I messed up and need assistance

huntr1

huntr1

.
So I recently picked up a 2000 Saturn as a runaround car. The price was right.
It needs a little work, so I am working on that during my unwanted "vacation" time.
I normally look at the service manual and/or youtube for guidance before doing stuff I have never done before. The ONE time I did not, I screwed up. Nothing major, just a pain in the butt.
I removed the wrong nut when I went to remove the front strut. Yep. THAT nut. The one that holds the top of the strut to the top bearing plate. Now I have to compress the spring to get the strut back in. Borrowed a set of spring compressors from Autozone. Things were going relatively smoothly until one of them suddenly slipped on the spring as I was tightening it and it slid all the way around until it got to the other compressor. Now I am screwed until I can compress the other side of the spring.

Anybody have a set of spring compressors I can borrow to fix this? Possibly even better, anybody have a real spring compressor standalone tool that can compress the spring to get the strut back in it? I would like to do this tomorrow if at all possible to get the car back on the road and borrowed tools returned to Autozone.
 
RPMDAD

RPMDAD

Well-Known Member
huntr1, read your message, regretfully don't have one, if i did i would definitely loan it to you.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
I used a bar clamp.. it's got a 500 pound compression strength and a lot cheaper than a specialized tool ..


Though I think AutoZone will loan you compression tools..
 
RPMDAD

RPMDAD

Well-Known Member
itsbob, either i misread, or you misread. huntr1 said

Borrowed a set of spring compressors from Autozone. Things were going relatively smoothly until one of them suddenly slipped on the spring as I was tightening it and it slid all the way around until it got to the other compressor. Now I am screwed until I can compress the other side of the spring.
 
F

FirstGear

New Member
huntr1 said:
So I recently picked up a 2000 Saturn as a runaround car. The price was right.
It needs a little work, so I am working on that during my unwanted "vacation" time.
I normally look at the service manual and/or youtube for guidance before doing stuff I have never done before. The ONE time I did not, I screwed up. Nothing major, just a pain in the butt.
I removed the wrong nut when I went to remove the front strut. Yep. THAT nut. The one that holds the top of the strut to the top bearing plate. Now I have to compress the spring to get the strut back in. Borrowed a set of spring compressors from Autozone. Things were going relatively smoothly until one of them suddenly slipped on the spring as I was tightening it and it slid all the way around until it got to the other compressor. Now I am screwed until I can compress the other side of the spring.

Anybody have a set of spring compressors I can borrow to fix this? Possibly even better, anybody have a real spring compressor standalone tool that can compress the spring to get the strut back in it? I would like to do this tomorrow if at all possible to get the car back on the road and borrowed tools returned to Autozone.
Click to expand...

I have a set I fabricated years ago, I think I still have them. I will check and post to let you know around 1 today (Oct 10).
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
RPMDAD said:
itsbob, either i misread, or you misread. huntr1 said

Borrowed a set of spring compressors from Autozone. Things were going relatively smoothly until one of them suddenly slipped on the spring as I was tightening it and it slid all the way around until it got to the other compressor. Now I am screwed until I can compress the other side of the spring.
Click to expand...

Yep, Evelyn Wood let me down again...
 
huntr1

huntr1

.
Called the C.H. Autozone and they had a second set in stock. Went and got them and 30 minutes later I drove the car to return the borrowed tools.
 
struggler44

struggler44

A Salute to all on Watch
huntr1 said:
Called the C.H. Autozone and they had a second set in stock. Went and got them and 30 minutes later I drove the car to return the borrowed tools.
Click to expand...

Glad you got it; believe it or not, I used ratchet straps last time I did them, worked
 
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