I did the back struts with a standard spring compressor from AZone. Bought another set, smaller that I thought would work on the front coils.

Wrong, they won't fit in.

Anybody know what kind will fit in the front springs?

Thanks!

 

those things are universal... just angle it on a different coil

 

The bigger one I used for the back (and I had to grind some metal off) won't go in at all. The smaller 3 tooth one...the teeth strike the strut casing. Even if I got it in, it would tear up the new boot going on the AGX struts.

Yes I could grind some of the end off, and use the hook screws that came with it, but they don't even fit in straight without binding on the next coil round. I'd have to grind metal off of them too. I'm a bit wary of taking metal off these tools.

The first thing I did was find some video of these being used on Hondas and Acauras....and saw a couple of these guy ducking when they came apart. They were just lucky they weren't injured. One of the slips was specifically because the guy had the tool at too much angle, and warned they need to be vertical. That was "eric the car guy" working on his old accord....on Utube.

 

The ones I know and have used are big beefy 2 prong ones by "powerfist" surly theres others I've only seen 2 prong ones.

 

My biggest problem, working out in the middle of nowhere, is I've got to order everything. It not only takes a week or more, but I can't really tell how big it is.

I'll probably go to the only mech shop in town and see if he's got one that'll work, even if it's just handing him the struts to remove the coils. I don't really like other people doin' anything on my vehicles.

....or, I might get crazy and do this. I've got a couple pieces of T6 3" channel I used a few years back to build an engine cradle. It's strong enough for this....



If not I'll put the old ones on and wait till I'm back in San Antonio.

I just noticed the scale mark at bottom is wrong, oh well. One's smaller.

.

 

As drawn, it's not big enough. The strut top is a little over 4". A variation of it would, but possibly only for the OEM strut. The AGX comes with a bump stop terminated by a metal spacer and washer. Those pieces might interfere with compressing the top. Typically only the spring is compressed.

....still thinking....

 

I've used the harbor freight one when I put stock springs on my EF, worked fine.

 

I later realized my 3" channel wasn't big enough, so I decided to risk grinding metal off the compressor.

You can see the difference. Of course I had to grind both.



I did rotate the coil to get an equal distance where I put in the compressors on each side.

Note below that the coil is off center. This turned out to be due to it being broken (both right and left wheel) at the bottom. The spring rusted and broke at about 3/4s of a turn, the flat part. I'm amazed the car drove completely smooth with no clunking or movement at all, very stable doing 25mph marked corners at 60. That's very surprising, but I consider my self VERY lucky, it would've eventually been a bad situation. So new coils are coming. Like the photo, I didn't see the break until I pulled the coil off.



I used the compressor on the right for the rear, and ground off a little metal on those to, to get them in. They wouldn't have come anywhere near going in the front. I will grind off a bit more of the compressor on the left to reinstall the new ones. The AGX struts need more room, so I don't tear up the boots. Hook screws came with the one on the left, so it's more secure.
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