I have this one, kind of pricey but will work for most springs. It is heavy duty and works with air tools.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121074452980?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Having been in the near vicinity of springs that have unexpectedly let lose, fortunately did not hurt anyone, my advice is just take it to a shop that has the tools to do the swap; don't try it yourself especially with cheapish tools. Shouldn't cost more than $10-20 per spring to just get it done right and safely.

I have this one, kind of pricey but will work for most springs. It is heavy duty and works with air tools.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121074452980?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

+1

I already had this tool from working on some euro vehicles and used it to do the front springs on my CRD. It was a tight fit but very secure. I've always preferred this style of spring compressor but still approach this work with care and respect for the dangers involved.

Having a shop do the swap also makes sense and it can be worth it to have a good relationship with a local independent mechanic for other stuff as well.

It's not rated for air tools, so I used my wimpy 18v Dewalt impact.

I actually think doing it with hand tools would be more dangerous, just in terms of lingering around the thing for longer and putting yourself within harms way. Just don't use some monster impact on the maximum setting and use common sense (i.e. go slow, look/listen/think). I probably use the tool a few times a year. If I was beating on it daily it would be the wrong tool for the job.

IIRC I used the smallest of the three sizes for the CRD. I think I had to place the jaws in loose and them attach them to the compressor in place due to the tight spacing when installed in the shock assembly (i.e. as them come of the Jeep). In other words, it fit like a glove and there was no way anything was going to shift precariously. The tool would have had to fail catastrophically for the spring to come loose.