Coil Spring Compressor Query?

Has anyone used Autozone's loaner coil compressor on the
suspension coils of an older Civic or Accord?

My cheap-o Harbor Freight $7 coil spring compressor worked
pretty well for disassembling my 91 Civic's suspension
system front coil/damper assemblies. Getting them all back
together is becoming a nightmare. Seems the claws on the
tool are too thick and interfere with the dust cover, which
then interferes with getting enough clearance to get the top
nut on. The archives indicate at least one person ground
down this tool's claws and had success. But I have limited
grinding tools at the moment. Hence I am thinking of
borrowing Autozone's tool and seeing if it's any better.
These little Honda coils are tricky, complicating use of an
already somewhat tricky tool, aggravated by the safety
precautions necessary when working with a lot of spring
stored energy.

Fully relaxed, the driver's side coil is about 1/4-inch
shorter than the pass side coil. So that explains some of my
car's non-levelness. The coils will be switched (pass. side
to dr. side, etc.) when I am done. Then I will observe.

I also found a severely corroded stabilizer bar bushing on
the passenger side that I think may explain some uneven tire
wear I'm having on that side. This will be replaced within
the next month or so.

I continue to contemplate a major rebuild of the suspension
system in the near future...

 

WHY???

Why not put new springs(or at least springs of EQUAL length) on both
sides,and *not have to mess with it again*? (and have a level car,too!)

(see your first paragraph above)

BTW,springs of unequal length may affect suspension geometry and thus tire
wear.

 

I don't know what the difference in height is with the
springs compressed. It's a test.

I am considering this.

At the moment, I just need my ride back.

I have two tentative solutions to my coil compressor problem
and will report back in the next day or so.

 

I would try to get my hands on one of these units http://tinyurl.com/nsede
(either by renting or borrowing it) or something similar. The shop I used
to work at used one of these units http://tinyurl.com/rsduq. Although they
work great, they're clearly not practical for the home owner/weekend
warrior.

Eric

 

The above links are a hint that going cheap is going to cost
a person in other ways. Weekend warrior indeed. Operating
the coil compressor several times wiped my arms out.

I cut holes in the coil/damper assembly "bases." This is the
cap-like part that is made of metal, with two bolts coming
out of it, supported by the car frame. There was no need to
cut holes in the mounting rubbers that fit into these. The
"$7 special" coil compressor then worked much better, with
the claws fitting into the holes. The tool spanned about
seven coils, which also eased operation.

I didn't get either of the two shock absorber assemblies all
lined up right the first time I put each in, so I had to
recompress, partly disassemble, etc. each. Must be a trick
for lining things up correctly.

I switched the coils from dr. side to pass side. Now the
driver's side is only 1/4-inch lower (vs. 3/4-inch before)
than the passenger's side. (I checked before and after a
long test drive.) Eric, like you suggested before, that
sounds like a bad bushing.

The ride seemed better. Going over bumps was less of a blow,
it seemed. (But it could just be the placebo effect.)

I am going to replace the stabilizer bolts and bushings, per
my note earlier that one set was badly corroded. The old
coils' rubber covers were pretty beat up in places, and I'm
not sure how strong the underlying coils are. (Never mind
the extra wear and tear on the rubber covers from my efforts
with the compressor!) Most likely I will buy and install new
springs, as Jim suggested, for $50 each from Majestic. I
can't find them new anywhere in town, and the salvage yard
doesn't have the greatest deal for used ones. I think it's
quite possible my old springs are at the end of their life
and I will have a better ride with new ones. Then possibly
onto a ball joint separator per Tegger's web site. Then
maybe a shop press as noted before to replace the bushings.

If the labor today weren't so exhausting, I would have tried
to document more and put it up on the web site. Next time
will be a lot easier.

As always, Eric, I appreciate your sharing your experience.

 

John, I follow what you're saying. In my new-ness to this,
and given how old and somewhat rusty my 91 Civic's springs
appeared, I was hesitant to put the load on just a few
coils. Folks with newer springs should go for it, of course.

 

John, I follow what you're saying. In my new-ness to this,
and given how old and somewhat rusty my 91 Civic's springs
appeared, I was hesitant to put the load on just a few
coils. Folks with newer springs should go for it, of course.

 

I use those from harbor freight as well and haven't had problems. What I do
is instead of hanging the hooks on the top of the spring i hang them midway
so that the hooks don't interfere with the dust cover.

 

I use those from harbor freight as well and haven't had problems. What I do
is instead of hanging the hooks on the top of the spring i hang them midway
so that the hooks don't interfere with the dust cover.

 

I bought my new strut/shocks for my '90 accord from autozone
specifically because they loaned the tool and they knew it because we
discussed it before I made the purchase. When I got them off and
began to disassemble them for the replacement it turned out the tool
they gave me didn't fit. When I went back to get the correct tool
they said they didn't have one. When I asked what I should do with my
disassmbled vehicle they pretty much told me they didn't care.

Went to Advance auto down the street bought one for about $15 and put
Autozone on my boycott list. They could have bought one, put it in
their loaner tool stock and kept me as a customer.

Frank

 

Ouch. From what I saw in the one class on suspension I took,
these Honda springs are tiny. Guess that means they're safer
to work on, but as you found (and as I saw in the class with
the tools the school offered), getting a tool that will fit
is tricky.