just my 2 cents worth...riped car apart (front left) 3 times in the LAST 3 days trying to find a clunk noise (pretty bad....was a faulty srut in the end)) and didnt use a rattle gun and it only too 5 minutes to compress the spring without a rattle gun.i was quick haha but yeh the rattle gun was the way to go.
A clunk huh? what brand Strut did you have? I have justput brand new strut cartridges in and now if i hit a sever enough bump there is a clunk. I didnt use a rattle gun for either. it did take a bit to compress the springs given the amount of room I hd to work with. I wasnt that lucky to have a 3/4 in drive ratcet either had to use a spanner. :( the bit that I found difficult was geting the strut out from the wheel arch.