New? HF STRUT SPRING COMPRESSOR

strizzy · Mar 15, 2008

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43753

I guess I've never seen this one before, is it new? Entertaining at the least. I figured the next time I had to do some springs I would just buy the Craftsman ones with the nice heavy 'safety' pins. Last time I used the HF coil spring compressors with no problems...

RAYJAY · Mar 15, 2008

i bought one just like it and have not used it yet. its a copy of otc/spx tool

just went out in the shop and tried it on some struts i have to cut for my koni's,. the tool rocks 100% easier than the 2 piece one's i have from harbor......

wait I'm sorry its not a$500.00 snap on tool so it must really ****...........lol

Jeff

picture of otc's for comparison

ImportTuner · Mar 15, 2008

strizzy said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43753

I guess I've never seen this one before, is it new? Entertaining at the least. I figured the next time I had to do some springs I would just buy the Craftsman ones with the nice heavy 'safety' pins. Last time I used the HF coil spring compressors with no problems...

I actuallly bought this spring compressor from HF about 5 years ago; have used it on about 6 different cars and it works like a charm ... one of the few HF items that I purchased that works ....

wythors · Mar 15, 2008

I'd be terrified.

Moose-LandTran · Mar 15, 2008

personally, i find those coil spring comressors inferior to the traditional two-piece sets. like these:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/core/media/media.nl?id=9762&c=317638&h=280b83b11eca43f75d63

i have the above set and find them much better, one problem with jaw-type spring compressors is that they don't compress the spring "straight" and often the jaws slip closer together, which makes one side of the spring more compressed than the other.

RAYJAY · Mar 15, 2008

wythors said:
I'd be terrified.

why.....

the otc one is made in china also.......

wythors · Mar 15, 2008

RAYJAY said:
why..... the otc one is made in china also.......

Because everything I've ever purchased from HF, with the exception of an aluminum dust pan, has been a huge, steaming pile of **** that either didn't work from the getgo or broke the first time I used it. I firmly believe that HF doesn't just sell Chinese-made ****, I believe it sells Chinese-made **** seconds.

strizzy · Mar 15, 2008

Moose-LandTran said:
personally, i find those coil spring comressors inferior to the traditional two-piece sets. like these:

http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/core/media/media.nl?id=9762&c=317638&h=280b83b11eca43f75d63

i have the above set and find them much better, one problem with jaw-type spring compressors is that they don't compress the spring "straight" and often the jaws slip closer together, which makes one side of the spring more compressed than the other.

Yeah thats what I used last time. The sears ones are here: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947057000P?keyword=spring+compressor

RAYJAY · Mar 15, 2008

wythors said:
Because everything I've ever purchased from HF, with the exception of an aluminum dust pan, has been a huge, steaming pile of **** that either didn't work from the getgo or broke the first time I used it. I firmly believe that HF doesn't just sell Chinese-made ****, I believe it sells Chinese-made **** seconds.

ok....... i have bought a lot of tool from them and i would say my good tool rating is about 90% from harbor,

yes i did get some **** off of them, but i really research the tool I'm buying and really look at the harbor freight quality before I buy from them maybe thats why i do not have problem with there tools

Jeff

IDASHO · Mar 15, 2008

strizzy said:
Yeah thats what I used last time. The sears ones are here: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947057000P?keyword=spring+compressor

These are the ones to have.

Ive had the same set for years. Work like a charm, and are very safe. They are even rated to be used with an impact to speed things up :bounce:

l_bilyk · Mar 15, 2008

Wow it's a total OTC knock-off

Charles (in GA) · Mar 15, 2008

I have a set of the two Sears screw sticks. Very well made, but for my application, a coil over shock on a '99 plymouth breeze (and would be the same for several years of breeze, cirrus and stratus and possibly others) these almost didn't work. Lots of fighting with them, and starting and restarting and a little grinding in a couple of spots. Not very functional and I won't do it again on this car with those compressors. I'm sure they work well on some things, but not this car, due to the taper of the springs and close fit over the shocks, and the springs length, it just is not worth the effort.

