Coil Spring go Bang!

[Brad54]

I hate coil springs. There are only two things I hate doing on a car--jumping the battery, and taking out front coil springs.
My question to you guys is this: even with a coil spring compressor, anyone ever gotten hurt or have the spring get away or fly around or something when you were taking the compressor out of the spring on the garage floor after it was out of the car?
I've always hated doing this, and my rather unmanly method is to usually put one foot on it, get it as far away from my body as possible, stretch with one hand holding my impact wrench, and then zing the compressor out.
Today it got away--there's a silver dollar sized divot out of the concrete floor, and it ruined the threads in the spring compressor. When I started, the top "fingers" that draw the threaded rod up were in the middle of the spring, with the bottom fingers at the bottom of the spring. When it was done bouncing around, the top fingers were all the way at the top of the spring, wedged into the last coil so hard I had to bang them out with a hammer.
I'm going to build a heavy steel box with a hinged lid, and a hole in one end for the impact socket to go in so the spring can be decompressed in safety box.
I'm doing that for my own piece of mind (and pieces of feet). I'll ask your input--anybody see this as pussy overkill? And more importantly, since I've got a column in the back of one of our magazines about building shop equipment and stuff, would it be something the average gear head might want to read about? If it is, I'll shoot pix. If not, I'll make the project go twice as fast and leave the camera in the bag.
Thanks. I'm going to go change my underware now.
-Brad

[Tudor]

Brad, What were you taking the spring out of?

[yorgatron]

i ALWAYS wrap a chain around a coil spring when i take it out.no exceptions.ever.

[OGNC]

I always put the car on jackstands and a floor jack under the lower control arm, pop the upper (or lower) ball joint, then lower the jack. The spring comes out at a controlled rate (well as much control that you have over your jack) and the handle is long enough to get you the hell out of the way should it come shooting out (but in the past 18 years I have never had one do that). Part of the trick is that the weight of the car is compressing the spring until the frame comes to rest fully on the stands then the pressure is slowly released until the spring reaches full extension.

It might take a xtra set of hands (for the jack) to install the springs the same way. That's because in most cases you have to seat the spring in the spring cup, then begin to jack up the lower control arm. When there is enough pressure to hold the spring in, get the hell out of the way and let the floor jack do the work until the spring compresses enough for you to get the spindle re-installed.

[skipperman]

Brad... I've NEVER seen a spring compressor where the directions DIDN'T say ..... DO NOT use an impact gun !! maybe there is a reason ???

jersey Skip

[CURIOUS RASH]

<font color="green"> Skipperman is right!!!

DO NOT use an impact on a spring compressor.

Also, the chain idea is a good one. </font>

[38Chevy454]

What OGNC and Yorgatron said. I always wrap a chain around the coil and then use a floor jack to lower the A-arm after busting the ball joints loose. Never had one fly out up to this point. Putting them back in is usually easy because i put shorter springs back in to lower it. However, if the spring is too long, use a compressor and then after the ball joint is installed and weight of car is on the spring, the compressor should just about fall out.

[BigDdy31]

I've seen them get a little freaky on occasion over the years. The topper was actually a re-install where my buddy (love him but it's his fault) ended up with his hand on top of the coil as it went into place. When the spring compressor slipped off unexpectedly (does that ever happen 'expectedly'?) his hand got caught between the shock tower and the top of the spring. He was super lucky not to lose any fingers. They are still not in 'like new' condition to this day but at least they stayed attached.

Yeah, I like a chain, a slow rate of uptake and release on the compressor (it's OK to use an air rachet but keep the pressure down and avoid using a big impact), and a good, heavy jack under under it. I have yet (fingers crossed) to have a mishap.

Regards,

Big Daddy Eric

[Deyomatic]

In my opinion, impact guns are one of the most misused tools in the shop.
We all know at least one person that learned the hard way from the guy at the tire store "torquing" their lug nuts down with an impact, and 10 mins later they are missing 2 out of 5 lug nuts. I know of 4 occasions that this happened to people close to me.

People think I'm nuts when I use my lug wrench and not my impact when I'm putting my wheels back on. I just say, "I'M the one that will be driving this thing if those wheels fall off, not you.

I've found nuts on my suspension that were tightened with an impact that were only finger tight after 20 mins of driving on it. It's a good thing I'm paranoid about the impact wrench thing and checked it when I got home.

ALSO, you are supposed to use the special sockets sockets for them, that's why they are called impact sockets, and not "traditional flat black sockets." A regular socket might not break, but if it does, it's going to spray chunks out in every direction, so you better have safety glasses and a face shield on.

Sorry, safety rant over.

[haring]

My understanding of why you should not use an impact wrench is that it is much safer to release the spring slowly. Releasing it quickly with a zip of the impact wrench is like firing a gun. The stored energy of the spring is release quickly and is hard to control.

I have a healthy respect for coil springs. I've read online accounts of guys who lost fingers and hands when springs got out of control.

[Brad54]

You can't rant too much about shop safety.
I've never heard not to use an impact on a coil spring compressor! Mine didn't come with instructions when I bought it off the tool truck.
I've never used the impact to take the spring out--always a 1/2-inch ratchet (a long one).
I've never taken a spring out using the floor jack method--always with a spring compressor. Squeeze the spring, pop the ball joints, lower the control arm.
The part I don't like is taking the spring compressor out of the spring after the spring is removed from the car and laying on your garage floor. That's when mine went.
I'll usually use an impact if I'm taking something apart that I don't care about breaking: like parting out a frame or something, and sometimes to take lug nuts off, but never install them.
The spring was the stock front spring for my 2001 Dodge Dakota. I use an impact to get the compressor out because it's fast, and I can keep more of my body away from it than leaning over it with a socket in one hand, holding the spring in the other while loosening the compressor.
-Brad

[DrJ]

Easier and safer than spring compressor on a car with a shock inside the coil...
Remove the shock.
Replace it with a piece of all-thread, 3/8" or bigger, and way longer than the spring is going to be at full-freedom-stretch and with big-ass washers and nuts at each end as needed. tighten the nuts after doing the same jacking and ball joint popping then slowly unscrew the nuts on the all-thread till the spring is safely released.
Still tie it down with a safety chain just in case the all-thread was made in China
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif