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New spring compressor, what am I doing wrong?

N

nymustang

Member
I got some fancy new (used) springs from Tom a few weeks ago and I finally have some time to install them today. I was tired of fighting with my old spring compressors so I bought the claw type one that goes inside the spring from CJs. No I can figure out how to use it. The claws don't fold in enough to fit through the shock tower hole so i found I could take it apart and put it back together inside the spring but then the screw is too long and hits the perch before it compresses anything. I tried fitting it upside down but you still can't get the claws tight enough to fit inside the shock tower. What am i doing wrong? I feel like an idiot here. I know this should be simpler.
278-050812075029.jpeg


278-050812075106.jpeg
 
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Need a spacer to raise the threaded rod or insert it upside down wrenching the hex through the coils. The unit will drop in from the top with the right wiggle and holding your mouth just right. The claws can slide down the wrong way and reverse through the coils....

Not sure where to find the spacer info....maybe on here....goes between the hex and the top claws when in normal.
 
Whoa!

First, reverse your setup. with the hex head on top. The hooks need to be on the coils, not on top of the shock tower as you are showing. If your compressor came with only the one long bolt then you need to create a spacer to go between the bottom of the bolt's hex head and the top hook assembly.

With your current set up, you could not remove the spring due to the top hook assembly being attached to the shock tower itself.
 
Craig, you're right. I was trying to show in the pic how I couldn't fit the claws into the shock tower. I took a few trips to the hardware store and found some spacers that worked perfectly to get the threaded rod in the right position. I'll post a pic shortly. The new springs went in way easier and lowered the front end quite a bit (engine isn't in so I don't know exactly how much yet). Thanks for the help as always!
 
Here is the finished product. New springs, roller perches, a arms and freshly painted aprons. Feeling good. My 4 year old nephew even came and "helped" with the install. He's dying to get the motor dropped in!

278-050812141515.jpeg


Big thanks to SAC69. Tom, I really appreciate the springs and yes they fit just fine. Interestingly they barely needed compressing to get them into place. Its funny how different they are from the stock springs.
 
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"nymustang" said:
Big thanks to SAC69. Tom, I really appreciate the springs and yes they fit just fine. Interestingly they barely needed compressing to get them into place. Its funny how different they are from the stock springs.
Click to expand...

Glad you could use them. As I mentioned before, they are 1" drop springs thus are shorter (but beefier) than your original springs, plus they had an additional approx 1/4-1/2" coil removed, not sure if you compared them to your originals side-by-side prior to the install. FYI, in the future, if you remove the sway bar link on the lower control arm, this will allow you to pull the entire spindle & both control arm assemblies down, negating the need to use a PITA spring compressor.
 
Tom, I did compare them before installing and the originals are a lot longer and quite a bit thinner. Since those are actually 68 springs I think the final height will be just short of stock since they were trimmed. Stock 68 springs are 1" longer but these are 1" drop plus a little more. Ultimately they just feel way more substantial than what I had previously. when I get my fenders back on and the engine back in I'll have a better idea of how much it dropped.
 
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