Help - spring compressors driving me nuts!

Ranger50 wrote: Think metal ziptie around a bunch of stacked coils. Cut the tie and it expands out.

How the hell is that supposed to work? Assemble the strut and cut the zip ties??? That sounds freakin insanely dangerous... What keeps it from expanding all at once? If I want to do that, I've used nylon ratchet straps in a pinch. They work great for compressing the spring... releasing it in a controlled manner, however, is a different story...

Thanks for all the responses guys. Kinda good to hear I'm not too much of an idiot about these things. It's tempting to just take the pieces to a shop, but part of me wants to conquer this problem as well.

The function of the harbor freight weird v-clamp thing looks like it would be more stable for sure, but the little welds on that thing don't inspire a lot of confidence. Probably not an issue, but it is a bit worrying.

The banding thing sounds... interesting. I'm also not sure how it's going to seat itself properly if it's explosively expanding like that though.

Foxtrapper, where did you get that type of compressor? Those look awesome, but I haven't seen them anywhere before.

Watching this thread closely, as I have several struts that need replacing right now. Looking for something that's safe and works without spending $700 on the proper machine (according to Garage Journal)

Here's a link for a set with U bolts: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200396119_200396119?cm_mmc=Google-pla--Auto%20Repair--Specialty%20Tools-_-9094135&ci_sku=9094135&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}

Ian F wrote:

Ranger50 wrote: Think metal ziptie around a bunch of stacked coils. Cut the tie and it expands out.

How the hell is that supposed to work? Assemble the strut and cut the zip ties??? That sounds freakin insanely dangerous... What keeps it from expanding all at once? If I want to do that, I've used nylon ratchet straps in a pinch. They work great for compressing the spring... releasing it in a controlled manner, however, is a different story...

What is dangerous about assembling everything, installing in car, compress strut with jack under the control arm/axle, and THEN cutting the band?

Matt B wrote: Foxtrapper, where did you get that type of compressor? Those look awesome, but I haven't seen them anywhere before.

It's a Lisle 62300, and I think I got it from a local car parts store. Google it and you'll see it listed by many places, with a wide range of prices.

Fwiw, I had the HF V-clamp type. Gave it away to a friend who did actually like it. I found the torque required to turn the bolt way too hard to deal with, even when standing on the spring/strut. It was too bulky to ever fit on a spring installed in the car.

Ranger50 wrote: What is dangerous about assembling everything, installing in car, compress strut with jack under the control arm/axle, and THEN cutting the band?

Ok... I guess that makes a more sense... plus, in some cars, installing a compressed assembly would be easier...

Then again... two or three ratchet straps would do the same thing... and be even cheaper... Hmm...

Bumboclot wrote: I've used this style in the past, with an impact wrench, with great results. http://www.harborfreight.com/single-action-strut-spring-compressor-43753.html

I have one of these myself.. My issue was the frame would flex and cause the big bolt to bind...

foxtrapper wrote: Every one of those above has caused me troubles clearing the shock inside the coil. They are ok if there is nothing there, but if there is a shock, the thickness of the arm or finger invariably jams up against the shock. Especially imports and smaller cars. Not such a problem with 1960's era American Iron. Finally went and hunted down one of these: It uses U bolts to clamp onto the spring. This actually clears the shock. And since you actually tighten the U bolt, it isn't prone to slipping as the spring compresses.

I bought one of these Lisle 62300 for $32 + shipping on Amazon. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

As an extra bonus to GRM, I followed the advertising link to the purchase part in the upper banner area. Once google knew what I was searching for, the part link appeared. Hopefully they'll get some kickback from the sale.

As an extra-EXTRA bonus to myself, I decided to blow my budget out of the water and purchased a set of Neuspeed Sofsport springs. They're as close as I could get to the stock type-r springs specs, but just a tad softer (apparently used oem type-r springs are hard to find these days). The integra is my wife's daily in downtown ATL, so I needed to keep it pretty mild. That said, I'm looking forward to a 85% increase in rear rate that will bring the front/rear spring ratios from 2/1 to roughly 5/4. Should dial out a lot of the stock suspensions understeer while keeping the car crater-friendly on the downtown streets.

Now I'm getting excited about this job again.