Has anyone have experience with these cheap eBAy Spring Compressors?

Mercedes Benz Suspension Coil Spring Compressor Repair Tools Set | eBay

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I'd be leary,depending on what model you have you may not need one.I used w129 instructions from pelican parts on my w140.W126 and a C Class look the same too.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

No one knows if all of the Chinese made Spring Compressors are made in one factory or if there is many different factories making them. That means there is no way to target the ones that are likely more defective the others.

Also about the time more people started selling them on eBay the price of them went down.

Hunter had a thread that said you can get about 80 uses out of them compared to his Klann Spring Compressor.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

What happens after about 80 uses that renders then no longer useful?

I've got a couple, first one sold as a Baum Tools unit, a second sold as a JTC tool and I've got an Authentic KLANN set and apart from a few minor design differences they are all but identical. That's not to say I don't appreciate the reputation of quality materials fore which KLANN tools are noted.

The early clones seemed to of Taiwan origin and I haven't heard that the newest sub-100$ offerings on eBay are definitively not Taiwan but ChiCom, and don't know that anybody else has either.

Don't think I will have use for them more then 8 times and that's even on the high side. I should be save then.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I was going to say I had this one but mine was bought a few years back when hey came from Taiwan. I've used mine four times and it's like new. I greased the threads a bit.

Not sure how the new ones (much cheaper in price) ones from China will last. If they fail it can get ugly. I think I paid $180 for mine.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

I don't own one and am repeating what I can remember Hunter saying. He claimed to have used his Klann one like hundreds of times with no issues.

There is at least 2 threads where people have had the bearing end of the clones fail.
I have been buying harbor freight stuff since the 1980s and on occasion Chinese made tools from other sources and the often have issues with heat treating or the metal itself.
I have a really nice looking Chinese Hatchet at home and found out when I used it had no hardening at all to the Blade.

The older Harbor Freight made in china drill bit sets drilled OK but the bits are more brittle and break more easily the US made Drill Bits. Also the cutting faces/edges will frequently chip off when exiting the metal on the other side. I attribute that to a heat treating issue. (Note that having a Drill Doctor to sharpen them is great).

Other made in china drill bits I have used have been too soft.

For the occasional mechanic or hobbyist cheep tools are a boon because they save you money compared to paying a mechanic to do the job. So they re sort of a necessary evil.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Ive had one of the cheap sets for about three years. Ive used them many times without problem. YMMV.

I have that one and its been used about 10 times on various W124 and W123 cars without any issues. They will not work properly on the front of a W123 without modifying the access hole on the car. They are just a tad too large.

I got one and used it once for the fronts and back. As GatorBlue said, you have to mill / ream out the front hole a hair to make it work. Otherwise, it worked perfectly fine and I feel 100% OK using it. Having said that, I think after a few dozen uses, will it fail? No clue, but how many times do we really remove the springs ????? Yes worth the few bucks for one.

I just used that exact one. I beat the living crap out of it too. No problems whatsoever. I'd love to see the threads about failures though. You'd have to be pretty insane with it I would think.

-Rog

What causes most failures with this style of compressor are the gorillas who use them. Even though every one I've seen plainly state "Hand tools only" some ape will decide to use an impact wrench.

I won't even use a 1/2" drive ratchet. Use a 3/8" ratchet, tighten slowly at a steady pace, ensure the plates are securely seated and keep it clean.

If, while you are tightening/compressing the spring, you feel it begin to bind, stop, back the compressor off a bit, inspect the plates for alignment, lightly tap the spring (not the plate or screw) with a hammer and try to compress it further. Rust and corrosion proofing on the coils are the usual cause for the compressor binding.

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