Trying to Compress a front mondeo mk3 spring

[Edgarr]

Oh dear lord the money I have wasted trying to do this is unbelievable and i needed some advice trying to change front spring on a McPherson strut

Firstly have a Sealey re231 hydraulic spring compressor, been great for the rear springs but it refuses to do the front springs as the spring bends and the shock absorber piston does not sit flush at the center. I have managed to get the top mount on but once release the top mount does not move and requires a lot of force to spin it around.

Then went and bought one of these other hydraulic spring compressors as they're apparently good with the two hooks at the top. Clarke one from machinemart. Useless! the strut does not sit vertical so is facing 11 o'clock when you compress the spring.

Tried draper and sealey old style spring compressors also a failure.

Other good news is that my local garages refuse to do it because i'm not taking my car in for the work.

So i'm currently down a bit of cash. with useless equipment and a car that needs a new spring with nowhere to go.

Advice would be brilliant!

[Cabinet Enforcer]

When you say old style spring compressors, do you mean the threaded bar type? If they are only a 2 piece set then they wont be much use on a spring that doesn't sit centrally, I have a 3 piece set from Clarke (CHT224) using 3 means you can control the bowing a bit better making it easier to line things up properly.

[njw1]

If I remember correctly when I changed the front springs on my ST TDCi I used four of the threaded bar type compressors on each spring as with two I couldn't get the spring to compress evenly, now I think of it another reason for using four is that the front springs on a Mondeo are bloody huge and took a lot of winding in and as compressing springs scares the st out of me I felt safer with four compressors on each spring!

[Edgarr]

njw1 said:

If I remember correctly when I changed the front springs on my ST TDCi I used four of the threaded bar type compressors on each spring as with two I couldn't get the spring to compress evenly, now I think of it another reason for using four is that the front springs on a Mondeo are bloody huge and took a lot of winding in and as compressing springs scares the st out of me I felt safer with four compressors on each spring!

4?! Did you know which ones you used?

[njw1]

Edgarr said:

4?! Did you know which ones you used?

Just your usual el-cheapo compressors;



And did each one up a few turns at a time so as to compress the spring evenly.

[Piersman2]

njw1 said:

If I remember correctly when I changed the front springs on my ST TDCi I used four of the threaded bar type compressors on each spring as with two I couldn't get the spring to compress evenly, now I think of it another reason for using four is that the front springs on a Mondeo are bloody huge and took a lot of winding in and as compressing springs scares the st out of me I felt safer with four compressors on each spring!

Similar experience here with springs on my lads cars, one a Peugeot, the other an E46. Modern springs all seem to be these loosely wound, unevenly spaced and shaped things. First one up was the Peugoet springs. Just couldn't get enough compression in with the standard set of wind in threaded bars. They weren't long enough as the springs coils are so widely spaced. Spent a while trying and eventually realised I was gonna need a second set of compressors to complete the amount spring shortening required. Then the same story with the BMW springs, needed to use all 4 compressors to get the spring short enough and compressed straight enough to get it on the strut.

Lots of shuffling and playing around with the springs and compressor positions requried, a PITA job that took much longer than it should really!

[Evoluzione]

Not something i've ever done, but i've read about Diyers undoing the top nuts then lifting the car up to release the springs. I guess this doesn't work so well when you've got a long spring compressed a lot and run out of suspension arm travel before it loses tension, but in many cases does work.

[mercedeslimos]

The last time I did it was on a diesel Astra which only has one nut that both holds the top mount on and holds it to the turret. Not fun. Had to be done inside the arch, ended up using a pair of twin-hook compressors and 2 heavy-duty ratchet straps. to get the spring compressed enough to get that bloody nut on. Makes doing my Passat ones (where the top mount bolts to the shock before bolting assembly to the car) look like a walk in the park.

[markcoznottz]

You can’t beat the old sleeved type, now only available at autojumbles etc, these resist and sideways movement of the spring.

[imagineifyeswill]

I will presume that youve got this sorted by now, if you havent I would advise against playing around with those Diy threaded rod compressors on modern curved springs. With a proper professional spring compressor you will change that spring in 10 minutes

All coil springs and especially these curved long soft ride springs contain excessive amounts of energy and if they were to slip out of these cheap compressors can do serious if not fatal injuries.
.

[Edgarr]

Hi all, managed to find a garage to do it, had my father pick drop it off and pick it up while i was at work. Rubbish job performed.

the bump stop was put on the wrong way round. The top mount won't rotate freely and requires a lot of effort to turn. So i'm thinking the job has been done poorly. I also presume they've used a impact gun to tighten the nut as its really tightened.

[markcoznottz]

njw1 said:

Edgarr said:

4?! Did you know which ones you used?

Just your usual el-cheapo compressors;



And did each one up a few turns at a time so as to compress the spring evenly.

The am-tech ones that euro sell , similar to those are currently on recall, they can fail ‘under load’ , that sounds reassuring!