Spring tension tester

[j2mariashop]

As part of my restoration of old motorcycles I often need to test the tension of valve, clutch and drive shock absorber springs. I made a spring tension tester out of a 1/2 ton Central Machinery arbor press (#3551 on sale at Harbor Freight as of March 2016 for $40) by welding a 3/8" socket to the ram drive. I then velcroed a small ruler next to the ram to measure the distance the ram moves. To measure the tension of a spring, I place the spring under the ram and using a beam torque wrench inserted into the socket, compress the spring a specific distance as measured off the ruler and read the load off the torque beam scale. Spring tension = (Final load - Initial load ) / Distance compressed.