[Rittmeister]

Well, the bolts at the bottom of the struts won't come off...

Looks like this one is for the pros. Any recommendations for a good cheap suspension shop in the Cincinnati area?

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1994 SE-R Super Black
HS CAI, STB, NX console, 15" rolling stock, more to come...

 

[MarC]

dont be a baby!

spray it down with some liquid wrench and grow a pair.

MarC

 

[Serban]

get a breaker bar, or a pipe and put it on the ratchet for extra leverage.

 

[Black93]

Im a weakling too sooo heres the trick get some sort of bar you can slip over your ratchet or you can use a long wrench. Then get some 2 by 4 and place it between the bottom of the wrench and the top of the jack you just placed there.



Got it?

Now if you think that was hard this is the tuffy..... Once the strut is out youll have to get the top nut off.. sooo first of all spray the bolt with wd40 and let it soak at least overnight while it is on the car. Then before you remove the strut give it a whack at turning it... its not gonna come loose because the strut shaft will rotate but this bit still helps... so then when you have the strut off you will probably have to get a good pair of vice grips (btw which are worth there weight in gold ) and grap the strut shaft and get a good clamp on it BUT FIRST I AM ASSUMING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO REPLACE THESE STRUTS SO DO NOT FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS IF YOU ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT TO REUSE THE STRUTS!!!! if the strut shaft is scratched it will ruin the strut by causing it too leak. So now go back to grabbing the shaft with vice grips and give the top nut a few quick whacks. Should come off with no problem. Now see being a shadetree mechanic is easy!

I take no responsibility for any damage that may occur to you or your car he he im only telling you my methods

 

[Rittmeister]

Boy, you guys must think I'm stupid... j/k

I worked in a warehouse, on the maintenance crew, for eight years. I know all about stubborn fittings.

When I was trying to loosen the nuts, I sprayed penetrating lube all over everything, TWICE, with about twenty minutes in between. I had a piece of pipe SIX FEET LONG on the end of my ratchet handle (1/2" drive), and I was jumping the internal teeth on the ratchet while I pulled. This was a Sears Craftsman tool set, just to stem the tide of people telling me that maybe my ratchet is a cheap POS. I am also not exactly a little guy...

It's stuck, but good. These may actually be the original struts; I am not even the second owner of the car, just the first that is interested in um... improving it

Woe is me. Looks like I'll be ponying up the cash to have it done elsewhere

 

[Black93]

Im a weakling too sooo heres the ...im only telling you my methods

he he hummm nevermind

 

[Black93]

i think an investment in an impact wrench would do well

 

[blitz4x]

suspenshion bolts suck !!

Dude when i was working on the ford i had. There was a bolt that conected the spindel to the lower a arm in the back of the car it took me 2 hrs and 4 wrentches later they were all snap on and they all kept blowing apart finaly the bolt broke in half. I weigh 3bills so they were going like pop corn if you want to hear a good one my dad worked in plastic molding. and there was stuff that had to be tightened to 2000foot pounds so what he did was use a 12 foot pole and a fork lift to tighten and losen stuff

 

[llaprad1]

Is cautiously heating it with a torch a bad idea? Anyone?

Ive personally never done it, but it was always one of my dads "tips." You know how those can go sometimes.

 

[SmoothDaddyFig]

Torch that bad boy!!!
I do it all the time!!
HOme Depot has some cheap torches!!