Suspension spring clamps

I've got those exact ones and they worked perfectly when I did my suspension. As magpie says, keep a wary eye on the hooks and tighten them down alternately. If you see any sign of sketchiness or movement, start again!
 
I've just counted my hand digits and there are definitely still 10 :). Just use care and common sense.
 
...and unwind them evenly too...or the spring twists and you end up with one super tight one.

Oh...and loosen the topnut slightly while it's still on the car ;)

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used one of those in the past,awesome piece of tool that! was at the garage next door when i was at the paint shop,but i think il go with the £6.99 option for now..Thanks for the reply's and help guys i appreciate it,iv ordered them should be receiving them in the morning,that a good tip about putting a piece of rubber in :D gona deffo try it
 
R3H4N said:
used one of those in the past,awesome piece of tool that! was at the garage next door when i was at the paint shop,but i think il go with the £6.99 option for now..Thanks for the reply's and help guys i appreciate it,iv ordered them should be receiving them in the morning,that a good tip about putting a piece of rubber in :D gona deffo try it
Click to expand...
Or an elastic band :D
 
Apparently my mechanic says he's seen them before and avoid. They can cause spring to snap
 
the design of the normal seperate independently mounted spring compressor is such a dangerous contraption.

here's a video guide


danger is when one of clamp slips offset relative to the opposite clamp, causing an uneven loading on the spring which allows it to just force the clamps to one side while the coil just bulges the other way and bam!

I think the tool just needs a slight modification connecting the upper/lower clamps on both sides to help keep the two clamps aligned and spaced equally to each other.
or configure the spring compressor like a vice mechanism or bar clamp where both ends of the clamp are kept parallel at all times.
 
a-ha someone's thought of it

1002chp_15_z+how_to_pick_the_right_spring_rate+spring_compressor.jpg
SmartSpringCompressor.jpg


http://clubsmartcar.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=25769&view=findpost&p=301347
 
I wouldn't use those personally. Limits spring size you can use. Nothing to stop a 'square' one sliding out :/

Normal hooked one with a rubber insert be it a car mat or old eraser. Are the best option :)
 
These are the ones I use and have never had an issue with them, despite them not having much 'hook' or any rubber bits to prevent slippage...
apubu6as.jpg

They have done all of my micras, a Peugeot 306 td front springs (which are monstrous!) and just done my Primera springs with them too.
At the end of the day coil springs can be dangerous so whatever method you use to dismantle struts just use a little common sense and be careful :)

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I don't think they're for fitting onto the springs themselves.
they go under the lower strut cup and above the top cup to simply clamp the whole cup/spring/cup assembly to relieve tension off the top nut.

cos the screw threads are always kept equally spaced apart by the solid upper/lower brackets, imo they're inherently safer than the traditional separate finger clamps.

now those pics are obviously not the final design that will work with our struts (looks like they're configured for struts that don't have any brackets welded onto it), I'm only post em as examples of the conceptual "principle" of keeping the threaded sections equally spaced apart mechanically to ensure the spring is uniformly compressed at all times.

due to the extra hub flanges n brackets on our front struts, the lower clamp bracket will prob need a key-slot cut to one side so you can slip it through the damper strut between the lower cup and the bracket obstructions below.
 
MicrAde said:
At the end of the day coil springs can be dangerous so whatever method you use to dismantle struts just use a little common sense and be careful :)
Click to expand...

totally agree, any compressed spring is simply an armed bomb waiting to be released. if any of the support mechanism that keeps under control fails and the other supports can't contain the fury, then the spring wants to get out with a bang.

just need common sense, learn what the risks are, what symptoms to look for, take steps to reduce the risk of harm and prepare for the worst.
 
pollyp said:
totally agree, any compressed spring is simply an armed bomb waiting to be released. if any of the support mechanism that keeps under control fails and the other supports can't contain the fury, then the spring wants to get out with a bang.

just need common sense, learn what the risks are, what symptoms to look for, take steps to reduce the risk of harm and prepare for the worst.
Click to expand...


...and point it away from yourself.





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if a person is aware of the potential risks and don't feel confident of the required precautions and tools and not willing to risk their lives from personal injury, then it's best to give the task & responsibility to someone (preferably a certified suspension shop/garage) who's more experienced n professional n better equipped to reduce the risks.
 
just a thought, another alternative method (but not recommended) is perhaps to utilise the weight of the car at the top and a hydraulic jack under the lower ball joint at the bottom to compress or release the coil spring assembly?

while keeping the chassis is on stands:
  1. compress the strut with the trolley jack under the ball joint till the spring supports the car and begins to barely lift it off the stand (but not completely). the damper shaft & top nut is no longer under tension against the strut top.
  2. undo & remove the top nut
  3. slowly lower the jack to lower the hub & lower section of the damper to uncompress the spring
  4. when the springs fully relaxed, remove the lower strut assembly and spring from the hub
  5. replace spring or strut
  6. bolt lower strut & spring onto hub
  7. guide the spring in the right location of the upper & lower spring cup & guide the damper rod towards the strut top hole
  8. jack up the hub to compress the spring against the weight of the car until the threaded damper rod tip pokes through the strut top
  9. tighten the top nut
  10. lower and remove the trolley jack
found a vid
 
Last edited:
hi them clamps are s**t I brought these and they kept slipping didn't seem to fit the spring very well so I binned um and brought some draper ones a couple of quid more and were 100% better.

cheers
 

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