My New Suspension Tools

Just wanted to share my new setup for suspension work.

I'll be putting it to the test this weekend when I swap coils and leafs.

Using ratchets to crank down the traditional spring compressor that O'Reilley's had is never fun, so I'm looking foward to this safer and faster setup. The OTC tool feels extremely durable, it weights in at 20 lbs.

OTC Clamshell Spring Compressor
Milwaukee 1/2" Drive Mid-Torque Impact Wrench (450/600 ft-lb)
Milwaukee 3.0Ah High Output Batteries
Husky 1/2" Drive, Metric Impact Sockets

 

Hello '14RC, was wondering how did your new tools workout for you. Mostly interested in the spring compressor and the Milwaukee impact wrench. Hope your suspension project is going well for you.
Robert

 

The spring compressor felt much safer than the typical clamp types. The OTC is a little akward to setup because of the weight and a how it pivots but once installed it's on the coil, compressing it was really easy using the impact. The OTC tool has 4 points of contact with the coil, and I did have an issue installing the tool onto my Dobinson coil's because the clearance between each coil-wind wasn't quite wide enough to easily slide the tool in. So, the first 1 or 2 points of contact I could get in there easily becaue the tool was flexible, but once a two points-of-contact are made the tool is more rigid and for the last two I had to pry it a little bit using a screwdriver.

*However, when removing the old coils I didn't have this isse because there was enough clearance between each coil, so the OTC tool installed easily. I believe the width of the tool is 1" where it needs to install onto the coil, so as long as you have a little more than that it should not be an issue.

I attached a couple images below. The first one shows the Dobinson lift coil on the left, HeadStrong 2" lift coil in the middle, and stock Toyota coil on the right. You can see the difference in spacing on the left two coils.

The second picture is the tool installed on the HeadStrong (old) coil. Adequate clearance for the tool to install easily. The stock coil would have had no issue either.

 

Very nice

 

Thank you '14RC for your review of the tools. I really like how the OTC spring compressor looks. I am going to go with 5100's or 6112's and the spring compressor should make easy work of the job.
Thanks again, Robert

 

You're welcome, good luck!