strut and spring disassembly/reassembly, spring compressor needed?

[FromTheInside]

I've got to replace my tophat and bearing on my front strut. Tein S-Techs are installed and I bought them installed on stock struts so I actually haven't done an assembly myself. Will the springs need to be compressed down in order to get the tophat back on?

[Drew1d]

When I had progress springs, I just leaned on the top hat till I could thread the bolt. If the springs are shorter, it should be ok. Just be careful, springs are dangerous in assembly and dis-assembly.