I actually replaced the front driverside spring in my 85 td this weekend. I highly recommend renting the spring compression tool. My Dan and I made a compression tool out of two metal plates and a large bolt. It didn't work so well. We spent about 8 hours trying to do it that way, because the spring kept shifting around on our homade tool. It even busted loose a couple of times. We actuall had to use two crowbars and a hamer to get the stupid thing to pop into place. That spring has to be almost completely compressed to get it to fit into place easily. So from my experience I have learned that you can do it with a cheap or a home made tool, but it turns into a big hassel. Why go through all that trouble when job can be done in about an hour if you have the propper compression tool. The next time I replace a spring, I will definately rent or purchase the tool.