I am putting new shock and parts together,but I can’t see how I get last top piece on shaft of shock. Shaft is not coming up high enough. Do springs need to be further compressed?

 

...pictures of what youve done so far???

 

I haven’t figured out how to get pics on here. I’ll work on it.

 

Click that..

 

I took shock to my mechanic and used his wall mount spring compressor. My harbor freight compressor would have never compressed spring enough to assemble and get nut on. That was my problem

so is there a spring compressor strong enough not costing over 200 I can buy

 

What did you mechanic charge?

 

He didnt. Took him 10 minutes with my help

 

So even if he charged you $50 to use a capable and safe machine, is that in budget?

I stopped doing these myself decades ago...for many reasons.

 

Yes ,your right. So much tension in the spring,dangerous.

 

Harbor frieght for $32.00

 

^^^^^^These are what I use when I am not somewhere that somebody has better ones to use. They actually work just fine.

 

I used those to initially compress spring when I took it out,but I didn’t seem to get enough tension for shock to poke out and get nut on it

 

There are better and easier set-ups than the ones pictured, but they have always worked fine for me.

 

I have used those for the past several years without any issues.

 

For the HF compressors (and similar free-rent from POLAPS) you need to "grab" as many coils on the spring as possible. Find spots on the spring that allow the hooks to fit as close to the top and bottom as you can before tightening the two bolts. For relative safety, I fit some U-bolts around the clamp hooks and the spring to help them stay close together. Some lubrication on the bolt threads is required too, something that gets left out of the instructions.

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Doing more than a couple spring replacements in your remaining lifetime? Buy a real floor- or wall-mount compressor. The stored energy in a compressed spring is easily enough to kill or maim you. If you use the HF or similar compressors, do your work outside where an escaping spring or part won't do much damage. No Power Tools on the bolts -- if a hook decides to turn off the coil with the bolt, the stored energy is released in a big bad hurry. Reason to lubricate the bolt threads.

Many auto machine shops and tire stores will swap the springs onto new dampers for a small fee. ASSuming that you don't have a lot of while-it's-apart stuff to do on the pieces, it takes just minutes to compress the old spring and hold it while a new damper is inserted and tightened. Sticking points (literally...) are the adjusters and sleeves if your old ones are less than pristine. Consider buying new or good used replacements for those in advance, and have them lubricated, partially assembled and rough adjusted, ready to install. 928 International has supplied good used uncorroded pieces for clinics in the past, with excellent results.