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Coil spring compressor rental or purchase?


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1996 Subaru Legacy L ABS 4 wheel drive - front passenger coil spring.

 

I plan on purchasing a new strut for on son's sub - and buying a used coil springs from a poster on this site. I had rented a coil spring compressor when I worked on my wife's van - Dodge Caravan sport - worked nice but when spring was compressed it slipped a couple of times - maybe user error.

 

My question on the sub - I have heard that the rental compressors don't match up well enough (on foreign cars) to safely compress the coil and hold it - I can't remember where I spotted one online but it was specifically made for Subaru's. So should I buy one? - if so any recommendations? - brand and or website? - or rent one? - any DIY tips on compressing the spring/replacing strut?

 

....Milty

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what he said - asking shops how much they charge to swap them out is a great idea - they're set up to do it in no time and don't have to charge much if they don't want too.  worth a call. 

 

the cheap coil compressors work great....if you've got an electric or air tool impact.  by hand - that would be awful, but surely it can be done.

get a cheap set of compressors and grease the snot out of the threads - they work fine for the occassional DIY use. 

or yeah - rent them.

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in all honesty - unless you plan on doing your own struts on a regular basis, and have multiple vehicles to do them on, buying is not really that cost effective.

 

renting is kind of a crap shoot - you may get a good compressor, you may not.

 

If you have all the parts in hand, struts off the car, and just need to get the spring compressed to swap things out, try taking it all to a local, independent auto repair place and ask them if they can do the spring compression for you. We did that with the fronts on my other half's 2006 LL Bean Outback.. took the struts off the car, took everything to a local shop, they used their spring compressor to remove the old strut, stuff in the new one, and for a small fee (maybe $20-25) we were in business, no muss, no fuss.

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I wish I had an impact wrench and compressor I'll probably rent coil spring compress or from Advance but may also shop around for a local shop for an estimate. Last time I attempted a coil replacement on wife's van I could not get the top strut nut off - sure if I hit it with an impact wrench it would of broke free - ended up taking it to a Midas shop - charged me $60 - a rip off - same price if strut was in the van.

 

Checked local junk yard he has a complete strut/coil but rusty - wants $50.

 

Milty

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Decent hydraulic compressors cost about $130. If your going to do 4 struts, a shop will probably charge $20 per strut to take the time and do it and many shops will look at it as at least 1hr of labor.. So that's gonna be $80-100 plus the gas to get to a shop.. If your planning on 4 struts, just buy a $130 compressor. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Coil-Spring-Compressor-6600-LBS-Auto-Strut-Hydraulic-Tool/201590947261?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D39836%26meid%3Deb476f4f230641a88c0c9f9892f83ce1%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D371662465547

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