Best Spring Compressor to Use?

[GOM]

Now then,

Time has come for me to swap out the front suspension after it giving 17 years of service. I borrowed my brother-in-laws basic claw type things and due to the lack of coils on one side, it just ain’t working.

I have seen the hydraulic floor standing set up which looks really impressive but seems a lot of money for something that I may not use that often. The other I have been looking at has the 2 cups/shoulders at either end and is small enough to stick on the garage shelf, oh and nearly half the price. So a couple f questions:
Do you guys have any experience/suggestions in using these tools and which is better to use?
Long shot - Is there anyone local to Harrogate that would loan their kit out for a few beer tokens?

I want to do the job myself and not take it to garages that I don’t trust.

TIA

Paul

 

[Thermaltake]

Going against what you stated.

It may very well be best to take it to a garage who has a commercial hydraulic spring compressor.

Z4 springs are a pain, there isnt enough coils to get even compression around and to get the tophat on is VERY tight. If you add in some wear and sag to the shocks then that already tight space gets even tighter.

I had to give up on mine as there was no chance I was getting the tophat and nut on. I took them to a garage. Charged me £20, And that was generous because by all accounts even with a proper spring compresser he still ended up having a fight with it.

There isnt really much that can go wrong with fitting springs in regards to trusting a garage, they either fit and are seater or they dont.

 

[enuff_zed]

I used standard spring compressors for mine.
I compressed the coils by hooking one end under the bottom seat and pulling the spring down.
That gave just enough to get the top seat on and the nut in place to hold it.
Then put the compressor hooks over the top and bottom seats to squeeze them together enough to get the top mount on.
Fiddly, and you have to be sure what you're doing, but once you master the technique it's not too bad.

 

[TheDan]

If the second type you mean looks like this or similar:



Then it is what I used (borrowed from a friend). I had to use one large and one small yoke with the large one wedged under the bottom of the spring seat on the damper. It worked quite well, but is heavy af!

You can get the standing hydraulic ones for as low as £100, but I wouldn't be confident in the longevity at that price.

The next best option is what [ref]Thermaltake[/ref] said and ring a local garage to ask if they can use their machine to swap the springs out.

 

[Mister T]

The £20 Hilka ones from Screwfix are fine for most jobs, you just have to play around with the orientation for a bit to get them both on the spring.

 

[Rockhopper]

Chap who did mine used a floor standing one and struggled with it.

 

[bigwinn]

I’ve done a few of these now and can attest they are damn awful

Floor standing and vice mounted compressors don’t work well as the springs have minimal coils.

My preferred method is in the write up I did in the how to section-

I’ve got 2 claw type compressors and 2 of the ones that you can slide a lock bar over the coil

By using a combination of these on the spring and main top hats, you can as Martin says get the main retaining bolt on, then compress away safely.

 

[enuff_zed]

By using a combination of these on the spring and main top hats, you can as Martin says get the main retaining bolt on, then compress away safely.

Yes, I wonder where I got that tip from initially :wink:

 

[steve_naive]

I used a relatively cheap set recently on my msport shocks. Didn't have the confidence to compress via the top mounts so just went with the coils - the final few turns were a leap of faith.

They popped off rather than released, but it wasn't explosive.