Coil spring compressor

[Denis]

Hi fellows

What is an affordable coil spring compressor for a W116 ?

Please do NOT tell me that you use the toys at the local store. For one thing their thick jaws cannot simultaneously catch an upper and lower coil on the tightly wound Mercedes springs...

Any suggestions ? and NO, spending 600â,¬ is not a solution. Somehow I suspect that one could modify a cheap tool with an upper plate and lower jaw system to tighten everything concentric with the coil spring, the only safe thing to do. Intelligents tricks are highly respected on my part 

I am just planning for a front end overhaul down the road 

Thanks to all that reply

Denis

Paris, France

The emperature is 6C under the normal here - if anyone doubts that the world climate is upset...

[alabbasi]

MB coil spring compressors run for about $200 USD. There is a tool rental program at www.Mercedesshop.com where you can rent from another member for about $35. This is what I did when I needed to get my lower control arms done.

[cipha]

And what good is the ability to rent compressors even @ US$ 0.50 going to serve for a man who lives in Paris [the capital city of France].

How on earth is he going to 'drop in' and pick up the items on Friday afternoon and 'run' them back over on Monday morning when he's finished the job.

Sometimes all the good thoughts are made to look very silly. 

For my own, I went to a local tool shop and bought their best brand of spring compressor.  Cheaper than the MB items and much cheaper than a return airfare to USA.

[alabbasi]

Well, rather then taking a negative attitude, you could contact him and find out what it would take to ship the spring compressor to you. The compressor was shipped to me from the owner in California, when I got done with it, I shipped it to the next renter in Utah so this compressor has covered a lot of mileage on the back of a UPS truck.

That said, if your not happy with the idea, they are available on ebay. Just do a search for Mercedes Benz spring compressor.  Denis wanted affordable, I gave him a couple of options based on my experience.

All the best

[Denis]

Hey guys

Alabassi just forgot  that I was on another continent  which is pretty easy to do with the Internet.

In my daily work, I often come across people that say : "what about this problem, oh let's just email  Steve about and once he decides what is best for him, we can go on with the next item in the meeting". The problem is : we are having a meeting at 10 in Paris and Steve is "sleeping" in Palo Alto, certainly NOT going to respond to our urgent email before the end of the meeting 

In any case, I am happy to get suggestions as I have seen coil springs unwind and they are VERY dangerous !

Cheers

Denis

Paris, France

[oscar]

Whoa!  C'mon, I'm sure alabassi knows where everyone is.  The rental program's a great idea even if limited to NA.  But it's handy info for those readers that can access it.  I take it that the weight of these would make them too heavy for USPS to handle therefore leaving a more expensive intl courier the only option.

Tis a shame there's no similar program in Oz or Europe.  Do dealerships or other workshops anywhere provide a rental program?  Denis, perhaps you could approach some workshop over there and offer to hire the real deal over the weekend whilst they're closed.  Though if it were me, I'd need them for a month.

[alabbasi]

Consider contacting your local MB Club forum , I know there is one in the UK, I suspect that there is one in France also. You may run into someone who has one that is willing to rent it.

[Denis]

Hi alabbasi

Good suggestion. I am going to look into that including a few specialists at either end of Paris.

Thanks

Denis

Paris, France

rainy and cold 

[john skene]

Denis, from what I have heard (if you value your head / leg / body or whatever) you shouldn't consider using the side clamp  type of compressor that is suitable for a range of other makes, use only the centre clamp type identical to the Mercedes recommended unit, as there is a great deal of energy in a compressed spring, and the mercedes spring has more than most.

[Denis]

hi john skeene and all

I agree but do you include in your suggestion the compressors that have two coil spring 'tongues' and are operated by a hydraulic pump to compress a number of coils ? I know that FACOM and several other companies have them. Mercedes springs are unusual in having many coils and you may be right.

Denis

Paris,  France