well i guess its cool then. i used mine about 5 times before the threads took a dump.

i got the other ones that i linked above and was amazed at how much better they were than the harbor freight ones.

i guess they're good for one time or two time jobs

 

There is no doubt that the HF set is very low quality. But if all you want to do is change springs once in a blue moon, they work just fine.

 

Flex is to be expected in the center bolt. It's just gonna happen with that much pressure. If it doesn't then I'd be wary of how they hardened the steel or whether or not they even tempered it, which is where the flex comes from under pressure.

I used those compressors you bought from autozone, but had fitment issues with other cars' springs. They probably would have worked with my Z springs, but they didn't fit between the rungs of my acura CL's pro kit springs.

Just a quick poll, did you guys use an impact wrench when you removed the center bolt and tightened the compressor? I've only ever done it by hand and I can never get a strut/spring assembly switched in under an hour. How long does it take you guys to do it by hand?

 

by the way... that autozone compressor, when it fit, was pretty damn good.

I liked the one I bought because I felt safer using it, but it obviously wasn't worth the time. I only did it like the rest of you guys because I enjoyed it. I probably should have brought my g springs to a shop to have the mounts switched to my z springs for $20 a piece...but I'm a man, and that's what we do...

 

I got one that is designed to go inside the spring from Autozone and I called Pep Boys and the guy I got told me that he only had them for sale. He acted like a total moron at the suggestion that they loan/rent this item. I would have smacked him had I been there in person instead of calling.

 

$14.00 at Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3980

It's what I used.

 

Thanks, man. I had never heard of HF until reading this thread, actually. I ended up going back to Autozone to get the right tool(s). The one they gave me they call a "coil spring compressor," and the one I need for the front springs they call a "strut spring compressor." I just went in and told the person I needed a "spring compressor" and she said "coil spring compressor?" and I was like yeah. Right away it didn't look like the two piece compressor deal I'd seen but I thought that maybe it was a dual use kinda thing. I realized once I had the strut and spring out that it would not work and I went back and got the right tool.

Anyway you didn't need read all that, I know. Tell me, though, how do you know how tight to screw the top center nut on the shock itself? It looks like that a person could conceivably lower the front end of the car by just screwing that bolt down some more. I guess you'd reach a limit once that shaft of the shock started to touch the hood.

 

There is a shoulder on the shaft that limits travel of the nut.


































That sounded kinda nasty didn't it?

 

This is what i have, from Craftsman.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ing+compressor

I had both this and the HF one, the Craftsman was heavier and felt more robust, but as mentioned above, the HF one does work as long as you don't expect to keep using it frequently.

 

Cool. The set I got from Autozone is pretty heavy too. But guys tell me this: What did I do wrong if I hear a rattle? I hear it on the left side I think. I hope I haven't screwed up that shock. I was tightening down the spring cap part of that one with the spring inside when I realized that the nut was no longer turning on the shaft and that the whole shaft and bolt were turning. Did I just totally muck it all up? I'm hoping someone might know a common thing that people get a rattle for.

 

If i correctly understood what you just described, you just need to hold the nut down while tightening the bolt. (Or was that the other way around? Can't remember, but it should be straightforward when you look at it).

 

I'm referring to the nut at the top center of the shock. I was tightening it (well, I thought I was) when I realized that the piston of the the shock was actually turning as I turned the wrench, so the piston was spinning inside the shock. I just wanted to make sure that this turning didn't screw up the shock. I've since driven a little bit and it seems to be working fine as far as I can tell by the ride, but I just hear this friggin rattle noise that I know I should not be hearing. I guess I'll just have to take it all apart and put it together again. I so don't want to, though!