this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
146 points (94.5% liked)

Ask Men

1272 readers
1 users here now

A community to ask men questions and discuss any and all issues relating to them.

Unlocking Perspectives, Advice, and Empowerment for Men Everywhere.

Rules

Follow the rules of lemmy.world, which can be found here.

Additionally:

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Engage in constructive discussions.
  4. Share relevant content.
  5. Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
  6. Use appropriate language and tone.
  7. Report violations.
  8. Foster a continuous learning environment.

Notes

P.S, Would you like to help with moderating AskMen? Send a PM to the top mod.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Springs again, do not replace car shocks with a cheap spring compressor, my cheap ones bend and slipped when the springs were fully compressed. Literally like a mini explosion

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I had a friend that told me he was going to replace his shock springs using Harbor Freight spring compressors, and I told him it was nice knowing him. Luckily it went ok, but that shit will rip you in half if things go sideways.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I was so lucky with my failure, it shot between my legs and missed, almost joining the eunuch community. If I ever want to do it myself again I will remove the shock absorbers, but then take them to a proper shop to remove and replace the shock

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I actually did do a DIY spring swap on to my new struts with a "cheap" spring compressor from Harbor Freight. I did buy two sets, for a total of four spring compressors. Instead of using just two, I used three total spring compressors and ensured they were fixed properly with the guide pins locked in. Three points of support are inherently more stable than two or even four. I also compressed them with hand tools, as recommended in the instructions, and went around to compress each of the 3 little by little. I not only paid attention to the screw rotations, but to how much force each one was taking to spin so they would all be loaded up equally.

Still cheaper and more convenient than taking it in somewhere. And combining the extra safety factor of using an additional spring compressor, along with keeping the ends of the spring oriented perpendicular to my body at all times, I felt pretty good about it!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Funny anecdote - my first car was a Chevy Chevette. That thing was so under-built, undersized, under-specced …..

  • I didn’t know about the existence of spring compressors but had no problem fitting them by hand. All ya gotta do is just press hard to compress them enough
  • my brother said it was the easiest car to work on because the transmission was light enough to hold up with one hand while unbolting it with the other