Jaboski

Rented the spring compressor tool from advance (the one that goes on the inside of the coil) and im struggling to get it to compress. Before I do something stupid and lose a toe or god knows what, is there any tips you guys can give me so I can get this thing back together? Thank you!!!

midnightfirews6

iTrader: (1)

I just went through it on one side putting my del-a-lums in. Pretty nerve racking job, needless to say I'm taking it to a buddy's house and paying him to deal with the spring on the other side lol.
What I did was lay the spring on the ground, get the compressor in there good and square and make sure it wasn't going to slip, put the sole of my shoe on the side of the spring to keep it from rolling and just started turning on the wrench on the compressor. Takes a bit, very tedious and nerve racking. if it starts to slip or you get spooked loosen it up immediately and treat it like a gun and don't stick your face or anything important in front of either end. Once you get it cranked down enough, stick it in the a-arm, make sure the end of the spring is between or covering both drain holes in the a-arm, remove the Zerk fitting from the ball joint and start jacking the a-arm with the ball joint in the pocket of the jack. Jack 'er up slowly and get the strut bolts or castle nut on good and remove the compressor. The compressor might make some noise or slip as you jack it up, just make sure that it is seated good and can't go anywhere and other than making you sweat it won't do much of anything.

If anyone has never done this before, has stock length springs and is referencing this post: if you can find someone to help you with the springs or just do them for cheap I recommend it. Definitely one of the hardest and most dangerous jobs, and doing it alone with no experience sucks.

midnightfirews6

iTrader: (1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JCPG7qWuho
Anything I didn't cover this video should^
Main thing to take away from it is that when you get the spring compressed you don't want to bang it around too much during the install for obvious reasons.

BlueWrath92

iTrader: (1)

I ran a chain thru my spring and A arm for safe measures, if you do this make sure you leave plent of slack or things can get really annoying if you dont seat it on the 1st attempt.

1GU809

I removed the A-arm bushings and set everything in position, including running the compressor through the A-arm hole before I started compressing the spring. Also, I ended up using 3 bottle jacks...one under the ball joint, one under each bushing and pumped them evenly with every couple turns of the compressor (1/4"). It was tedious, but after I learned my lesson about NOT having a backup support, one of the compressor arms let go and I did THIS:

DeathStarr89

iTrader: (1)

What do you guys think about using some small hose clamps on the springs themselves to stop the compressor arms from slipping to the side?


I've got to do mine again this weekend to fix a non-level issue and was considering this.


One side of my car is 1" higher than the other, springs are seated correctly so i'm going to pull them both to figure out what's going on.

1GU809

Access getting them off once the spring is back in place could be an issue, unless you put them on before you start compressing and leave them on until the job's done.

DeathStarr89

iTrader: (1)

That's what i'm thinking. As long as i clock them right they should come off easy.


Just seems like that's the common problem, i had to stop and reposition the compressor a few times when I put the front end together last fall.

L695speed

I used this thread to help me get them in on my car, while nerve wracking it wasn't terrible doing it as described here. Even the spring compressor cranked the spring down using just a half inch drive ratchet.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...ml#post5268528

blackbmagic

The inner spring compressor is just fine. I have used it multiple times. You NEED to use a 4" piece of pipe as a spacer like this. Its a bit of a brain buster to figure out what coils and how to arrange the hooks but this works perfectly. Took me about a hour or two the first time I have ever done it. Now it takes under one hour to completely do R&R the front.


This is the best way to do the front springs with a compressor no ifs ands or buts. Its a bit quicker to wrap a chain or rope around the spring and A-arm and lower the arm to get the spring out but good luck getting it back in.

BTW this is what almost all of the stang guys use amoung others to remove and replace the springs. Not really a new concept just not widely known.

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

I did something similar to Blackbmagic, but I added a nut on the compressor shaft instead of the spacers.

You can see if between the 2nd & 3rd coil from the bottom