I have an 03 Sportsman 400 and i want to know if there are any other ways to compress the springs without a spring compression tool. I know they are kind of expensive. Any help will be great

 

You don't need a spring compressor to take them apart just remove the retaining nut. They are not compressed that much that the fly apart. To reinstall just put the spring and top cup back on and with the strut back in place and use the weight of the bike to compress the spring to get the retaining nut back on.....