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Therefore, you can’t compress the spring anymore, even if you still have more to compress. This strut spring compressor from 8MILELAKE has drop forged jaws that have a minimum jaw distance of four inches and a maximum opening of 14 inches. The jaws and lead screws are heat treated for optimal performance, and the zinc-plated tool fits most Macpherson struts. The first is the ubiquitous style with a pair of threaded rods, each of which have pronged “claws” at the top and bottom. You place one of them on each side of the spring, then tighten them evenly with a wrench or a socket on the nut at the top of the rod. Because, structurally, there’s not much to them, and because if they break or slip the results can be catastrophic, these claw compressors have gotten a bad rap over the years.
Also, check that the tips of the spring are still lined up with the top and bottom perches as you are jacking up the shock assembly. As you do this, you can go back to the wheel well and make sure that you guide the top shock mount bolt through the top opening. If you don’t guide it through this opening properly, you’ll basically be pressing the top shock mount bolt right into the strut mount . There’s always some level of risk when working on cars, but I feel this supplemental warning is warranted when dealing with springs.
The Safe Way to Compress a Strut or Coilover Spring
Slowly jack up the floor jack and you will see the LCA begin to lift the shock assembly into place. Remember that prior to raising the whole assembly with the floor jack, the bolt that comes out of the top of the shock is sitting right below the level of the top strut mount. Therefore, when you raise the whole assembly with the floor jack, you need to do it very, very slowly with very slight increases in height. Remove the large center nut and this will disconnect the spring and shock from the upper shock mount. Therefore, when you bring the LCA down along with the spring and shock, it will be supported against the upper shock mount when decompressing the spring.
The tool requires very little effort to use, and the jaws securely grab onto the spring. The design also allows you to have something to hold onto while you're doing the job, which is very convenient. This compressor comes in a carrying case, which is a big plus. The Branick is expensive, however, and you should be aware that it may be more compressor than you need before you purchase it.
Diy spring compressor
When disassembling the front struts on your BMW, the springs must be compressed with a tool to relieve the pressure on the strut mount so the top lock nut can be removed . Removing the lock nut allows the strut to be disassembled so all of the parts, including the spring, can be transfer over to the new strut. The tricky part for the home mechanic is compressing the spring.
If you do need to disassemble/reassemble the shock assembly, you can go about it several ways. This process doesn’t involve snipping pieces of your springs off, just heating them up enough to compress the coils tighter than they already were to lower your ride height. You just need to remove the wheel, heat up a portion of the spring to make it malleable and compress it, heat and repeat. The process is not difficult, so anyone with garage access and a little know-how can accomplish this modification. Since lowering springs are designed to work with your existing factory suspension, they can simply replace your coil springs. Always check your strut spring compressor before using it.
Lower the Opposite Side of the Car
The ones I own are probably 40 years old, high quality, American made, and the claws are plenty long enough to wrap around the spring and hold it. I see that some of the new ones now being sold address the slippage issue by having pins that lock the claws in place around the spring. Use the strut spring compressor to compress the spring.
The best way to do this is to compress the strut spring continuously in tiny increments, switching back and forth between both sides. You should do this until sufficient tension has been relieved from the strut spring. The ABN 9210 MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor takes tension off to safely remove strut and spring assembly.
Are coil springs under extreme pressure?
With the proper tools and procedures, spring compression and removal can be performed safely, but if you jury-rig it, you’re courting danger. I’ve been wrenching on my own cars for 40 years, have pulled apart a lot of shocks and springs, and have never even come close to having a mishap. I more think about it the same way I do jacking up a car and working under it—something with risk that needs to be managed with proper tools and practices.
Place the socket over the top of the spring and ratchet it down tight. The first step requires you to raise the front section of the vehicle. 2.1 The first step requires you to raise the front section of the vehicle. My goal is to provide helpful articles and tutorials based on my experience and research related to car maintenance and automotive detailing. When I'm not writing and not working my day job, you can find me spending time with my family and working on home and car projects.
The other three nuts that surround the center nut hold the shock assembly to the body of the vehicle. When the spring needs to be be compressed again, the floor jack will be used to push up on the LCA and in effect the spring will be compressed into place. The center upper shock nut will then be tightened to complete the installation.
This will be the same position in which you lowered the LCA previously with the floor jack. Eventually, the spring will be fully decompressed and you no longer have the danger of spring under compression that can shoot out at any moment. You should be able to move the spring around and be able to feel that there is no compression on the spring. The center nut may need an additional wrench or allen wrench to keep the bolt from turning while you loosen the center nut. These steps are essential to getting your LCA to be able to rotate down and out of the way.
People generally don’t have this tool in their garage, but garages/shops will generally utilize such a tool. I believe this to be the safest method of assembly/disassembly of the shock assembly. Handing off this work to a trained mechanic with a heavy duty tool such as this one, will offer the least risk for this type of work.
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