Charles

porcupine73 · Mar 15, 2008

I have that hf compressor. I used it a couple times but it seemed too bulky and kind of a pain to get on the springs. I also have those sears ones linked (I think they are lisle) and those work very well and are easy to use. I usually use with an air ratchet for speedier operation.

Here's an alternative. i found this pic somewhere, this person said they didn't have a compressor so they put these zip ties on before removing the strut mount.... zoiks!

Merkava_4 · Mar 15, 2008

This is the kind I rented from AutoZone. It worked well for me and was easy enough to use. I can't comment about the one in this thread because I've never tried one.

stuckinohio · Mar 16, 2008

Man, those zip ties scare the **** out of me. It's amazing what people will try to get around getting the proper tools. I bet renting the tool wouldn't cost much more than all those zip ties they used either.

Jason_D · Mar 16, 2008

Here's an alternative. i found this pic somewhere, this person said they didn't have a compressor so they put these zip ties on before removing the strut mount.... zoiks!

[/QUOTE]

Obviously that person has never seen the aftermath of a flying spring! :willy_nil

Rusty67 · Mar 16, 2008

My friend gave me and old school one just like the one in the original post. He calls it a bear claw spring compressor. I think he has had it since the 70s or at least since the 80s. Those 2 piece ones ****, I've never had them give me anything but hours of extra labor. This is the one I had a friend of mine buy for me, I told him it he bought it for me I'd do the struts on his BMW for free.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45860

Now this thing works GREAT. I changed his struts and I've done a Civic with it. I can't tell you guys how EASY it is with this thing plus some impact tools to swap the bonnet. If the hydrolic ram on it ever failed I could just put a good quality one in.

PoorOwner · Mar 16, 2008

techically some mil spec zip tie holds up to 50 lbs so it could be pretty strong with a bunch of them

Rusty67 · Mar 16, 2008

Is that 50LB static holding force or 50LB shear strength rating ?

PoorOwner · Mar 16, 2008

Rusty67 said:
Is that 50LB static holding force or 50LB shear strength rating ?

Not sure which one is it but it's 50lbs tensile strength which I assume it means 50lbs is stretched on the tie before it breaks. Personally I am not going to use zip ties to hold springs anytime soon though :lol_hitti

eschoendorff · Mar 16, 2008

Rusty67 said:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45860

Now this thing works GREAT. I changed his struts and I've done a Civic with it. I can't tell you guys how EASY it is with this thing plus some impact tools to swap the bonnet. If the hydrolic ram on it ever failed I could just put a good quality one in.

Now THAT is the answer i was looking for. if I knew I was going to change a bunch of struts, I would go buy one of those right NOW. :thumbup:

Jononon · Mar 16, 2008

Hmm. No thanks. I'll stick to the sort Merkava_4 posted.

I freely admit I've no real evidence they're any more dangerous than the traditional style, but once you see a tool push the bones of someone's forearm out through the skin, where there was no hint of operator incompetence, or inattention, and the tool didn't visibly fail, it leaves you, shall we say, 'cautious'.

I rather wish I hadn't clicked this thread. Twenty plus years ago, and the memory of it has just made me feel nauseous :scared:

smugaim · Jan 19, 2011

RAYJAY is to be congratulated for his work on this topic.

I bought the HF 43753 today and couldn't figure out the "Safety Ring" with no illustration of it in-use. I Googled and found this thread, right on top.

The OTC manual at http://www.otctools.com/newcatalog/products/107300.pdf shows exactly how it is used on struts.

In the pre-Internet days, the OTC tool would have been worth the premium, just for the info!

Thanks to RAYJAY!

Peter

aussiek2000 · Jan 19, 2011

nice 3 year old bump

RbrtAWhyt · Jan 19, 2011

porcupine73 said:
Here's an alternative. i found this pic somewhere, this person said they didn't have a compressor so they put these zip ties on before removing the strut mount.... zoiks!

That looks like knocked out teeth waiting to happen... :wtf:

Rusty67 · Jan 20, 2011

Its not the taking the spring off part that is hard, its puting the spring back on.... unless you are using lowering springs....

New? HF STRUT SPRING COMPRESSOR

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