So I've been working on my 7 all day. Rebuilt the OMP, swapped out rear brake pads, took a ~3 hour break to go look at a new DD/winter beater, and now I've run into a little bit of an issue:

I can't get the top nut off of my strut. I have removed the entire assembly from the car, compressed my spring, and tried an electric and an air impact gun, along with a breaker bar, and I can't seem to stop the strut shaft from spinning. Is there any special trick to removing the top nut so I can swap out the strut cartridge?

Thanks

-Jim

 

if you are replacing the inserts then you can get something to clamp on the shaft and then try to get it loose... you are going to replace them anyways. when i replaced mine, they came lose with an air impact wrench.

 

I tried using a set of vice grips, and the shaft just spins.

 

do you have a pipe wrench? those work real well at gripping cylindrical things.

 

probably

 

I usually loosen that nut while the strut is still on the car, with the weight on the wheels. This seems to help keep things from spinning.

But now that you are where you are, about all you can do is either try to grip it with something, or grind some flat spots on the shaft so you can hold it with a wrench.

Good luck man. You gonna be ready for race day?

 

I'll try putting it all back together tomorrow after I attempt to grip it with a pipe wrench.

Race day will hinge on my wrist being healed up (broken Ulna)

 

Broken schmoken. I was in a full body cast and still made my races last year.

Well, okay, it was actually just a broken foot, but still. And it was the most important foot, the one that works the gas!

Get healed up man, hope to see you there....

 

I hope to be there. It's excruciatingly painful to hustle the car. Hopefully it'll be better in 2 weeks.

 

(sorry Mods): Morning bump. Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

I <3 you. top nut off. Working on removing the old strut so I can install the new one.

 

I have a suggestion. Vicodin, lots of vicodin.

 

Doctor in the ER prescribed me 40...shredded the script when I got home. Don't need that ****

 

Hey what I used to loosen it up was a hammer and a chipping tool or a big flat metal chisel and w40 ,,since my kyb came with new cap i didnt care if it chipped out,,and 2 minutes later it was out ,,very easy,,

 

As a last ditch effort if this happens to anyone else and the pipe wrench doesn't work, you can always cut the bottom out of the shock cartridge and pull everything out in reverse order. You might wind up needing a new top mount but they are relatively inexpensive (got mine for about 25 and that was the higher end brand). Make sure you use a small drill bit and proper ppe first and drill a small hole to relieve the gas inside before attempting to saw/dremmel/grid through it. Like I said last ditch effort and those chromed rods are pretty hard and no fun to try to cut so the thin metal on the cartridge is much easier to deal with. Once you have the spring and strut separated from the shock its much easier to deal with.

 

just have someone hold strut back up in there as long as the four strut mount bolts are in the holes it should keep from spinning. did it last night worked for me. the strut top should keep shaft from spinning

 

glad i could help. i know how it feels when you get stuck and dont know what to do. i am currently stuck with my suspension too. i need something welded but i dont know how to weld and dont have a welder. haha i'm thinking of buying a welder from harbor freight and learning how to weld on youtube. all the welding services are closed on the weekend. so i'm SOL

cheers,
hoang

 

I I feel your pain, I am in the same position right now. I am trying to remove the nut with everything intact before I jack the car. It keeps spinning and spinning, tried a vice-grip and pipe wrench to stop the shaft from spinning, nothing. What do we do?

 

i used wise grip but i put them on dam tight it left impressions in the shaft, do that and try heading the nut its a lock nut so get the crap hot so it will let up some just watch it you can burn the actual top.

 

I just put a pipe wrench around it and used a mini sledge hammer. worked wonders

 

I had the same issue. Soaked it in pb blaster over night n got it the next day with an air gun. A pipe wrench or a vise grip will also help.

 

not re-using insert? pipe wrench FTMFW

 

remember to fill the housing with a little bit of oil if the new struts call for it. i know the tokico blues call for it but i'm not sure about the illuminas..

 

Illuminas do call for it. I poured a little bit of 20w50 GTX into the housing.

 

Make sure that the car is on the ground, with the weight on the wheels. Shoot it with some PB Blaster, then use an impact wrench to remove or tighten the top nut. I picked up an electric one for 40 bucks at Harbor Freight. Even with nylock nuts, I didn't have any problems.




.