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Hey guys! I’m going to have to be replacing struts on two vehicles within the next few months. I’ve never used the type with the two threaded rods and really don’t plan on starting any time soon either for obvious reasons. The first time I just had a friend who works at a shop swap them out of the strut assembly for me, and the other time I just replaced the entire assembly with quick struts.
When planning for the upcoming job I came across a coil spring compressor which looks like it has a lot of similarities to the wall mounted type some shops use.
Here’s a link to the tool I’m referring to on Amazon so you guys can see what I’m talking about
I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience with this style, and what your opinion is as to the safety aspect of it since it appears to be very similar to the wall mount $700 type but for significantly less money which could make the investment worth it.
My only initial thoughts are is that it seems it could be possible for the strut assembly to slip out the front right where it would be sitting on the lower end of the tool, but it’s hard to tell from the limited pictures. If that were the case I was thinking of welding or installing something like a bolt which would sort of “lock” it in there so it couldn’t slip out when you start compressing it.
What’s your opinion of coil spring compressors like this?
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Don’t waste your time and money on a spring compressor, just get the complete assembly and be done with it. It is safer and faster not to mention the fact that if the struts are bad the springs are likely just as bad.
I see what your saying, and I know the spring could definitely get wore out if the struts are bad for a long period of time, but on my girlfriends car it’s only got about 115 k miles on it, none of them are leaking, it still passes the bounce test fine and there are no noises coming from it. It’s really just a matter of ride quality and especially in the rear I think it probably wont pass the bounce test if left un-treated for another year.
Do you still think it’s worth replacing the whole assembly in this case? It’s definitely a significant cost savings for just buying new struts vs buying quick struts.
Brokemechanic is referring to quick struts, which are made by Monroe (I think a few other companies also make them too). They are convenient, however, quick struts aren’t made for every car. I used them for my wife’s cobalt, but they don’t exist for my civic. When I changed the struts on my civic, I used this tool OTC Clamshell Coil Spring Compressor
It’s super safe, as long as you use it right. It will work on most cars, but not all. Also, it’s is an American made tool that is rugged as hell.
On a side note, depending on the type of car, the rear struts will likely be able to be changed without using the tool. It’s the front struts that need it.
Thanks for the post Matthew. That’s good to know about the rear springs also, it makes sense since they wouldn’t have the weight of the engine & trans to support so they would probably be a little lighter duty springs. I actually saw your post on the ETCG forums and read it before deciding to post my own. I was actually getting ready to purchase the OTC clamshell compressor and then had a couple reservations.
The main reservation I had was would it work well on large vehicles (SUV, minivan, etc.) From the reviews there’s a decent number of people who said it reaches the maximum allowable torque before the spring would be fully compressed. A lot of them had euro vehicles though, but I just wondered if it would do the same thing on say an SUV. What is your experience from using it? It doesn’t sound like you’ve had any issues with it, but just wondering if you’ve seen what some of those other users were talking about.
What I am saying is that by the time you change the strut and the upper bearing plate (the upper strut mount should be changed when changing the strut) you are time and money ahead to replace the whole thing. 115,000 miles on springs is a lot and there will likely be a height difference between new and old, the springs will fatigue over time eventually causing a failure. Springs are one of those things that people think is good for the life of the car, we change oil every 3k but the power steering fluid/transmission fluid/front and rear differentials is left alone. It is the springs that support the weight of the car the shocks and struts only control spring movement.
Matthew has a excellent point that the rear ones are also in need of replacement. The rear of a car is just as important as the front as any loss of control in the rear will have drastic affects on safety.
[quote=”engineer999″ post=89036]Hey guys! I’m going to have to be replacing struts on two vehicles within the next few months. I’ve never used the type with the two threaded rods and really don’t plan on starting any time soon either for obvious reasons. The first time I just had a friend who works at a shop swap them out of the strut assembly for me, and the other time I just replaced the entire assembly with quick struts.
When planning for the upcoming job I came across a coil spring compressor which looks like it has a lot of similarities to the wall mounted type some shops use.
Here’s a link to the tool I’m referring to on Amazon so you guys can see what I’m talking about
I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience with this style, and what your opinion is as to the safety aspect of it since it appears to be very similar to the wall mount $700 type but for significantly less money which could make the investment worth it.
My only initial thoughts are is that it seems it could be possible for the strut assembly to slip out the front right where it would be sitting on the lower end of the tool, but it’s hard to tell from the limited pictures. If that were the case I was thinking of welding or installing something like a bolt which would sort of “lock” it in there so it couldn’t slip out when you start compressing it.
What’s your opinion of coil spring compressors like this?[/quote]
I have that exact spring compressor in my shop. I bought it off e-bay and it works great.
If you planning to only do that job once…. just pay a shop to transfer part and call it a day.
If spring require replacement then you can look for complete strut (I had who came with the main nut secure properly)
I have brannick 7400 and that works great. but you are looking at over 600$ equipment. So you need to tale that into consideration. The rod with clamp are inexpensive, but they may cause you headache if they slide and might not work if you plan to replace the spring (spring fully decompress). And they might not compress enough on thick spring
Thanks for all the advice guys! For her car I’m just going to end up going with quick struts as brokemechanic suggested. Mainly because if anything more than the strut would need replaced its more economical to just grab the whole assembly then to buy individual parts. Plus with 115 k and 11 years it’s probably best to get new springs as well. Thanks for the advice brokemechanic!
I’d also like to thank everyone who contributed with their opinion on strut compressor tools. It sounds like the one referenced in my original post works pretty good from what bustedbolts said! If I would purchase one in the future that would be one of my top picks, I’d just have to try to get a deal on it as it wouldn’t be used very heavily, but if the price is right…it just might be worth it!!
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