Bought a spring compressor tool from mustangs unlimited, the kind you place down the top of the shock tower, 4 arms and a center bolt you tighten down. This tool has so far proven useless! I have tried everything to make it work! Is there any coil spring compress tool that is easier to use?? for 69 mustang.

 

This is the only coil spring compressor I would use.



It's close as you can get to the original Ford spring compressor:

 

I messed around with different spring compressors for months. I finally bought this one that bolts into the UCA seat.

http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/spring

Made everything easier.

 

I borrowed one from Autozone and it worked just fine, plus you get your money back when you return it.

 

This all scares me.

 

Most of them can be a bit tough to get set up right. The one you are talking about with the bolt and 4 hooked arms is really hard to get set inside the spring right but you can make it work. After doing a few I took that tool and made a plate for the top out of plate steel. One hole in the center for the bolt and three small holes that match the shock tower top. That worked much better than trying to set all four of those hooks correctly. Now I just feed it in from the top and set the two bottom hooks and start cranking on the bolt. Cut my spring R&R time atleast in half.

 

I had a similiar problem. Bought an autozone one it kept slipping off scare the crap out of me. Borrowed one from a friend of mine worked like a charm. I think the hooks are a little more thicker or something - I ended up buying one my self. Bought from Amazon KD coil Spring Compressor model 3450. Looks like autozone one but a little more heavy duty hooks. Need to cut bolts to shorten them mustang springs a little shorter.

 

I borrowed/rented a large clamp type spring compressor from a local mom and pop auto shop for $5 and it worked like a charm. I'll borrow it again when I go to put the new springs back in.
Lynn

 

If you look at the pic I posted of the actual Ford tool, that's how it was done. Safe and fast.

 

It is also a good idea to have the outter shock tower cover, that has the rebound bumper on it, installed while you are doing it. It makes it a bit safer if that spring tool lets go. It does make it a tiny bit tougher to see what you are doing but I like the added safety. In the early 80's I was doing struts on a Fiat with a bench type spring compressor. I took it out of the compressor and the cap on the top of the strut let loose. Hit me right in the chin and split me open. That was a hard lesson.