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Started By
Message
Compressing struts???
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:40 am
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:40 am
Am I the only crazy SOB that did this without any fear? I keep hearing everybody freak out about how dangerous it is and hard. Literally one of the easier and most straight forward things I’ve done. Didn’t need a spring compressor or anything? Is the suspension in the Toyota’s different than everyone else?
Back when I had my taco and put bilsteins on I had to decompress and compress the springs to replace the shocks.
Al I did was jack up the front end and set the frame on jacks then moved the jack underneath the lower control arm and jacked up the front hub to compress the spring. When compressed I unbolted the shocks leaving the struts intact and bolted up. Once done I slowly lowered the jack which decompressed the strut. Pulled the shock out put new one in and then slowly jacked the hub back up and guided the shock back into the guide and bolted her back in. Lowered the jack and boom done.
Am I misunderstanding something or do something terribly dangerous??
Seems like most people are severely over complicating this
Back when I had my taco and put bilsteins on I had to decompress and compress the springs to replace the shocks.
Al I did was jack up the front end and set the frame on jacks then moved the jack underneath the lower control arm and jacked up the front hub to compress the spring. When compressed I unbolted the shocks leaving the struts intact and bolted up. Once done I slowly lowered the jack which decompressed the strut. Pulled the shock out put new one in and then slowly jacked the hub back up and guided the shock back into the guide and bolted her back in. Lowered the jack and boom done.
Am I misunderstanding something or do something terribly dangerous??
Seems like most people are severely over complicating this
This post was edited on 3/20/19 at 9:46 am
5
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:43 am to Timmayy
Yeah you just undo the top bolt on th strut, undo the ball joint, loosen the camber bolts, lower the jack (and control arm) and the coil releases its tension. I’ve done this several times no problem. Seems way safer than those cheap coil compressor.
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:44 am to jimbeam
Yeah it was sometime back so i don’t remember exactly the process I had to do but it was something like what you and I described.
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:45 am to jimbeam
The issue comes when you have to add a spacer on top of that coil spring.
This post was edited on 3/20/19 at 12:45 pm
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:47 am to PapaPogey
I could see that but it seems like the vast majority of people are talking about this for simply installing new shocks.
Posted on 3/20/19 at 9:50 am to jimbeam
I think that’s exactly what I followed
Posted on 3/20/19 at 10:29 am to Timmayy
That's how I did mine
Posted on 3/20/19 at 11:00 am to Timmayy
I did it when I was 16, and shot a coil into my dad's garage wall. I also used a ratchet to crank it down. At that point, I hadn't even seen a spring compressor before. It's pretty easy now that I've done it 10 or so times since then
Eta: I was either adding lifts, or there hasn't ever been room to work. Did my gf's SLK last year, and could barely get the rental compressors in there. I had to beat them in with a hammer
Eta: I was either adding lifts, or there hasn't ever been room to work. Did my gf's SLK last year, and could barely get the rental compressors in there. I had to beat them in with a hammer
This post was edited on 3/20/19 at 11:02 am
Posted on 3/20/19 at 11:03 am to Hammertime
That’s what I’m getting at. What is the actual need for the spring compressor when you can just leave everything bolted up and use the cars suspsension and jacks to decompress and compress the strut
Posted on 3/20/19 at 11:15 am to Timmayy
Some cars have a top plate that you can't get off without removing the whole strut. They could also have multiple pieces to them, and it's almost impossible to get everything back together with the strut on the car
Posted on 3/20/19 at 11:31 am to Timmayy
There's a difference between a car and a small truck compared to some of the larger trucks.
Posted on 3/20/19 at 12:52 pm to Timmayy
I did my Tacoma the same way, but with OME 886 springs which are pretty stout I lifted the truck off the jack stands and it was tight getting it back together. I have 200lbs+/- of winch and shite on the front, too.
Posted on 3/20/19 at 12:59 pm to White Bear
How much lift did the 886s give you? You have a bumper?
Posted on 3/20/19 at 1:41 pm to White Bear
That sounds like your shocks aren’t long enough?
Posted on 3/20/19 at 2:04 pm to Timmayy
ive done it on a crew cab z71, a toyota camry, a nissan titan, and a jeep. its not hard and not scary if you follow directions and take your time and practice safety
Posted on 3/20/19 at 2:26 pm to jimbeam
My winch and Warn Trans4mer mount are 220-250 lbs as I recall.
Based on a beginning 20" bottom of fender flare to c/l wheel "stock height" I got 23" right after installation, settled to about +2" (22") and I added a small 1/2" coil spacer (I think 1/2") from Wheelers Offroad to get back to +2.25"/+2.5" over "stock", that's with the winch and mount.
Springs (and Bilstein 5100's) have been installed since Dec 2014 and have been offroad for work (not play) a lot (gravel, pastures, crossing ditches, normal stuff).
I also removed my sway bar to let her articulate. I also put on JBA upper control arms. Drives pretty good for a self-done front end alignment.
Based on a beginning 20" bottom of fender flare to c/l wheel "stock height" I got 23" right after installation, settled to about +2" (22") and I added a small 1/2" coil spacer (I think 1/2") from Wheelers Offroad to get back to +2.25"/+2.5" over "stock", that's with the winch and mount.
Springs (and Bilstein 5100's) have been installed since Dec 2014 and have been offroad for work (not play) a lot (gravel, pastures, crossing ditches, normal stuff).
I also removed my sway bar to let her articulate. I also put on JBA upper control arms. Drives pretty good for a self-done front end alignment.
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