I'm needing to spread the coils on a '52 Willys Aero just enough to get a pair of hard rubber lift blocks in. Have tried all kinds of knuckle-busting ways to open it wide enough. Have the tire off but not interested in loosening a control arm. I've looked around the shop for something that could wedge or do a jaws-of-life but no luck. Sooo, I've ordered this from azamon (for squeezing a caliper) and hope it has the horsepower to spread my springs just an inch or so. Have you ever had such a dilemma?
The front coils in my ‘78 Fbody sagged a bit. I got these things that sorta screwed in between the coils. Sorta square, but was 4-5-6 sided (been 40 years) but easy to put in with a 1/2 ratchet Don't recall what they were called though.
I think they are intended for rear coil springs where the wraps are further apart. There are 2 sizes of the twist in with a 1/2" drive rachet , same deal the smaller ones are for front springs where the wraps are closer together. I wonder if the rubber ones you have are meant for rear springs.... I have always been able to get those in with a little vaseline on them and grab the middle of them with a channel lock and twist em in. But if you are trying to put the ones meant for rear springs in a front spring, I don't care what you do it ain't goin in....
Splitting wedge ?! Like when you're cutting/splitting far-wood... Maybe drive it in with a ship fitter's hammer. Coal chisel ? and ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ! 6sally6
I'm sure this is a question not needed to be asked, but is the car supported by the frame and not under the control arm. Sorry for asking such a dumb question but I've seen some pretty wild stuff over the years.
skip a coil , surely it will go in that way, maybe you can spread it enough to get one in next to it then?
If the rubbers he is trying to put in are truly intended for front spring use, there should be no spring spreading required.....
I used to help clean up the local drag strip, we used to find the screw in spacers all the time around the starting line. I have bunch of these still, https://www.ebay.com/itm/3873548792...2bb3cb&gclid=d7c89cfb7be71bb46252fb1b752bb3cb Be sure to lift the frame till the tire comes off the ground, lifting the a-arm will not work.
That caliper piston tool uses a mechanism similar to a caulk gun, it won't be spreading a suspension coil spring 1", I would either return it or use it for the intended purpose.
There are different versions of these,https://www.ebay.com/itm/3164850718...1291&msclkid=2c265113d5941e60a51136f345595e21 that can be reversed and used to spread.
That's what I was going to suggest. That or a ball joint or tie rod separator, the kind is just a forked wedge that you drive in. Probably need one for heavy trucks in order to be thick enough. Either small or large should enough to let you start the twist in wedges.
If the vehicle sees road use, those little twist-in spacers will fling out of the spring when the suspension droops. The bolt in spreaders will also get bent during compression and fall out. I learned those lessons 25 years ago. The best "spacer" is one that slips around the top or bottom of the coil spring and is trapped between the spring and the mounting point. This type of spacer also doesn't change the spring rate like the others do. Also, new coil springs are cheap.
yea gotta agree, anything other than a block under the spring base with a registration for the pigtail or a new spring all together is just a waste of time, after all the fangled tools and devices you'll buy it wont be far off a new set of springs.
You nailed it, Nick! It didn't have the umph to spread the coils enough. Keeping it, tho, for calipers.
Yes, shock is disconnected. I'm sure you guys are right about either replacing the shocks or adding the blocks under the coil seat. I dread undoing a control arm knuckle...but maybe gotta do it.
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