Looking for your recommendations.

I need to change the springs on my wife's A class as she has a broken pig tail, so I am looking for some compressors. I notice they can be had for less than a tenner on the bay of e, but are they any good at this price? Most importantly are they safe? Your recommendations please.

Only very occasional DIY use at home required.

Many thanks.

From my experience with them I'd say don't buy cheapie, as an example a guy at work recently lost the end of his finger when doing this exact job when the compressor he was using pinged off with part of his finger :( .

Id bite the bullet and let someone else risk a finger lol.

engineering company should do it for you or garage just the compression part. 

As above they do tend to slip,I have some of theasehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-68615-Coil-Spring-Compressors/dp/B0001KA0JU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1432685043&sr=8-3&keywords=spring+compre  there ok but i have had broblems with them getting stuck in the coils,

 could you remove the legs and take them to a garage to swop the springs (for beer tokens) !

Thanks for the info guys  , wanted to do this over a weekend hence finding a garage that's open later Saturday or Sunday who are willing to do it locally is I'm guessing more tricky.

 

Wife doesn't want to be without car as she hates walking  and doesn't want to pay garage prices for the full job (Her exact words when I told her she had a broken spring were "Does it need doing now or can it wait" :peek:   ) and as the only necessary tool I am missing is the spring compressors I thought I might have a look around and see how much they are.

 

patrol man they were the exact ones I was looking at for around £10 but wanted to be certain they are up to the job. I've heard that putting some rubber in the hooked clamps can help to stop slipping on the springs.

 

I had also seen these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181693861473?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT and these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400889370535?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT both of which looked more heavy duty and potentially safer and wondered if they were worth the extra for very occasional use?

 

I did also wonder if its possible to get complete struts ready assembled with the spring which would save me stripping the strut, after all at 10 years and 55k miles I guess the shocks and top mounts will also be passed their best. Probably should change the drop links at the same time.

I've used cable ties. I wouldn't recommend it.

I would go for these.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Heavy-Duty-Car-Coil-Spring-Compressor-Clamp-Suspension-Struts-Spring-Shock-/221718635185?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item339f75e2b1

 

My dad has a very similar looking set and I have borrowed them many times over the past 20 years and they are still going strong.