[mpruden]

Trying to get the front springs out of my 1995 wagon and struggling with the spring compressor I bought of eBay.

Should I be able to insert the discs in the front spring with the strut still attached? There's just no way to get them in and also have them far enough apart to compress the spring.

I've tried removing the strut and even then it's very tight. The spring starts to bow out so much at that point that I can't get everything lined up anyway.

Should I have paid a little more for the KTC version? Should it be able to fit between the coils?

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

...heres the spring removal procedure from the book.

http://www.w124performance.com/service/w124CD2/Program/Chassis/32-0200.pdf

 

[mpruden]

So the answer is yes, it should fit between the coils, and spin up or down. That's not happening. Hummmm...

 

[thealmightysam]

By chance are you doing this with just one corner lifted off the ground?

 

[luckymike]

So the answer is yes, it should fit between the coils, and spin up or down. That's not happening. Hummmm...

I have the Sir Tools version of the tool and have only used it on my W126 but for what it's worth, yes, I was able to slip the plates in between the coils and spin them into position.

Wonder if I'm going to have the same trouble as you when I get around to doing the springs on our W124.

Can you post some pics of the problem?

 

[tuttebenne]

You should be able to lift one wheel off the ground and then feed the plate into the gap in the spring. Then as mentioned, spin it as high as you can for the upper plate and as low as you can for the lower. I have seen some kits that have plates too thick to fit into the gaps but from the ebay photo they look okay and should fit. And please make sure the strut is in when you do this. Jacking up the car without a strut is a dangerous situation. Also as suggested, post a photo of the spring once the wheel is fully off the ground.

 

[mpruden]

The entire front of the car is lifted off the ground, supported by jack stands. In these pictures, there is nothing under the control arm, so it is just hanging there supported by the strut.

The last picture shows the situation pretty well. I can get the top plate in and spin it up.

I can just barely get the bottom one in and spin it about 1.5 times before it just locks up in the spring. I can't move it down any more.

Am I missing something or should this just work?

Thanks!

 

[Jayare]

Release the sway bar from the control arm and you'll gain some additional separation in the spring coil. Insert the lower plate closer to the control arm.

 

[tuttebenne]

Is it possible you have the plates reversed? The one with the smaller center hole is on top and the other is for the bottom.

 

[mpruden]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm 100% certain the plates are not reversed.

I've messed around with this for the past couple hours and had an epiphany. Something just isn't right. This isn't my first time working on suspensions, and it shouldn't take this amount of deviation from the factory manual and best practices to do this procedure.

If the tolerances of the cheap ebay tool are off, what else could be wrong with this thing? I'm not going to risk injury and am just going to order the KTC version which is proven to work by other forum members.

My gut tells me this is not operator error (I can't be wrong, I'm on an Internet forum!), but we'll see once the new compressor comes in. I'll bump this thread with an update once I give it a go. I'd rather bruise my ego than end up in the ER!

 

[edcarls]

...the tolerances of the cheap ebay tool are off, what else could be wrong ...!

I agree, maybe the spring compressor's plate is too thick. I measured my JTC compressor and the plate is 1.5 CM thick.

 

[gsxr]

The plates should spin all the way up or down.

I hate to say it, but it could be the $99 compressor plates may be at fault. The "normal" aftermarket Chinese compressors are $175-$200 and the genuine factory/German Klann is near $1000. This is the first time I've seen a new compressor as cheap as $99. Wouldn't be real shocked if they had to make the plate thicker due to weaker materials and the problem you're running into is an unfortunate side effect.

Klann catalog around page 20 shows the specs, but it doesn't list plate thickness:
http://www.w124performance.com/docs/general/Klann_2008_Catalog/Klann_2008_Chapter_01.pdf

:sawzall:

 

[ps2cho]

Never had any issues with my $190 chinese one. Used it 3-4x personally and lent it out to others a few times. Still rocksolid and I trust it. If you would even consider having to knock it into the spring, either its the wrong application, or the spring has collapsed -- I would lean towards the former.

 

[Savannahbenz]

Put a hydraulic jack under the control arm and load the suspension to the point where the plates will just fit between the coils with minimum clearance. Spin the top plate up and bottom plate down as far as you can and then install and tighten the telescope. Lower the jack and the spring will stay compressed enough to disassemble the suspension. I have a $175 E bay sourced compressor. I found that is is much easier to use the jack to do the compressing and the compressor to hold the spring in the compressed state.

 

[PhantomLord]

^ +1

 

[mpruden]

I can confirm that the spring compressor was junk. The one that was roughly $40 more expensive worked exactly as expected. 4 sportline springs and accumulators installed successfully. Time to celebrate.

 

[luckymike]

I can confirm that the spring compressor was junk. The one that was roughly $40 more expensive worked exactly as expected. 4 sportline springs and accumulators installed successfully. Time to celebrate.

Well done. Congratulations.

 

[chuckh0308]

Interesting, I think I have the same set and I was able to remove and reinstall my springs. I did have to wiggle things around a bit and it took a few tries to figure out exactly how to go about it, but it worked. Most of my trouble (oddly enough) was with the rear springs. Glad you got it worked out though!