I am finally upgrading my shocks to Bilstein HD's. A friend of mine gave me his old stock shocks that are fitted with H&R springs. I need to harvest the H&R springs from his shocks in order to get the Bilstein HD / H&R combo.

My question is whether the springs that are mounted on the old shocks are under load. I recall someone in a post awhile back saying the the springs were not compressed if the shock assembly is off the car. I would hate to lose my head while trying to upgrade my suspension. TIA for any advice.

 

I agree that there probably isn't much load on them; however, just don't point them at your head for the last couple turns of the retaining nut. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

Very little load when off the car. For safety, have someone stand on the strut while you remove the top nut using a long extension. Wear gloves.

(But I did it myself with an air wrench and had no issues.)

 

Thanks Jeff, I looked through your suspension DIY for inspiration. What a great write up.

 

Are you going to install them yourself???