Doing Springs, need air compressor?

Will hand tools do the job? I'm going to follow the handy dandy instructions on this site.

air tools are not needed but quaility metric and sae hand tools are, if you dont have the tools, a good floor jack and stands and some suspension experence it would be best for saftey to to get help with project.

you will need a special strut compreser tool for front coils (dangerous if done wrong or w/ wrong tool) for this rent tool at auto parts store or take the two front strut assemblies to an auto service shop and have them r&r the coils, should not cost more then about $50

MAke sure you are careful and chain the springs down in case they fly out. Im serious, people have been badly hurt by spings shooting out.

I hear you. I've done them on my other car with the help of a buddy who had air tools. I plan on renting the spring compressors. I was just wondering when doing the front struts whether the top bolt on the spring cap could be removed without an air wrench. My past experience is it can't because the shaft of the strut wants to spin with it. Thanks for your advice.

good point!

if hand tools fail, drive car (or better yet bring front strut assemblies) to local shop and have them zing them loose with air, then retighten by hand.

my experience with this is most dont spin, but I sometimes use a electric 1/2" impact gun

the springs are under about 200 pounds pressure have someone remove them for you ! depending on the replacment springs i used the steeda it is only 10 pound replaced. they are thicker and shorter.

That's what I'll do. I'll remove the struts from the car and let a shop install the new springs. Appreciate all the input!

also if you havent done the front popping TSB for your car see if the dealer will do it for you or atleast get the fix first then do springs the fix comes with an extra noise damper that fits either spring. thats when i did mine.

I was thinking about that after I started this thread. Appreciate it and that's the route I'm going to take.

I think yoou guys are making this harder than it is. Air tools make it easy, but it can be done without. Rent a spring compressor for strut suspensions and have at it. If you haven't checked out the Technical Write Up section here on SN, check out the one for the Eibach install here

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=5060957#post5060957

gp001 your prob right to a point. but safety should always be top on the list. i am sure plenty of the people in the forums here could do this. however it isnt a job for everyone. and i would hope that we dont make it seam so easy that someone would get hurt. just my opinion

Yes, and I have included a disclaimer to each write up for just that fact. But if the only contention is removing the spring from the strut assembly then I disagree. If someone is competent enough to get to the point of removing the strut assembly then they should be able to attach a spring compressor and turn the bolts to compress the springs.

yes but i have seen compressors pop off and i you remember just how much pressure that spring was under to remove. putting the new spring in was a joke about 10 pounds on the steeda anyway. we almost thought it was wrong 3 inches shorter. but the look and ride is great.
anyway i trust you are a very capable person. i am used to supervising many people on many projects in my buis. we do lots of custom faricating. un doing a few bolts to remove the strut is not as big, as is the spring. but the bolts wont crack your skull. i would have done the work at my shop or in my garage for that matter. but since my bud at ford did it durinig the front end noise that is why i did mine that way. plus im not sure but i dont think a shop would charge alot to swap the springs if they were brought in. the bottom line is we both have valid points. and are allowed our opinions.

buy the way here is the site for the camber kit http://www.specprod.com/PROD_DIR/PROD_PASSCAR.HTML
81260 EZ CAM XR (14MM)

I really don't understand your point of contention Using your logic we should stop even driving our cars because people get hurt driving them. This is a Technical forum where we discuss technical topics. Telling someone to not attempt something because a tool may fail is pretty low on the technical scale, especially when you did not even do his modification yourself (not knocking anyone who doesn't do things themselves, for whatever reason, I have plenty of friends who race big dollar cars and pay others to do the work. But don't try to discurage others with invalid concerns). If you've done them before why not offer tips for newbs to make them safer? Such as lock the spring down in a vice and stand behind the bearing/retainer while removing. Also, are you aware most compressors have safety pins that lock the tool to the spring? Pretty hard to pop off if used properly. See pic below


Anyone is allowed to post their opinion, but just telling someone to pay someone to do it isn't really good technical advice in a technical forum.

Please keep in mind that I am in no way slamming anyone. People can do things whatever way they wish. Some people would rather spend a day at the beach and pay someone to work on their car, while others would rather work on their car. All of those are fine. I am just trying to keep things technical, in a positive way, here in the forum

ok i relent. i forgot this is and should be a teaching forum. as for doing things myself i have done all of the things on my mustang myself except for things that ford should have done for me. i removed and painted my calipers, installed muffler r&r seats to get inserts. and since they had not yet done the tank or shaker i even helped my friend replace both due to info recieved from these forums. trust me 6 hours with my son installing my stripe kit i like working on it. and i was not trying to be a jerk or anything. i was just saying remove the struts and you could take them somewhere. i dont get the dont drive car thing. if you saw the tool used at the dealer to remove the springs you would see my point maybe. i mean when i was a younger i lowered my 67gt cougar my 69 nova ss and raised my 94 toyota myself. no big thanks for the input

Sorry you took this so personal. That was not my intent. My only intent was to not make something seem more dangerous than it really is

no prob these forums are great i have gained some very helpful info from here. and in kind since i have access to oasis i have tried to print and post any TSBs as i see new ones i also have the 2005-6 dvd so i have posted diagrams. its give and take. years ago one of my friends was hurt buy one of the compressors. so my point was if you were going to the auto part store to rent it any way just bring the strut with you shouldnt be much more.

Fair enough. And thank you for the contributions

guys, you both have valid points

I should leave well enough alone

Just remember, anyone doing this or other semi involved projects themselfs should lean on the side of saftey, even when you follow instruction (or thought you did) $hit happens, I have seen guys with scars and broken bones on the face from springs popping out of a compresser tool and I witnesed a coil fly out of the front end after a jack was removed improperly and lower control arm flpped down, coil flew out and hit another car in wheel well area about 20 feet away, if it was a person and not a car it would of hurt alot at very least this happened because a beginer was trying to hard

the only point us Nader wanabes are trying to make is BE CAREFULL not DONT TRY IT

have fun, buy new and better tools for your new and better parts to make your new Mustang your Mustang oh, and learn something

Yes, and I agree. You should know this because you looked at my write up. At the begining of each write is this disclaimer:

Kellera6 also stated he had done this on a previous car both in this thread and the thread with the write up, so I was answering his questions based on him having some knowledge of this type of modification. Either way, compressing a spring really is not that big of a deal. If it seems like a big deal to you (meaning anyone reading this) then you are not ready to attempt this modification.