Independent Rear Suspension, OEM, aftermarket, stock configuration or heavily modified, all makes and models, everyone is welcome here!!!

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10/27/2011 7:20 pm  #1


Had to modify my home built spring compressor

on September 9, 2010, 5:19 pm Daze wrote:

I think I have made at least 8 custom tools for this project. One of which was this homemade coil spring compressor.   

worked really well on the OEM shocks, I tightened the nuts down which pushed the plate against the body allowing me to remove the keepers. I used this set up to disassemble and reassemble several sets of shocks. Problem with this tool is that it does not work with KYB gas adjust shocks. On the KYBs instead of having two small keepers that could be pulled out thorough the hole in the middle of the plate, it has one large keeper that is almost the same diameter as the coil spring. That meant the top plate would not work.

This left me with three options, barrow some external claw compressors from oreilly auto, modify my compressor to grab the coils, or farm the work out to a local shop. I figured with a lever type compressor any shop could have the coilovers put together in a matter of minutes and it wouldn't cost me more than $20.00 WRONG every place I talked to wanted about $20.00 per coilover, and I wasn't going to do that!!!

I really didn't want to use the external claw type because of each side being independent. I view compressing springs the same way I would view defusing a bomb, dangerous under the best conditions. I have already had one faulty spring compressor and a stupid mistake on my part send me to the ER so I am now extremely careful when it comes to compressing springs ( had an internal spring compressor let go as I was removing the front coil spring on my Mustang, pined the three middle fingers on my right hand between the spring and the spring perch)

That left me with no other choice but to build claws for my existing spring compressor. good news I had not thrown out the internal compressor that had failed on me and was able to use the claws off of it for my purposes. All I had to do was drill a hole in each claw and then weld a piece of 1" DOM tubing on top of the claw. this gave me three places to grab the coils to compress the springs.




Compressor worked fantastically well, and my favorite part is the safety factor. by attaching the original press plate to the top of the compressor it tied each of the three pieces of all thread together on both ends, also by having three points of compression rather than two the system is much more stable and less chance of coming loose should one of the claws fail.


If it isn't broken..... modify it anyway!!!!
 

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