So I've had tein s-techs sitting in my room for a month and a half now and have no means of putting them on due to no compressor. my brother today said he's done springs without a compressor but didn't elaborate on how to do it. i was wondering if anyone can give me some info on that

 

The first thing I would do is: If you are near an autozone, advance auto, or any store like that - you can rent a spring compressor.

Another way to do this, which was shown on TRUCKS this weekend is to leave the springs in the car and loosen the bolts. Then slowly relieve the compression on the spring. That may be how your brother was thinking.

There is the possibility of removing the whole assembly and slowly loosening it up on the floor - but it is no fun to just let those things shoot up off there.

 

advanced auto lets you rent them or you can buy them for $37

 

could you elaborate on that?

see my problem is i just want to get em done before i ship to boot camp. i going to NOPI this weekend and have no income so i cant really throw money around. so renting is out of the question

 

aftermarket springs are shorter than oem. depending on the spring, you might be able to get away with just compressing it with your own strength. I've done this before on several spring installs from KSport and H&R. Dunno about how short the Teins are relative to the R/A strut though.

And as for getting the oem spring off... lay the assembly on the ground sideways, make sure that nothing is above and below it, and blow off the top nut using an impact wrench. watch as things fly, because they will shoot across the room. Not recommended even though I've done this a few times.

 

you can use ratcheting tied downs to hold the springs down once you get them out. i DO NOT recommend loosening the top strut bolt before you get them out. the extra pressure from the spring may push the strut down to far and ruin your brake lines if not disconnected. pull the whole strut assembly out first. then using your two ratcheting tie downs around the the spring coils, ratchet away. this will compress the spring enough to get the top hats off.

slowly release the spring pressure evenly on each side to avoid the spring going to tight on one side. this is safer than the spring compressors they rent. it keeps it contained within the strap-unlike the compressor type. if the coil spring compressor is too loose on one side OR it slips off.....POWWW!!! in your grill...

you shouldnt need them to put on your springs.

good luck...

 

What happens when you release the tie-down strap?

 

Ive taken springs off before with no compressor, just make sure theres nothing around you for the spring to hit cause it will shoot out with alot of force. I wouldnt recommend it though cause its dangerous, only as a last resort, lol.

 

yeah i saw that setup on trucks myself.. looked to me he just put a jack under the lower control arm and jacked the LCA up a bit, Then he took the nut that holds it on off and slowly lowered the jack seemed to work like a charm to me...

 

Why can't you just tie the spring coils together with something while the car sits with the suspension loaded?

When you jacked up the car, the springs would hopefully remain close to their compressed height, and hopefully not shoot across the room when you loosen the seat.

 

This is being made way too complicated. You can buy spring compressors for $10. If you don't have one, and you're careful, you can take the front struts apart without the compressor. You really do need an impact wrench to do it safely, though.

 

I've gotta see a vid of someone taking off the stockies without a spring compressor!

 

It's really not impressive. People tend to exaggerate.

 

I would suggest getting the spring compressors as well... I mean no one wants to go to the hospital after having a spring shot into their chest..

While we're on the subject... Can you in stall them without an impact wrench?

 

I wouldn't recommend it. It makes it very difficult to get the top nut off, and to tighten it back down properly. Also, if your lower mounting bolts on the struts are seized, like mine were, trying to get them off by hand would've broken them or rounded them off. If you didn't have extra bolts on hand, you'd be screwed.