I'm planning on putting on new springs tomarrow and i rented an internal spring compressor from a local shop. just wondering if anyone else has used one to replace their springs and if there are any tips i could get. i plan on only doing the rear at home and then taking the front to a shop (heard they were too dangerous for inexperienced people). any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

 

you dont need a compressor for the rear springs...just unhook shocks and let the rear hang down, take the old one out and put the new ones in.

the front is where you need the compressor. its not that hard, but just be careful and keep the compressors even. you dont want the spring popping loose while you are near it!

 

If the internal compressor is what I think it is (going down through the middle of the spring), it won't work.

Visit this site and look at the pics at the bottom of the page. Also take the link for the shock/spring install for an idea of what is involved.

 

I just did my own front springs/shocks myself, having never done them before.

Autozone has the proper compressor for the fronts, it's a MacPherson strut style spring compressor.

 

alright i'm in the middle of doing the springs right now and i'm just wondering where exactly i'm supposed to mark. is that only for the front or for the back also? thanks for any help

 

It's important to mark the front upper shock mount so that you get it turned properly when putting the assembly back together. If it's not lined up right, it won't go back in the car.

The springs I installed on my car are actually longer than the ones that were on my car, so they end in a different spot than the originals, so marking where they began and ended didn't work for me.

On the rears, you really just need to get the spring rotated properly on the upper isolator. Once you get that, you should be fine. Having it turned wrong can increase squeaks and such. The rears are almost drop and swap simple.

 

thanks for the quick help. Now i know what i'm doing!