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This process requires you to reinstall the strut assembly onto the vehicle. Only after reassembling the strut assembling using the new lowering springs can you place the strut assembly onto the car. Know that the spring is pre-compressed with the shock and is secured via the large center nut.
This will be the same position in which you lowered the LCA previously with the floor jack. Eventually, the spring will be fully decompressed and you no longer have the danger of spring under compression that can shoot out at any moment. You should be able to move the spring around and be able to feel that there is no compression on the spring. The center nut may need an additional wrench or allen wrench to keep the bolt from turning while you loosen the center nut. These steps are essential to getting your LCA to be able to rotate down and out of the way.
Building your own spring compressor is possible, if done carefully
You can put the hooks around the top to keep it from sliding. As long as you’re careful, evenly distribute the load, and grease it before use, this tool does the job. OTC Tools has been a subsidiary of Bosch Automotive Service Solutions since 2012.
As the spring settles, ride height decreases and causes undesirable changes in wheel alignment. Springs typically last a long time and, in some cases, can even last the lifetime of the vehicle. However, that doesn’t mean springs don’t wear and become worn out over time.
Can you retension a spring?
The ones I own are probably 40 years old, high quality, American made, and the claws are plenty long enough to wrap around the spring and hold it. I see that some of the new ones now being sold address the slippage issue by having pins that lock the claws in place around the spring. Use the strut spring compressor to compress the spring.
This drop forged enamel coil spring compressor can be used on various passenger and light commercial vehicles. The second is a big mechanically-cranked plate compressor that resembles an old-style tire-changing jack with two twisted plates on it. You crank it open, insert the plates between the coils of the spring, and crank it closed, pulling the plates together and thereby compressing the spring. I use this one unless there’s some reason I can’t, such as the spring being too big or small to fit between the plates. After a couple of disasters using cheap spring compressors, we bought this Branick 7600 wall/mobile-mount spring compressor to avoid future emergency dental work. To test it in a working environment, we went to Aldan American in Carson, California, where they've assembled thousands of struts and coilovers every year since 1981.
How do you make a spring compress easier?
I figured that, for that price, it was worth it just for the adjustable shocks, and if the springs turned out to lower the car, it was gravy. So I bought them, and when they arrived, I had 14 days to build a spring compressor and disassemble and test all four shocks. Those springs are beefy enough that they support the weight of the car without bottoming out. And you need to compress the spring even further in order to remove the nut or retainer. For these reasons, you’ll often read that compressing springs is an inherently dangerous activity best left to professionals. Once the spring is seated, you’ll want to compress the spring using a vise or clamp.
Make sure the floor jack is supporting the LCA securely without any possibility of it slipping off of the floor jack. I’ve swung it over into this position where the handle points to the front of the vehicle. This way, I can operate the jack from the front and out of the way of any danger. If anything goes wrong and the spring shoots out, it is encased in the wheel well or it shoots out the side.
Strut Spring Compressor Pricing
Internal strut spring compressors are also known as conventional spring compressors. These types of compressors are meant for use on vehicles with separate struts and shock absorbers. They work by utilizing two hooks on a steel threaded bolt. The assembly is fit through the inside of a coil spring and the hooks latch onto the coil. When you tighten the threaded bolt, the hooks squeeze the coils together, temporarily shortening the spring height.
Finally, reinstall the front end links to the steering knuckle and hand-tighten these snug. The lower ball joint to lower bracket nut needs to be reinstalled and torqued. Begin by disconnecting the front sway bar end links from the axle on both sides of the vehicle.
Be sure to use a protective pad on the spring to avoid damaging it. Once the spring is compressed, you can remove the spring from the strut mount. If a coilover has a preload or if you are dealing with a strut that requires a spring compressor to remove the spring, this tool adds safety and speed. It's also handy for setting preloads on a drag car or changing spring rates during a track day without using a spanner.
When a shock compresses, it loses volume, so there is a small area filled with nitrogen gas or air that can compress or expand as the hydraulic fluid requires. Granted, the Europa is only a 1600-pound car, but still. If you make the wire diameter larger, you will make the spring stronger and if you make it smaller, you will make it weaker. This is because, by making the wire diameter larger, you are also making the spring’s coils tighter which reduces the spring index.
The hook-style compressor works by using two threaded rods with grooved blocks of steel on each end . Go over to the jack handle and very, very slowly lower the control arm and decompress the spring until it is fully decompressed. As you release all the energy from the spring, you will hear all sorts of disconcerting creaks as the spring decompresses. There are two lower ball joint mounting bolts that need to be removed as well. Once these bolts are removed, the tip of the LCA will be able to be separated from the wheel hub. Keep in mind that the two lower ball joint to lower bracket nuts flank the center castle nut.
You can leave the end link connected to the sway bar as you are mainly concerned about separating the sway bar from the steering knuckle. Changing the stiffness can be done by changing any or all of the variables that control spring stiffness. One easy way to do this is to add a second identical spring in series with the existing spring. Next, you will need to find something to use as a lever. Once you have the lever in place, simply apply pressure to the top of the strut with the lever.
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