Keith
I made a simple spring compressor with a length of 1/2" threaded rod and
some 1/4" plate from the hardware store. Cut the plate to fit between the
bolts in the plate as Dick describes the 2 x 4. Drill a hole in the plate
for the threaded rod. Put the threaded rod up through the spring and through
the bolt hole for the shock. Place a washer and two nuts on the rod on top
of the shock support and lock the nuts together. Slide the metal plate up
against the bottom of the spring plate and tighten. This will compress the
spring and allow you to loosen the nuts/bolts on the bottom. Remove the nuts
and then loosen the nut on the threaded rod to lower the spring plate and
decompress the spring. It's a little slower than the hydraulic jack method
but I found I had a little more control. I think this is similar to one that
is sold by one of the big three.
Walt Philipson
'74 tr6, presently getting new rear springs, bushings and one new hub.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Sally or Dick Taylor
> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 10:38 PM
> To: Keith Meinhold
> Cc: skip@pobox.com; Rob Pennington; 6pack@autox.team.net
> Subject: RE: Front suspension rebuild
>
>
> Keith----I know it is written to use a (road) spring compressor to
> unload the front springs, when it is necessary to relax the tension
> stored here. I will only say that this can be done without such a
> compressor when doing the following:
>
> (After removing the front damper)
> Cut a block of 2"x4" to fit just INside the four bolts and nuts that
> protrude from the bottom of the lower spring pan. Use a bottle-type jack
> and center it in the block of the 2x4. Raise the jack enough to see that
> the road spring has started to compress. You can now start taking off
> the nuts that are holding the spring pan against the spring. Leave the
> two inside studs in place, but lower the nuts way down. At some point
> you will see that lowering of the bottle jack will free the spring from
> tension, and can then be removed. Re-installation can be done by
> reversing this proceedure. Works for me!
>
> If this seems more than you're willing to chance, then by all means wait
> for the compressor.
>
> Dick
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