Margaret -
You say you had an exciting moment when a spring popped loose...
This may seem a little hokey, but I have used it more than a few times.
Most shipping supply stores carry a plastic heavy duty strapping material,
normally used to wrap heavy boxes. The stuff comes in black or brown usually,
and you want the textured type (not smooth). You also need some connectors to
use with the strap. The type you want are designed to be used by hand, no
crimping tool needed. They look like a square box when viewed from above and
like an "H" when viewed from the side. Anybody that sells this stuff will
know what you are after.
When you want to remove the spring, place several straps around the spring,
top to bottom. Then as you start to compress the spring, just keep tightening
the straps as you go. This will not only give you a "safety" in case
something slips, but will help keep the spring straight as it compresses.
Read the following at your own peril...and don't do this at home.
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Anyone at all connected with OSHA...delete this file now !
Once the spring is out of the car, wrap a few extra straps around it, place
it in a wooden/metal box, pack the box with rags, and remove the spring
compressors from the spring. I have kept springs compressed this way for the
duration of the repair/rebuild with no problem. I do not condone this, nor
suggest it to anyone, but on more than one occasion I have undone the spring
compressors, only to find out that the spring was still slightly compressed
at the end of the spring compressor travel. At that point I either had to buy
another set of compressors, or try to figure out how to compress the loose
spring enough to get the compressor tool back on to the now too long spring.
Livin on the edge in Nor Cal
Nick
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