I called O Reilly's auto parts asking about a spring compressor rental for the 1984 300DT. They asked if it was for a car with struts; I said yes, since the car has Bilstein shock absorbers. Has anyone had any experience renting a spring compressor from O'Reilly's for the spring on a 1984 300DT? I'm needing to change out the lower control arm bushings and lower ball joints.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE A STRUT COMPRESSOR ON THE MERCEDES SPRINGS!!!

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I and others have the correct tool you can rent.

Tool Rental Master Member List

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

They are fairly cheap on eBay, search mercedes spring compressor, but you will need to enlarge the hole in the spring perch to use the clone tool... I rent out the KLANN official tool...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I do not wish to enlarge the spring perch. That said, either the Klann or Sir Tools would be the correct tool so that the spring perch doesn't have to be enlarged??

BTW, you don't have struts. A strut is a one-piece coil spring/shock and is common on FWD vehicles. This is a strut:



In your car, the shock absorber and coil spring are separate, like this (the shock is mounted inside of the coil in this case):

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

No short cuts on getting the right spring compressor for these cars. Those springs can easily kill.

Don't know about the bushing but you don't need a spring compressor to do the lower ball joint.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Um, in the image you posted, the spring compressor is in the spring. The shock is the white tube to the left of the spring...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I think the Sir tools compressor would require perch hole enlargement as well...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Liqui-Molyapina had it right, but he accidentally miscommunicated in his post. His picture of a strut didn't come through, and then when he tried to show a separate spring and shock, he accidentally wrote "the shock is mounted inside the coil" when he meant to write "the spring compressor is mounted inside the coil."

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).

I bought one off Amazon cheaper than Ebay. Apparently Ebay and PayPal fees are high enough that vendors selling in both places add to the Ebay price to cover extra fees. Summit Racing does this. It is less expensive to buy direct rather than their Ebay store.

I have 2 more springs to compress or I'd sell mine. Be sure to lube the screw. The spricn applies a lot of pressure.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

For any type of coil spring, I always run a chain thru the center for safety. That is in case the compressor lets go or the spring breaks.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

Please do NOT use this technique....even as back up.

https://youtu.be/1fyU96hiI4E




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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

I think it's been made clear that attempting to use standard style "claw on rod" compressors will kill you. Everyone is correct. Also don't try the "jack underneath" trick either. The springs will take your head off.

Enlarge the hole. It isn't a big deal. Take some nail polish and cover the bare metal afterward if you're prone to rust. Afterward, the compressor will fit no problem for future repairs or *gasp* lowering the car.

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
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