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G’day Eric just watched your latest video on strut replacement on the Honda. I got to thinking about saftey in and
around the workshop, that spring “exploding” off that strut was a graffic example of the dangers that can happen.As you said it could mame or even kill you! I just thought a video on some aspects of saftey might be a good idea.
To give you an example, my son was changing a wheel to do the brakes, he was in a hurry and didn’t have the jack
under the car securely, when he put pressure on the lug nut the jack slipped and the car fell, if he hadn’t had the wheel
slightly under the car it would have dropped on his legs!As a retired nurse I have seen really stupid mistakes that have cause injury, you can’t stop it all as you know there will
always be some one taking a stupid short cut.Loved the video that one shows a lot! Kind regards Johnno :S
Great suggestion. Last year I actually shot a video on first aid in the shop but the sound wasn’t any good. I hope to revisit the topic and the one you suggested at some point. Glad your son is OK, that would have really sucked.
Definitely a little scary. Glad your ok. Your reflexes
are still fast. Automotive work can be dangerous :pinch:
I did notice that Scots shop had the same crickets as your
shop. 😆 or were they paid actor cricketsPaid actor crickets. I like to mess with the OCD folks that watch the show. It makes for some good comments.
I replaced the 4 struts on my 2006 Lexus GS300 using OEM 25550 Strut Spring Compressor with, thank goodness, no problems. It was highly recommended on amazon.com.
As usual, excellent video….keep up the great work!!
Perfect timing on this video release! I happened to pick up some new suspension for my 1996 Corolla today from the UPS warehouse. BC Racing BR series coilovers. The reason I went for coilovers is that my suspension is literally dead, car scrapes speed bumps with only two people in it. Bounces like crazy, depresses really low, and makes a lot of groaning when going over bumps and potholes. OEM 17 year old suspension can do that. Replacing it with KYB gas filled struts, all new coil insulators and strut boots and bump stops and Tein S Tech springs would have cost me $800, plus having the springs installed into the new struts. So I tossed in an extra $195 and got myself completely assembled coilovers with damper adjustment for when I have family in the car. I’ll be installing them this Sunday and the strut design is nearly identical to your Odyssey.
That part with the spring flying out was terrifying though. I refuse to go near cheap spring compressors haha. Thanks a lot for the video!
I had a 1985 olds and the front spring got away from me. I will remember that for a long time. The wall mounted tool is obviously the best for struts but I wonder what the best method is for conventional springs? The olds had such a soft spring that you could not just lower the control arm to release the tension. I was using a compressor that installed on the inside of the spring. I thought I had the right tool for the job. Suspension is the most dangerous work on a car in my book. I think it takes a lot of experience to do correctly. Plus there are plenty of subpar tools out there which makes the problem even worse. Good vid, glad you left the fail in to remind us to take the struts to a machine shop for overhaul.
I’ve done springs a couple of times with the exact same spring compressor, and it is a scary proposition at best. Thankfully, I have never had one of those holy crap moments.
I had to do struts on my 94 Accord a couple of years ago. Those are the really small diameter springs. I found out in a big hurry that those spring compressors are absolutely useless on such a small diameter spring. After fussing with it for a bit, eventually, I took the strut outside, laid it down in the yard, put an old blanket over the bottom end of it, stepped on the cap with my foot, and took the impact gun to the top nut.
When the nut came free, the spring ejected the strut body, which drug my old blanket about 5 feet out into the yard, where it safely came to a nice stop all rolled up in the blanket.
The new springs I installed were much shorter, and I was able to just press them down with the top plate by hand enough to get the nut on. It all worked pretty well for me, though if I had been reusing the OEM springs, I would not have been able to compress them, and would have had to take them to a shop.
And, about the shop .. . having the right tools is important, but so is knowing how to use them. I did struts on a GEO Storm quite a few years back, and took them to a local shop to have the springs done. A young friend of mine (early 20’s at the time) worked in the shop, and did the work on a spring compressor exactly like the one you used in your friends shop. Awesome tool, except my friend obviously didn’t know the proper way to set the thing up and use it. First strut he did for me, just finished compressing it, and before he could even get the impact gun on the top nut, the whole assembly came blasting out the bottom of the compressor. I know he wasn’t ready for it, had his foot in the way. I think the guy had a bruise on his foot, and a limp for about two weeks after that, lucky he didn’t break anything.
Thanks for sharing your mishap, it is a great reminder that it is often way too easy to get ourselves into trouble, and it only takes a second for it to all go wrong.
Holy crap, I was sitting here at my desk nervous watching you tighten those spring compressors. I can’t imagine the tension in that room. (See what I did there, lol!) I’m glad you’re okay. Cat-like reflexes, that’s for sure.
I’ve rented spring compressors from Auto-Zone about 5 times with no issues. But now seeing what happened to you I’m glad nothing has happened. I think the impact motion is what messed you up. I don’t have an impact gun, so I do everything by hand. But if you think about it, it’s like hitting the spring compressor on the side with a hammer when you were using the impact gun. You have more control with a box end wrench. Yes, of course it’s going to take longer, but I rather it take longer and have more control. The AZ spring compressors also have the pins that hold it in place.
Again, I’m glad you were okay, cuz that could’ve gone wrong in so many ways.
I almost lost a finger a while ago when a brain fart and a coil spring came together at the same time. Springs are not forgiving at all.
Even though the experience was a little scary it was good for the viewers to see the potential for disaster.
[quote=”Kasra_CA” post=74761]Would a impact Dewalt drill work to remove rusty bolts?[/quote]
It might, but it’s not really made for that kind of work. You could just as easily get an electric impact.
[quote=”wysetech” post=74794]I almost lost a finger a while ago when a brain fart and a coil spring came together at the same time. Springs are not forgiving at all.
Even though the experience was a little scary it was good for the viewers to see the potential for disaster.[/quote]
I felt the same way.
Hello Eric! I can really recommend this spring compressor tool: http://www.biltema.se/sv/Bil—MC/Verktyg-och-Verkstadsutrustning/Chassi/Fjaderspannare-191355/
I have it and it works great! Superfast, easy and safe to use. You use it with an impact gun. It fits all sizes of springs. The area where the coil contacts the tool is slightly tapered to make the spring not slip out, instead it is more firmly held in the tool when compressed. It’s around 415 US dollars.
If you plan on getting a new tool after that near death experience, get this one!
Cheers Daniel.
[quote=”Daniel_608″ post=75566]Hello Eric! I can really recommend this spring compressor tool: http://www.biltema.se/sv/Bil—MC/Verktyg-och-Verkstadsutrustning/Chassi/Fjaderspannare-191355/
I have it and it works great! Superfast, easy and safe to use. You use it with an impact gun. It fits all sizes of springs. The area where the coil contacts the tool is slightly tapered to make the spring not slip out, instead it is more firmly held in the tool when compressed. It’s around 415 US dollars.
If you plan on getting a new tool after that near death experience, get this one!
Cheers Daniel.[/quote]
That is a good tool. I’ve used something similar in the past and it worked pretty good. To be honest, I’d rather get a wall mount like Scott’s when I decide to bit the bullet. Those things just make life so much easier.
Thanks for your input.
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