Here's Why You NEVER MESS WITH A SPRING COMPRESSOR!

Two things I fear. Roaches and compressed coil springs.

Just saw this video. I've worked in the industry for over 20 years and used these spring compressors so many times I can't count. The biggest mistakes people make using these compressors are 1. Not using lube on the bolts to extend the life of the threads and reducing heat damage and stripping on the threads, 2. Impacting or wrenching them waaaayyy too far putting undue tension on the cast "ends" and cracking them, just enough to take the tension off the top mount is plenty, and 3. Not inspecting a loaner tool before using it in case the last idiots who rented them didn't to the first 2. Keep up the good work.

Rent two sets of spring compressors. Put as many of the compressors on the springs that will fit (three or four). If one slips or fails, the extra compressors will prevent a sudden release of spring energy. Safety in numbers.

Pro tip: before removing the top spring cap, mark the orientation between the top cap and the rest of the strut assembly, otherwise, like me, you will reassemble the strut (that looks about right) and it will be rotated a half an inch off and will not fit with the rest of the suspension. After scratching your head a bit, you will resign yourself to re-removing it, re-compressing it, shifting the cap a half inch and re-reassembling it. Save yourself the extra hour of work and just mark the cap before initial disassembly.

I took an auto shop class in highschool, and we had an industrial spring compressor. It was the only thing that our teacher never let us get close to. He told us on multiple occasions how much force was being applied and what it would do to anyone it hit. Needless to say, scariest thing in the shop!

One important safety tip. When handling the compressor tool with the compressed spring, NEVER point the top of the strut towards your face or any part of your body. Just in case an accident happens, the loosened top of the strut will never hit your face or body if you never point it at your face or body in the first place.

Great video. I have the old-style spring compressors without the safety clips. I've never had a problem and I did use a compressor rachet on the entire thing. You have to be careful and always keep the top of the strut pointed away from you while the spring is under tension. And I like that you kept the coiled, tensioned spring on the ground and immediately put the new strut in it and resecured the entire thing right away. Don't touch the spring, just get the darn thing rebuilt, right on the ground safely, and move on. One thing I would say is only compress the spring enough to get the top cap off. Do NOT over compress the spring. If you are bending the bolt on the spring compressor, you are overtightening the nut. You only need enough tension to remove the cap safely. As soon as you see the spring gap at top or bottom STOP. As you loosen the top bolt on the strut, it should be relatively easy to remove, and the spring should not be moving up with it. Be careful and pay attention to what you are doing or like you said, let a Pro do it.

I have never felt so stressed out by a single video in my life. Even when everything is done right, compressed springs are absolutely no joke. Glad you made it through such a harrowing task!

as a professional, I recommend purchasing strut assemblies. you know, the ones that come with coils installed.

When I did my Town Car I rented one of these. The biggest problem was the minimal space between the coils and the small diameter of the spring. I have done this dozens of times on other vehicles and this was the sketchiest. In fact, halfway through I went in the house and cleared my computer history. You know - just in case.

A few weeks ago I completed the task of replacing all four struts on my 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix, and it wasn't so bad. While I'm not a mechanic by trade, I took the time to read and watch a few tutorials, which gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed. I meticulously worked on each side, taking the time to turn and adjust while keeping the strut securely locked in a vice. Though it was time-consuming, I made sure to properly compress and decompress the springs, ensuring a safe and successful installation. The job took me two days in total, with the rear struts being slightly more challenging due to limited space in the trunk. Nevertheless, I persevered and got the job done. Considering the money I saved by doing it myself, I feel incredibly accomplished. Firestone had quoted a substantial amount for the same task, but with a little DIY spirit and some investment in tools, I managed to complete it on my own. Overall, this experience has boosted my confidence, and I would definitely consider tackling similar projects in the future. I had also replaced the tie-rods and rear sway assembly since it had rusted and broke. I took the car back to Firestone for an alignment and they could only do the front because the rear is too badly seized. They quoted me $500 to replace the trailing arms and only did the front for $122. WTF? I found the parts online for $28 and will just replace them out myself, and then take it to a different Firestone location to align the rear, and hopefully get them to do it for free. It's amusing that a kid at the auto parts store I rented the tool from dubbed me a "certified Youtube Specialist." Well, I'll wear that badge with pride! This whole experience has not only boosted my confidence but also ignited a passion for tackling more projects in the future. It's empowering to be able to handle car maintenance on my own terms.

