The Coil Spring Compressor I bought on eBay arrived today (it was really cheap with free shipping less then $19 but they charge CA sales tax). In some respects it lived up to what you might expect from a cheap item.

When I examined it the 4 plates are seem to be extremely strong but the heart of the compressor seemed rather light in comparison.

See attached pictures.

I found that just sitting in a Chair the compressor would only move about 2 and ¼ inches. So for investigative and lubrication purposes I decided to take it apart (you need a suitable internal snap-ring pliers for that). The works pull out of the top of the spring compressor.

I found that the 3 piece bearing had one of the races in backwards. Unscrewing the shaft and turning the race around solved that issue.

There was little lubrication on the treads and no grease on the bearings other then some light oil. The threads are what wee would call Acme Threads.

Even with it disassembled it would not screw all the way through as lit looked like it should be able to do.

I don’t see anything obvious holding it up but when I wiped the threaded shaft down it caught on the rage indicating that when the shaft was threaded there is burs on the outside of the threads. So I am thinking once I get the shaft degreased a little sandpaper or careful filing will deal with the burs.

I decided to take a File to remove the burs on the shaft and the shaft is hardened.. I am essentially removing the high spots off of the outside diameter that I hope will stop the binding. It also turned out the threads were rather roughly machined.

Having a harden shaft means the threads are less likely to pull but can make the shaft brittle (don‘t use an impact wrench turn it the sudden impact could crack it if the shaft is extremely hard)

Taking a file to the high spots worked but it still binds some and need more work but the full range of motion is there. I also did a little filing on the shaft threads to reduce the high spots.

Note that if you were in a shop and had the correct sized tap and die that would have been what you chased the threads with.

Eventually I got it to work smoothly and for it to move all of the way it was supposed to move.

Conclusion: If you get a spring compressor I recommend taking it apart if only to clean and lubricate it. In my case in taking it apart I found obvious defects that needed to be remedied.

I don’t have any job I need to use the compressor on and I don’t have the Car here in the City I live in so I will have to post back at another time on using it.

Attached Thumbnails

         

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