When my Accord EX springs are put on new Illumina struts, they look bent. I kept telling him it's because of the old spring compressor they have in the shop and he says it has nothing to do with that and it's normal. He says the springs are really long and that it will straighten up once it's installed.

It look somewhat like this:...


I have until tomorrow to decide what to do. Do you think it's because of the old (inaccurate) compressor or is the mechanic right? I'm under the impression that if the spring is compressed straight, it will stay straight once it's on the strut.

The reason I think it's because of the compressor the spring starts to bend while compressing, even before being put on the struts. What do you think?

 

Did he put the front springs on the rear strut? There is no way a spring should be bent at all when properly installed on a strut. Can you post any real pictures of it?

 

Do you trust your mechanic? Have you driven it yet? Is there another mechanic you know that can look at it? Really need a picture to give any real suggestions...

 

no, he put the correct ones on, and no pic it's in the shop. he'll start putting them on in the morning so won't have time.

haven't even installed yet. Can't change mechanic, he's doing it at a discount because he did the lowering springs which I'm removing.

 

It's actually much less bent that the drawing but what I want to know is, it shouldn't be bent at all if done properly right?

It's closer to this...


My feeling is that the spring will keep the form in which it is compressed, so it must be the caused by compressor.

 

Are the springs the correct way up??
Are they seated on the spring perch correctly?

 

yes, and brand new spring insulator/seat and mounts.

These are the stock springs that we took off to put H&R springs on, but those were too low.

 

I think I will do this. I'll rent regular spring compressors from Oreily's and try to do it with those. I hope it works.

 

Why? A spring is a spring. It's designed to return to it's original form before it was compressed. That's why when you push down on a car, it comes back up. You could take a spring and bend it sideways, and it will return to straight.

The spring bending is probably due to the unequal number of coils being compressed by each side of the compressor. Put it on the shock/strut, release the compressor, and the spring will straighten out.

 

^^ I agree

 

Why the f#@k would the spring have to be left sitting in a compressor? You only need to have the spring compressed for 2 minutes while you put it on the strut assembly. There is no need to compress a spring any further than required to put it on the strut and it shouldn't bend. However I have seen really cheap spring compressors that only compress one side of a spring. In that case a bend is acceptable. I haven't seen a shop use a one sided spring compressor for years.

If the spring is only "bent" while it is in the compressor and then straightens out when it is placed on the strut. That is ok. I was under the impression that the springs where out of shape while on the strut not just in the compression apparatus.

 

Ding ding ding! We have our winners!

Fully install the spring onto the strut and if it straightens out, you are just fine. If it somehow is bent out of shape still, something is definitely wrong.

I'd also advise you to never use those cheap *** spring compressors if you don't have to... they are NOT friendly to use and I still have a scar to prove it...

 

With the cheap spring compressors that only do one side, you are supposed to use TWO of them per spring. When doing my suspension, we rented one for free from AutoZone and it came with two single spring compressors.

 

as long as it doesnt compromise its function, who really cares?

 

I advise having a shop do it for you. I bought 2 packs of 2 from HF, could only fit 3 on the springs, they still twisted on me and made the spring go all funky. even using 3 compressors I still couldn't get the springs compressed enough for standard struts. took it to a shop (mechanic) and for $50 they mounted both springs to the struts in <30 minutes.

 

Putting springs on struts is a joke. You don't even need a spring compressor. The weight of the vehicle itself is more than enough to compress the springs. Just takes a little bit of patience & brain power to figure out how to use that weight to your advantage.