I’m working on assembling the front struts and realized I need better spring compressors.

My main goal is safety and keeping the paint from getting scratched up.

I currently own the “widow maker” basic spring compressors that look like this and they’re really sketchy and cumbersome.





I found a different design on Eastwood and a new rental at AutoZone.

Eastwood



AutoZone Rental



Do you guys recommend any particular design over the other? My last resort would be to pay a mechanic.

 

So I tried both the AutoZone rental from PowerBuilt Tools and the Eastwood Compressor.

The PowerBuilt is very heavy and requires a large bench vice. It also appears to be designed for taking apart fully assembled struts with already pre-loaded springs, but it’s not suited for putting together new springs and struts. It scratched the finish on my newly painted springs and didn’t have a good grip on the coils.

I highly recommend the Eastwood spring compressor. The tool doesn’t require a vice, is easy to handle, and holds the spring securely without marring the surface. I’ve seen people use it with an impact but instruction say to use hand tools only so that’s what I’ve done for extra safety. Worked really well and allowed to put everything together. I’m really glad I invested in a quality tool like this one.



I bought a cheap mini bench vice to hold this in place, but the tool itself didn’t work out.

 

That looks like a nice tool but the amount of compression you have on the adjacent coils makes me nervous that is a whole lot of potential energy. A proper design would attach to the strut mount and bottom of the strut itself although this won't work for disassembly. For the rear struts/coils I made a jig out of 3/4" plywood which fits into the mount I then use two Bessey wood clamps. Works great but not suitable for the front as it requires way more force.

 

I agree, working with springs always feels like handling a loaded and cocked revolver. It's incredibly nerve wrecking so I made sure to be gentle while moving stuff around and putting the pieces together. The front are definitely the hardest to compress and I really tested this tool to its limits to get the top mounts seated properly.
I'll be doing the rear struts later and I image it will be a cake walk by comparison.

 

Whenever I've had to work with springs I always chain it up if possible, or tie it down to a cinderblock or something rigid.

 

Round two, finishing up the front struts.

The tool is taking a beating when decompressing the springs. The spring tension is pushing the sliding piece of the tool pitch down and dig into the body of the compressor.


Found a better spot to hold the spring and get it short enough without bottoming out the tool

Big lesson learned on the second strut. I didn’t tighten the strut mount nut far enough on the first go around. So I went back and retightenef both top mounts to stop them from having any free play.

This is how it should be.

Both struts adjusted.

Ready to go in the car.