So I have springs, but I need to put them in. My mechanic said it would take the whole day, but I need my car, I cannot go without it for a day... I don't know where the **** else to go..

 

I've done springs in my garage in about 5-6 hours. I'd imagine any competent mechanic could accomplish the same thing.

Take your car to the shop and have a friend/family member follow you to pick you back up and take you up there once its done.

Jason

 

springs taking all day? its a few hour job if your competent with a wrench. i used a ratchet strap to keep them from shooting the perches. i also used a vice, same thing compress the spring and slowly release tension. plan to do it one whole saturday or sunday and your golden.

 

I had to take out and replace one rear strut and spring on my friends 2000 jetta took less than an hour to take it out and put it back in. He has racelands and one failed under warranty so they had us take it out and make a video of us compressing it and then put it back in to avoid downtime. But im sure the front is more of a pain so it shouldnt take more than 4 or 5 hours to do them all.

 

I would concur with others on here. The job is not that bad if you've turned a wrench before. Plan on buying or renting a spring compressor. There is a LOT of stored energy in the spring and it can go wrong in a hurry.

Just gather the necessary tools/materials and spend a few hours on a Saturday doing it. You'll save the money from paying a mechanic to do it and have the satisfaction of having done it yourself.

If you'd like to have a look through the process, this writeup shows most of what is necessary, though there are some things I would recommend doing differently.

In the front, he removed the pinch bolt from the two upper control arms. Many people have mentioned what a pain that is. It really isn't necessary. If you look carefully on the engine bay side of the strut towers, you'll see that there are two body plugs. Pulling them out reveals two nuts that hold the top of the strut hat. On the bottom there is one bolt that goes to the strut and control arm. You'll need to remove the sway bar link to have enough access. Push down on the wheel hub and strut will be free.

The rear is even easier. In the writeup, the author mentions not using a spring compressor. I would highly advise against this. It takes very little time to make this a safe operation by using the spring compressor.

 

Where do you live? You may find someone local who will pitch in and help.

 

did my springs in 3 hours it shouldnt take anyone the whole day to do that kind of job...

 

spring tensioners are over rated. yes theres stored energy, is it enough to make you scared of the spring, no. just restrict it somehow to make it not shoot your perch halfway across the garage and your good.

 

It makes me scared jon. People have died from getting hit in the throat or face with them and shoulder hit can def break your collar bone. Ill be renting one from advance auto to do my springs.

 

Even if you decide to take the risk of not using the spring compressor when removing the strut hat, how would you propose installing the new springs without compressing them?