Front coil spring compressor

[Joe Cool]

Hi,

New member here.

I want to change the front coil springs on my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice. I did this years ago with a homemade spring compressor and nerves of steel. The springs need changing again (after 15 years), but this time SAFETY is a factor. I have tried renting the spring compressor but no luck and spring shops won't do the job unless it's with their springs. I have no problem with buying one but I want to know what is a good one and safe one. Up to $300 is no problem. I have the new coil springs waiting to go in and all I need is a point in the right direction to do this well.

Thank-you

"Always use the right tool to do any job"

Craig

[96capricemgr]

Looks like you are in Canada, stateside we can just go to Advance Auto or AutoZone or the like and rent the tools and get a full refund on returning them. Have you checked for stuff like that.

Another option is to pull the control arm to frame bolts instead of the balljoint, that way a jack is all you need to compress the spring due to the different leverage point. At one point this was even the factory manual procedure.

[CD Smalley]

Craig

I am the self-appointed "king of getting the job done without the right tool". But this is one place I would never skimp on the tool. I commend you for waiting to get the right tool.

IIRC, the factory service manual shows how to do this job without a spring compressor. Going off the top of my head, it involves a floor jack, a chain, and removing the lower control arm bolts. Now that being said, when myself and a group of friends did my springs on my 9C1, there simply wasn't enough weight in the car to do the FSM specified method, at least when it came to putting the new springs back in place.

Shop with Snap-On, Mac Tools etc to find a really nice piece.

Good luck, be safe and welcome to the AF.

[Joe Cool]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I own the 1988 GM shop manuals for this vehicle and yes they do suggest removing the bolts on the control arm. However they are so tight that I did not even bother with them 15 years ago. Now they must be even harder to remove. However the ball joints have been changed about 3 years ago, so it'll be a much safer bet to remove the springs via that fastening point - Again.

Incidently, when I did the job before, and I had compressed the spring with my own tool, I still had to "compress" the spring more when it was sitting in the loose lower control arm. It had chains on it to keep it compressed, but when I tried to re-join the lower control arm ball joint to the upper control arm using a jack to raise it, the whole car raised. I solved this by chaining the front frame of the car to the car jack (trolley jack) thus "holding" the car down. The control arm raised perfectly and in the spring went!

I am now 47 with a lot more brains and much less courage. I want the tool to "totally" compress this spring in the shop to then install it without incident in the car.

I saw ratings of 1 or 2 tons, but am not sure which is best. Also what total height can they handle? The springs are about 16 -18 inches uncompressed.

Craig