No, the spring will not come flying out on your '83 SD, don't worry. There are welded stops in place that prevent the suspension from ever dropping far enough to release the spring. The shock does hold the suspension off the stops, but only about 1.5 inches. If you forget to take the top nut off the shock first, it will just go "pop" and drop onto the stops. I used a small box end wrench for the hard to get bolt on the bottom, but I did have to grind it pretty thin to fit. PM me with any questions, I just did this job..