We did mine without a spring compressor. Thanks to Adam and beer! Godfather supervised.

 

We did a set from an Explorer and boy did that tophat make a great missile! Wish I knew you could rent tools for free at the time.

 

I did my coils in under 1 hr.

You don't need a spring compressor. Grab an old comforter of blanket. Wrap the damper in the towel tightly but leave room on either side to stand on. Lay it on the ground and
Straddle the damper with the top hat pointed away from EVERYTHING. Then use an impact gun to pop the top hat off. If anything pops or shoots the blanket absorbs it and it's pointed in a safe direction just in case. Piece of cake!

 

I appreciate all the info and help offered. What sucks for me though is that I work every weekend and my only days off are Monday's and Tuesday's. I am a manager at Ashley furniture in Green Valley. I live in south Tucson. I am planning on installing them this Tuesday. ( I'm worse than a kid on Christmas morning wi new parts). I bought the Apexi EXV coilovers which I believe are assembled with top hats and I drive a 2008 with 35k miles so I would hope there isn't much rust under the car. If anyone is available on Tuesday. I will provide all the beer you can drink and lunch. My cell number is 520-576-6978. I've been on this forum for about a year now,but haven't been able to attend any Tucson events due to my shitty work schedule. My name is Mike and I'm proud to have a forum with a bunch of guys that love our cars so much.

 

That schedule makes it hard for me to help as I have weekends off. Anyway, just a few tips if you tackle this yourself. It might seem obvious, but work the front/rear as a pair. If you jack up just one side of the car it will put pressure on the sway bar making it hard to remove the end links. When the suspension is loose, make sure it is supported and not hanging by the ABS lines, they are easy to damage. I am sure Collective would have no trouble installing these if you went that route.