can anyone help me? i went to have my front end alighned they said it was adjusted all it could be its eating up inside both tires, they said i need to replace my springs and then they could adjust it, has anyone ever heard of this? any other way?

 

lol i do all sorts of things to my craftsman tools i get the torch out and make the wrence i need and when i am done i go get a new one but i dunno bout that torque wrench thing

 

I am not giving up my spring compressor.. Unless you want to drive up here and install and remove springs for me on the next 20 projects.

I have a press from HF, its small but works okay. What was crap about it was the plates and bearing puller that came with it. Broke everything the first time it was used. its not a fun thing when a $450 posi unit falls off the press because the 1" thick plate under it shattered.. the press works good, its just 1/4" channel and a bottle jack. Now I use quality stuff for collars and bearing pullers etc..

Craftsman is okay, not great. They are the bare minimum for someone who works on vehicles every day for a living. If you have a real day job and dont spin wrenches to pay the bills, then the HF stuff might work well for you. I prefer to keep the blood and cartilege inside my knuckles, there is too much of my skin under the hoods of cars already.

If you have cars that are rather rusty and things just dont come apart like the TV shows, then you will need good tools. How many of you have fought with the brake line going into the wheel cylinder because it was rusted to the cylinder and the line? For me its gotten to the point where I just make a new line and use an original set of vise grips to extricate the flare nut. or just throw away the entire wheel cylinder and put all new back under there.

Spring compressors can be made at home and they can be safe, its all in how you design it. The store bought one I have works great on GM front ends but its crap for early Fords. There isnt enough room for it in there and it always finds a hole in the spring perch to thread itself into. If you use all thread, make sure its at least 3/4" thread, that means 7/8" nuts, anything smaller is on the edge of safety. 1/4" plate works best for the ends, better steel will last longer and not bend. If it starts to bend anywhere dont keep going.

Any tool can break or slip, its up to YOU to make sure no part of your anatomy is in danger. 50+ scars on each hand are testimony to what happens when things slip, break, or pop...