Excuse me if this is a dumb question, but I figured if you don't ask, you'll never know.

I'll be pulling my front springs out soon. Has any one ever figured a way to safely use a press for this?

thanks, John

 

Save yourself a lot of time money and aggravation. Just take them to a shop and have them compressed for you. The cost is lower than that of purchasing a press and fabricating a jig.

 

Since John already has a press, that's not a very expensive possibility, but I can't quite envision the jigs necessary to do it safely. For a one time operation it might not be worth the effort. I bought a single action compressor from HF and found it effective.

 

John, one thing right away. You will have to drill a hole for the third bolt in the top plate into one of the bars. Making sure everything is straight up and down. It only needs to be compressed a little then the nut can be removed. You may have to use needle nose vise grips to hold the shaft. I use air, so it comes off pretty easy. You will have to be near the lowest setting, as it's the release up that you need to make sure it has enough room. I have a pipe with a hole in it that fits over the shock end and the pressing bar under the jack. The hole in the pipe has a bar in it that is drilled to go into the eye of the shock. Gives a bit of protection if things go bong.
Use at your own risk, but this takes less compression than using spring compressors. You can always hook them up if that helps you.
That pipe needs to be flatten just a bit to fit over the shock eye.
Don't do much of this work anymore at 78, but will help if need be.
Wayne

 

I've also done it with the HF 20 ton press, per Wayne I used pipe over the shock end, as I recall a 3 inch long section of 2.5 inch metal fence post from Lowes/Home Depot....at least that's the piece of pipe that is now floating around in the tool chest...

 

Since I have a HF20T, I'm curious to do a compression setup. I just cannot visualize a safe setup. If someone has some pics, I would love to see them.
My current method is to use a standard pair of compressors 180 DEG apart to start, then adding another pair of shortened threaded compressors after first pair is in moderate compression(about 3 3/4" of thread cutoff to prevent interference with lower part of the shock) . These 4 compressors 90 DEG apart prevent spring slip and spin which scared me into using this method in the first place.

 

Dr. D,

Have a conversation with Wayne (cjd777) in Spencer. You are probably located no more than an hour away from him....

 

Good idea Jon. Maybe I can work something out for this winter. Thanks.

 

Dr d, I do the exact same thing with the compressors. Looks like you and i are thinking the same thing.

John

 

Dr D, Having the spring with hooks around the coils while doing the compression on a press is good.
The release is very little problem, putting it back requires some care and lots of hooks.
Would be glad to help with yours and hope you got the Poly mounts, the ones already put together.
Wayne

 

I'm curious to see a visual of someone's setup too. I have a Nugier 20 ton press that I bought used. The little hook and bolt type spring compressors work fine on classic cars with typical compression rates under 200 lbs/inch, but get into a modern Jaguar with near 400 and they scare the heck out of me. I've done the exact same thing as you on the XF springs, using four of them, but the job takes too long that way. I've thought about buying a dedicated floor mounted spring compressor, they're not all that expensive, but I have a tiny shop and its already too crowded. It would seem to me some "accessories" for the shop press that could be stored in a cabinet drawer when not in use would be a nice solution.

 

Wayne,
Currently, I have no need to work on mine as I have new OEM mounts and my ride height is nominal to slightly plus and within tolerance.
Nevertheless, I am curious to learn your expertise and possibly making a fixture / tooling for the future. I admit that my way is probably as slow as it gets.
Maybe after mid-January, I can PM you to work something out.
Many thanks

 

I am wondering if I am the only guy thinking that this spring compressing task is getting a bit overblown.

I used one set of the loaner tool, a 1/2" socket on an 18" bar, and my foot to hold it steady on the floor. Took like 10 minutes tops. It did not take that much compression to get the distance needed for the shock rod to relax.

 

Dr, D, will be looking forward to it.
Rothwell, Like you, it's was never a big deal getting them apart. Compressing to remove the nut off the shock was very little drama. Going from full extension into the hole in the shock mount was something to be cautious about and add a hook or two. I realize the pressure is mostly down, so the concern was when reaching between the springs to line up the extended shock. It does want to catch on the flat area after the thread.
Otherwise a piece of cake compared to the rears.
Like most things on these cars, if you haven't done it, very intimidating.