Im trying to remove some springs from some shocks, but I am having problems with the spring compressor. The coils are too close together, and I cannot get the compressor to fit. Anyone know what to do?

 

place them toward the center more....it shoudl work.

 

depending on what your tool looks like I just took mine apart and put each end piece in seperatly then screwed the rod back through walla

 

hey i just went thru that same problem..obviously the front shocks. well you can try to take the spring compressor apart and try to wedge each of the ends in and then screw the long bolt thru. didnt work for me so i put the shock assembly between 2 2x4 and aimed it at a wooden board and BOOM; i wouldnt recommend doing it that way but the dam spring compressor wouldnt work for me.
good luck

 

"aimed it at a wooden board"


as opposed to a plastic board or say a metal board

 

While we're on the topic of unsafe spring/shock disassembly...

My friend holds the whole thing down with his foot and aims it down (don't know how exactly)...nothing else. Needless to say, I didn't ask for his help when installing mine.

 

Most spring compressors won't work on our cars because the coils are too close. What you can do is look for a set of "spring clamps" that will allow you to compress the spring enough to get the top nut off w/o having to worry about the spring shooting off.

Or you can just aim the spring into your yard and loosen the top nut with a wrench, just keep your hands and body parts clear.

 

hehe i just looked the other way and let that sucka fly... lol

 

is this the next olympic sport or what? how far do those suckers fly...? do you need to compress aftermarket springs when taking them off too? i need to get shocks soon will i need a compressor to change them out (i have the comptech springs)

thanks

 

They don't really fly all that far, maybe 5 feet or so. The only thing to worry about is getting hit by one, but using common sense you would almost hafta want to get hit in order to do so. I haven't seen any aftermarket springs that require a compressor, the springs are so short to begin with that they don't put any pressure on the retaining nut.

 

I had to use a spring compressor to install my tein s'tech springs.. when i took them out i also let it fly out and i also needed a compressor to install my front H&R sports..

for the rear just i pushed down on the shock cap with my hands 'til i could get the washer and retaining nut up on there. i don't know if you'll be able to do that with every brand of springs though. with coilovers and race springs you shouldn't need a compressor

pepboys has the kind of compressors that use these U shaped screws that wrap around the coil as opposed to little curved fingers that grip onto the edge of the coil. you might wanna try those out if all else fails