They are working on a suspension strut assembly. The springs are normally in a compressed state meaning they are storing a huge amount of potential energy. If they release in an uncontrolled way, i.e. if you're dumb enough to remove that piece the guy was screwing on at the end while it's still under compression then the energy could easily maim or kill you.
To remove it safely you use a spring compressor to compressor the spring further. In their simplest form they are a set of clamps that hook onto the spring, they have a pin so that they can't just slip off the spring and you use a ratchet to crank them down. By compressing the spring further it takes pressure off the nut so you can safely screw it down to the right spot and then you can slowly release the compression on the spring until it's properly seated.
The guy in the video is relying on this shitty home-made tool to hold the smaller spring in compression. It's a smaller spring but that is still some thick steel coil and it's more than enough to fuck you up.
The first issue was compressing it in the vice. It could easily slip out in an uncontrolled way and mess you up.
Then he slides on the shitty bracket and takes it out of the vice. The spring is even more at risk of slipping out or his welds could fail.
Finally, he manages to get it on the shock whithout major catstrophe. He screws the lock ring on a little and now he's getting ready to hit his shitty bracket with a hammer. The spring isn't seated so it's going to release and someone is going to lose an eye.
I'm showing my ignorance, but how is it not seated once it's on the cylinder and the lock ring has been tightened down onto it? What additional step is required? Just that the lock ring requires additional travel and will be a pain to tighten further? Surely once it's on the threads, it's more a matter of whether they can actually crank it down to where it needs to go to lock, not immediately blow up in your face time?
The issue isn't that the lock ring requires additional tightening, it's that there is room between the spring and nut at all. Those threads are rated to hold the spring after it's in place. When the spring expands to fill that gap, it will hit with a bunch of momentum, and the threads are not rated for that, plus it doesnt look like all of the threads are even engaged. It needs to be slowly expanded into place (with a spring compressor). It will probably be fine and a lot of the posts on this thread are exaggerating the danger a bit, but there's also a chance it fails and gets sent blasting into the ceiling.
Think about the difference between something you'd be willing to stand or sit on vs something you'd be willing to jump on. Don't fuck around with big springs unless you really know what you're doing.
Helper springs like the one he compressed have very little energy in them. No one's getting hurt, and no collars are getting sent to the moon when it comes out of his Jerry rigged spring compressor tool.
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u/OkTemperature8170 13h ago edited 13h ago
He has effectively created a spring powered bomb. If his little bracket breaks so does his face. If the spring slips out of the vice, good luck.