RE: [DML] Rear coil question

["Tom Tait" <TTait@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I can not suggest that anyone do what I ended up doing,  but I'll tell
you and it may lead you to a similar solution of your own liking.

 

First, I put the car on one jackstand near the rear wheel I was working
on so that it set fairly level with the tire off.  I then jacked the
wheel assembly up using my floor jack to get maximum compression on the
spring.  Then for safety use a jackstand to support the wheel as well in
this compressed position.  (For safety - hah - you'll laugh when you see
where this is going...)

 

I then installed spring compressors, borrowed from auto zone.  These
units were too large and clunky and as you have found don't really do a
good job, as you have already learned.  Most importantly they do not
mount to the spring at 180 degrees of opposition, so the spring bends
when you remove it.  This is where common sense went out the window.

 

It occurred to me that the spring compressors were doing most of the
work, and that I was really only trying to control the center of the
spring at the back, and to a lessor degree the top and bottom of the
spring outside the compressors.  I used heavy duty cable ties.  I used
about 100 of them per spring.  I ran some math figuring the total power
of the spring, the fact that my cable ties were rated for more than 100
pounds (don't recall and don't count on that) and decided that I had
about a 500% safety margin.  I put them from one coil to the next, never
across two, all the way around and the whole length of the spring.  I
felt that even in the event of a failure of all cable ties
simultaneously I was only risking the maximum deflection between the
curled compressed coil and the evenly compressed coil.  When I used the
jack to release the up pressure on the hub I watched carefully but from
a distance for breaking cable ties, and it was fine.

 

I wore eye protection and a heavy leather jacket and knew this was
potentially dumb, but - for me - it worked fine and perfectly.  I worked
like a bomb disposal technician would, but there were no problems at
all. I would do it again if I had to, but I won't suggest than anyone
here do it this way.

 

Perhaps this points you in a direction for a solution that you will find
personally acceptable.  As you judge my actions remember that I'm also
the guy who found a way to use a shop vac to empty the old gas from my
tank - so...  Caveat Mechanor.

 

________________________________

From: Daryl Scott
Subject: [DML] Rear coil question

 

Anyone have tips on what to use when installing the rear shocks to
compress the spring straight?

------------------------------------

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