I've read a lot of threads on this but have had some pretty bad experiences so far. I've replaced two bushings, but they were in the same arm because I damaged one going in. The second time around I used a press to good effect. So I still have one left to do and it's so bad.

The worst part for me however is getting the control arm in and out. I know it's an awkward angle, but I didn't realize just how awkward. Jacking up the whole hub worked but I nearly popped the axle out (in fact, I think I did, I had to lower the car with the wheel on to get it right - that was nerve wracking). I could not keep it from making that awful angle while jacking it up. The second time I took the strut out, but that left the hub and axle a floppy, heavy mess. Plus I had no real way of jacking it up to get the ball joint splines in so I had to bear hug it while trying to fit that in... was no fun.

I thought today perhaps if I rented some spring compressors and compressed the springs with the strut on the car I could easily jack the whole assembly up to re-install the control arm. The main problem I was having when jacking it up was the spring tension was causing the axle to pull out due to the angle. If there was no tension I think that'd be really easy and all I'd have to do is focus on keeping the axle at the correct length.

Is there any reason this wouldn't work? It's something I've never done before. Could I unseat something or be unable to seat the spring in the notch correctly?