This reminds me of when I was a mechanic for a electric construction company. We had to work on all kinds of things. Being relatively green in the professional world, I was warned about the braking components on big trucks. They have compressed spring in a housing to lock up if air pressure goes too low. Taking it apart is also very dangerous and I'm glad I never had to mess with them.

Ok so a few tips for dealing with big springs so you don't kill yourself. 1: if it goes, it's flying in the direction it's laying. Keep your body out of the kill zone. 2: ALWAYS undo bolts that are holding spring tension slowly. 3: Slow is smooth, smooth is calm, calm means you can think, thinking about what you're doing keeps you alive. Take your damn time and make sure everything is properly seated and aligned before you start applying tension on the spring compressors. Please don't do what my uncle did and not check your gear. on a spring compressor, any rust aside from extremely minor surface rust should be considered suspicious. 4: those coil springs hold up a damn car. treat a compressed coil spring like a live impact grenade. you drop it, it's sending something across your shop hard enough to embed into concrete. 5: make sure the idiots around you know you're working with what is essentially the mechanical version of a gun. again, you don't want Danny dumbass bumping into you and causing you to drop the spring.

I own a set like that, without the safety pins. Used it a few times, without any issues. The key is to take your time and do it slowly. This is definitely a job that you don't want to rush.

On most cars I've worked on, you only have to tighten the compressors by a very few turns. The spring is already somewhat compressed by the assembly anyway. Fit the two compressors, tighten them just a little, then loosen the top nut. Once that nut is within 3 or 4 turns of coming off, it should be hand-tight, clearly showing that the spring is now held by the compressors and not the strut assembly. If necessary, tighten the compressors a few more turns until the top nut is only hand-tight, then remove the top nut. Job done with minimal risk of explosions and also minimal time wasted tightening the compressors.

45 years ago or so my buddy was changing the springs on my Monte Carlo. Top notch mechanic. He told how scared he was to do that job. Definitely the widow maker!!! Nice job. The ad thing is you made it look doable in the home garage!

On my first car (Golf 4, 2.0) I had my mechanic uncle help me and teach me a bunch of stuff about working on cars. We renovated the motor and did a LOT of maintenance on it and it was a great learning experience. As we changed and replaced more and more parts we came to the struts. He told me to be extremely careful when putting the springs under pressure and not touch it at all when it's loaded ( he didn't let me do it just to be clear, he just showed me). He said that it was possible for the spring to fly out of the contraption and basically break your arm if you were handling it at the time, but also that it could just plain kill you if it hit you in the head. Man I was scared, when he started going to town with the impact, I backed off and he looked at me and just asked: "Are you scared?" I answer: "yeah... hehe..." and then he just said: "Good, you should be" nonchalantly but still serious. Great memories :)

I've changed hundreds of strut cartridges using those spring compressors & never had one problem with them. They grab onto the spring exceptionally well.

I've used this tool many times. I've never had a problem. Saves $$. Using an impact definitely speeds things up. As a side note, torque needs checked with the wheel hub compressed.... being on the ground, or with a floor jack. Final tightening on all suspension components should be done under compression.

A guy I knew had a spring let go with one of these setups - it hit his forehead, took a skullcap-shaped portion of his head off. It was held on by a flap of scalp, and flipped to the back of his head. I didn't see the accident, but his workmate who drove him to the hospital had nightmares about it. He could see his mates brain. His mate was holding the portion of his skull forward over the blasted hole in the top of his head for the whole drive. I also got told another story of a young apprentice who accidentally bumped a spring-compressed spring sitting on the bench. The spring hit him in the eye socket and blasted half his head off. He died before the ambulance arrived. The funeral was attended by a lot of people I went to school with. These things are really, really dangerous, and need to be treated with a great deal of respect.