This is why compressing them on the car works well.
If I could get the brand new spring to magically appear on the car then there's enough space in the wheel arch to compress them. In fact the preload is probably enough that hardly any compression is necessary. Unfortunately I was dealing with a snapped spring.
So zero pre load on the strut, just removed from car and unscrewed.
The brand new spring that I had to refit however, that needed alot of shrinkage to get it short enough to enable the top nut to take a thread
The bodge is to use multiple wraps of fencing wire on opposite sides of the spring with the weight of the vehicle still on the suspension. Then jack the vehicle up and the spring will stay compressed. Leave it over your lunch break to see if it's going to explode, then you can remove the spring. Treat the compressed spring like a bomb that might explode at any moment.
Or just pay someone else to do it. My life is much less exciting now than when I was a teenager.
i sit here feeling lucky that over the years i have missed death on many occasions... i didnt realise spring compressors where considered such lethal weapons!
Mate has one simillar to this only a bit more heavy duty and ex MOD. I have borrowed and used it with confidence many times. Prior to him getting that I used the threaded rod types many times succesfully but always encountered a bit of slippage and was on my nerve ends while using it.
The upright garage types aren't totally infallible. Once was in a local garage with my car when a spring flew out of the compressor, across the workshop and left a dent in my car door.
So it seems that, following a wheel ON peek, I probably won't be able to get compressors in whilst the shock is in situ.
Hmmm....
Hmmmmmmmmm....
Will pop the wheel off and actually measure up... Pants..
Another option is seeing if there's somewhere on the hub carrier I can use my trolley jack to squish the shock up whilst the car is on axle stands....
Hmmm...!
DrP
DrP
@jordan ....
I've literally been looking at that one today! Not a bad shout for 70 quid...
I'll need one IF I can get the shock out (to swap the springs)..
DrP
It would be possible via lifting the hub - the issue being that once the bottom ball joint is split then theres nothing to constrain the strut which is now compressed and under load. It might need a few ratchet straps to hold it in place until the jack is lowered.
That's what I was worried about...
Easy to compress safely when it can only go up or down..
Once ball joint off, it's likely to roll the trolley jack away at about 90° at 60mph!
DrP
Yes of course you can and I regularly use them to do ball joints. I do have a modified pair where I cut down the threaded rod, because when fully wound down the rod would hit strut tops. So in other words access can be tricky with some vehicles, obviously some being worse than others.
Bare in mind separating some ball joints (especially when you don't want to damage the seal like with a pickle fork) can be PITA, when jacked up and without the standing height workshop levers! Also some are impossible to do without dropping the sub frame!
Never had a problem using my spring compressors. They are nice heavy forged ones with juicy threaded rods which will out last me!
