I have been viewing posts about what spring compressor to use for years.

Those things will kill you and are not needed.

So don't use them.

Assuming that the old springs are out and the a arm can swing all the way to the ground because the car is safely HIGH ENOUGH on jackstands...

Keep the strut attached to the spindle. If you car has the stock one piece rotors you may want to remove them as them may interfere with the jack placement in the a arm.

Tie a rope through the new spring and the hole in the a arm, so it will not become a projectile. I go go 1/2 way up the coils. Use a rope not a clothes line.

Try to position the new spring in the upper mount. It will not stay there yet.

You can also put a piece of pipe or breaker bar up through the hole in the a arm to help guide the spring and get some leverage to tweak it into place.

Put a floor jack on the ball joint with a block of wood a 2x4x4 works well with a small hole drilled in it to accomodate the grease nipple on the ball joint. This keep you from ruining the grease fitting and keeps the wood in place and from slipping off the a arm. You need to jack from the outside of the a arm as I mention or you will not get enough leverage and will start raising the car vs compressing the spring. You also need a jack that will go high enough or you can stack 2x12s on the floor under you jack.

Start jacking with one hand and the jack and the other guiding the spring. At some point the slack will be taken out and the spring will not fall out. While doing this you need to guide the strut toward the strut mount hole and the strut should be compressed enough to clear the fender well. You can push the piston down by hand.

NOW start twisting the spring until it is properly indexed in the a arm with the pig tail. You may need to use a pry bar to do this.

It it is too tight to move release pressure on the jack and keep wiggling. You get the idea. Keep an eye on the strut to make sure it will clear the fender.

Keep jacking.

As soon as the strut thread poke out of the hole in the mount put an nut on it and get hand tighten it. That is all you need at this point.

Do the other side.

Let the car down remove rope. Properly tighten the strut nuts with an impact. reattach sway bars.

Using this method, it takes me longer to jack up the car, remove the brake calibers from the spindle and tie them off so they do not need to be re bleed and remove the sway bar end links than it does to swap the springs.

I have used this for stock and after market springs. It works real well for short springs and a weight jack.

 

works good for short springs, but will not work with moroso trick springs.

 

That's how I did my 97 Tahoe 3" lowering spring years ago.

To take the stockers out, I essentially did the same thing. I just wrapped a chain around the LCA & the spring before lowering the arm, so it couldn't fly out if it popped loose but was still under pressure. I had no problems doing that.

 

So a rope is safer and easier to use than a tool designed for the job, hm. I second diggler's motion that no way in hell this would work with drag springs.

 

It is regretful that this technique will not work for drag springs.

I was trying to be helpful for all those folks which were having such a challenge trying to install stock and aftermarket lowering springs.

I have not yet experienced the challenge of installing drag springs. Those must be a real bear.

 

taking a spring out sucks putting one in isnt to bad....lol.

 

It isn't hard putting drag springs in, it's just that they are such a low spring rate that they have to end up being a lot longer than the stock ones when not compressed. Once in the car, they still have a bowed out look like they aren't straight up and down.

 

Worked for my moog 5664 springs. The tool "designed" for the job isn't designed for these cars, hence all the "work arounds" to get them to do the job.
This method is easy and safe. I didn't even use rope. When you do it, you notice how there isn't really any place for the a-arm to go....

 

I have yet to see a spring compressor that worked right on one of these cars. there just isnt any room... I'm not saying that there isnt one that works....Just that I've never seen it...

 

i used a spring compressor when i put my springs in, i used a chain and bolt when taking them out.

 

I "rented" a spring compressor from Autozone. Not a single issue. Although the spring compressor I borrowed from a mechanic did not work. But they do makes the job a millon times easier than without one.