30) to remove the zip-ties for reuse.

Removing the straps from OEM spring.


Then use your spring compressors to compress your new spring and add straps to hold it in a compressed state.

New spring compressed and zipped.


Ready for installation.


Look at all that room!


Use your floor jack to fully load the spring. This will release the tension on the zip-ties and allow you to reach in and remove them. Done! Lower the floor jack and proceed to the other side. Total job this morning took about 1 hour start to finish.

[h_curtis]

How lucky I am to now have old guy on this forum. Guess I am following you around from the B6 forum to here. Nice write up as usual. Seems you are playing around with your A5 already. :)

[mcbuck]

Shit, that is awesome!


Buck
Sent from this little electronic gizmo

[old guy]

Seems you are playing around with your A5 already. :)

Yep. It's been a slow start. Just doing a few cosmetic things for now.

* 20mm front/25mm rear spacers.
* H&R springs.
* Cleaned up front grille to remove license plate mounting holes.
* Painted the calipers.
* Tinted all the glass.
* Blacked out the chrome window trim with Shadowline trim tape.

I will eventually get into some performance mods. Meanwhile I still have the A4 if I want to do some "stupid" driving.

[JamesRS5]

Be extremely careful zipping up a spring, there's an incredible amount of energy stored up in a compressed car spring, if the zip-tie breaks all hell will unleash and you can cause some pretty significant damage/injury. There's a reason spring compressors are so robust.

If you undo the lower damper bolt, you should be able to drop the spring out with the need for a compressor.

[wkhanna]

.......there's an incredible amount of energy stored up in a compressed car spring...........There's a reason spring compressors are so robust.

as a former mechanic, i can attest to this......
......fortunately, the mechanic at my shop was not hospitalized.....

[old guy]

Be extremely careful zipping up a spring, there's an incredible amount of energy stored up in a compressed car spring, if the zip-tie breaks all hell will unleash and you can cause some pretty significant damage/injury. There's a reason spring compressors are so robust.

If you undo the lower damper bolt, you should be able to drop the spring out with the need for a compressor.

I was working alone and I don't think I could have wrangled the spring out by simply removing the lower shock bolt by myself. That's where dropping the sub-frame a little comes in and I really didn't want to mess with that.

And believe me, I have no desire to hurt myself. I did do my homework before I decided to use the zip-ties. The H&R OE sport spring rates are 480 lb/in front and 200 lb/in rear. that is what makes the rear springs such a pain to remove. They are very long and have a considerable amount of compression in order to build the load support. In unloaded form they are a little under 13". I compressed them down to almost 8" for a total load of around 1,000 lb. I probably could have done it with 2 zip ties but opted for three for a triple safety factor.

[h_curtis]

Yep. It's been a slow start. Just doing a few cosmetic things for now.

* 20mm front/25mm rear spacers.
* H&R springs.
* Cleaned up front grille to remove license plate mounting holes.
* Painted the calipers.
* Tinted all the glass.
* Blacked out the chrome window trim with Shadowline trim tape.

I will eventually get into some performance mods. Meanwhile I still have the A4 if I want to do some "stupid" driving.

Slow start. lol Geez, I haven't done anything but debadge the sides and get rid of the advertising on the back from the dealer.

Nice to read your posts. Sort of comforting you are here. :) I would like to see your before and after shots when you get a chance. Not sure what I am going to do with my S5. Might go APR stage I only. No messing with the pully at this time, but people on the S4 forum don't agree with me.

[wkhanna]

And believe me, I have no desire to hurt myself. I did do my homework before I decided to use the zip-ties.

my intent was not to criticize your method, only warn everyone else of the potential hazards when working with compressed springs.
it has been my experience that it is the stuff we take for granted that gets one in trouble......for instance ...... using under-rated jack stands.....

also, in the spirit of full disclosure, i am currently a design assurance engineer in the medical robotics industry, it is my day-job to worry about what may go wrong...

[old guy]

Your comments were not taken as a criticism but rather as a totally valid statement. If anyone decides to use my method they should handle the spring by the straps rather than the coils.

[RockJGC]

Is it possible to do a similar method on the front springs? Just asking, I haven't even looked at the suspension yet...

[old guy]

Is it possible to do a similar method on the front springs? Just asking, I haven't even looked at the suspension yet...

Unfortunately no. It isn’t too difficult but it does require dismantling the front suspension.

[JamesRS5]

My standard front springs came out without any need for compressing, we replaced the OE front springs for KW HAS with the damper still connected to the DRC pipes.
Pain in the ass but doable.

[Nollywood]

I'll be using OG's method when my springs turn up.

Thanks, Old Guy!

[base14]

Yes you read that right. With High Strength industrial Grade Zip-Ties available from McMaster-Carr ($7 each) Each zip-tie is rated for 1,130 lbs. I used three per spring for a total holding force of 3,400 lbs.

Use your floor jack to fully load the spring. This will release the tension on the zip-ties and allow you to reach in and remove them. Done! Lower the floor jack and proceed to the other side. Total job this morning took about 1 hour start to finish.

Are these zip ties reusable, or is it a one time use for each spring?

[old guy]

Are these zip ties reusable, or is it a one time use for each spring?

I used the same zip ties to replace both rear springs. I then gave them to another AZ member to do his springs. At that point I told him to throw them out rather than return them to me.

Once the zip tie is unloaded you need to use a small screwdriver to lift up on the latch to release the tie.

[rj124104]

I used the same zip ties to replace both rear springs. I then gave them to another AZ member to do his springs. At that point I told him to throw them out rather than return them to me.

Once the zip tie is unloaded you need to use a small screwdriver to lift up on the latch to release the tie.

Can you give the exact link to what you bought? I need to do this probably this week.

Should I use 4 to be even more safe? I reallllyyyyy don't want to risk injury

[old guy]

I purchased four but only used three. Three should hold 3,400 lbs which is a safety factor of a little over 3X. Use four if you want. Nothing wrong with being safe!

[

[Jaywalker]

This thread is like Manna from heaven. I have springs on the way, and was getting a dry mouth trying to visualize this install going smoothly after reading a dozen DIY's. Now I only feel that way half the time when thinking about the fronts...lol Can I assume then that this method will work equally well on my '04 A4?

[old guy]

This thread is like Manna from heaven. I have springs on the way, and was getting a dry mouth trying to visualize this install going smoothly after reading a dozen DIY's. Now I only feel that way half the time when thinking about the fronts...lol Can I assume then that this method will work equally well on my '04 A4?

I can't say for sure. But I don't see why not. When I replaced the rear springs on my A4 (back in 2003;-) I had access to a one sided spring compressor that did the trick in minutes.

[scottst]

I finally got around to ordering a set of these zip ties from mcmaster ( PN #1168N3 ) today in prep for my upcoming suspension job. Also ordered a B8.5 "nuts and bolts" kit from DAP -- hopefully that will have most of what I need. I just need the parts to be released/shipped from NC. They made it from Germany in a day and have been stuck on teh east coast for a week. I know, folks have bigger issues w/the weather at the moment.

[pattyt]

Wondering if anyone can identify the actual manufacturer of these cable ties? I can't order through McMasterCarr in Canada due to restrictions on shipments. Therefore, need to find an alternate route to get my hands on these.

thanks!

[pattyt]

Managed to find something:
https://hcl-clamping.com/products/he...mm-22inch-pa12

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Managed to find something:
https://hcl-clamping.com/products/he...mm-22inch-pa12

Page not found - The page you are looking for cannot be found.

But I'm assuming it's this one? https://hcl-clamping.com/products/he...4a85744e&_ss=r

How did they work out? Was 22" long enough?