I realize this pertains to front coil springs and not rear springs, but I thought I would let you guys know that when my Dad and I tackled the front end work on my wagon (which was upper and lower control arm bushings, track rod bushings and new shocks) my Dad fabricated a simple spring compressor that worked very well.

It consists of a 3/8" thick steel plate about 1 1/2" wide x 5-6" long (or just longer than the diameter of the coil spring). The plate has a 5/8" diameter coarse threaded hole in the center of it.

The plate is pushed in between the bottom 2 or 3 coils and a 5/8" diameter threaded rod is lowered thru the hole in body at top of spring until it threads into plate.

The top of the threaded rod projects above the hole in the body by about 2 1/2" inches. A large (3 1/2" to 4" dia.) fender washer is placed over the threaded rod and then a large nut to draw the bottom plate upwards.

This spring compressor worked well (and safely) as long as we used (2) 1 1/4" wide webbed nylon tie down straps to hold the spring in place - the straps were hooked to the other side of car and kept the springs from reacting while being put in
compression.

FYI,