I'm trying to reinstall my WS6 springs and having a lot of difficulty. I've seen about using a pipe nipple as a spacer, which I cannot recommend. It is not very safe.

This is what happens after only a few uses:





My solution to that disaster waiting to happen, heavy wall tubing and 2 grade 8 flat washers on each end. Much safer.



I've read many threads, including this one which did seem to help point me in the right direction, but I'm still not there.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...y-install.html

I'm using UMI A-arms.

My first attempt was with 5 and 6" pipe nipples. Aside from the safety issue, they just don't work. I got the spring compressed once with the 5" where it seemed like it might have gone in but the nipple was holding the rod out too far and it was hitting the a-arm before the spring could seat.
So I went back to the drawing board, took some measurements of the spring pocket and required spring length for installation so I can try to modify the compressor to work. I made the spacer pictured above a length that keeps the screw within the extents of the spring so that it cannot interfere with the installation. I also cut about 2.5" off of the threaded portion of the rod which is the most I can remove while still being able to assemble and use the compressor on the spring. With this, it will only compress to about 11.5". My measurements indicate that the spring needs to go to about 10.25" to just "fall in" but I'm sure it would go if it were not quite 10.25". However, 10.25" or thereabouts just isn't going to happen. At the 11.5" compressed length I am able to achieve, the threaded portion of the screw is about 1 1/8" from the top of the spring and insulator which is about as far as it can go without hitting the metal in the spring pocket.

This is the modified compressor:



This is the spring compressed to about 11.5" At this height, I can get the end of the spring against the orient but if I lift or jack up on the a arm, the spring just pushes toward the outside of the car.



Who here has installed stock WS6 springs and how did you do it? I have no interest in lowering the car so let's not go there.

 

I had a brain storming session with a friend and he suggested a potentially simple solution, use a ratchet strap to hold the spring while I jack on the a arm. It worked. It prevents the spring from being pushed toward the outside of the car while the a arm is raised.



Installed!

 

Gotta love a good ratchet strap fix,I use them to collapse snowmobile rear suspensions for easy installation

 

The pipe nipple trick worked for me when I had mine out to put in my del-alums. It did grind the pipe nipple down some like your picture shows and I was a bit concerned, but it got the job done pretty smoothly.

You said you cut the rod though, why even bother with the pipe nipple then? After the ordeal with the driver side (never really got comfortable with the spring compressor, made the mistake of reading a bunch of horror stories halfway through the install ) I took it to a buddy's shop and paid him to do the passenger side while I was at work. He told me that he just cut the threaded rod low enough that there was no clearance issue with the K member and cranked it down and put it in, no pipe nipple required.

 

I didn't want a third gen only tool. The spacer does allow me to leave the screw longer which might be necessary for the springs of other vehicles.

I stumbled upon this, which shows another method for holding the spring in the pocket while jacking the A-arm.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/susp...new-style.html