I'm trying to replace my rear struts. Got the entire assembly out of the car. Can't remove the cartridge, seems to be rusted shut. Just want to confirm what I'm supposed to do. There's a plug on the top of cartirdge that's supposed to screw off? My won't. Couldn't find a socket large enough to turn the darn thing off. Sprayed a bunch of WD40 and Liquid wrench. Now attempting to cut and drill the darn thing off, probably messed it up.

Still have the left side to go. Just trying to replace them with standard Monroe struts. Any suggestions? Thanks...

92 Maxmia XE.

 

I remember I did this about 3 years ago on my other car. What I did was go to Harbor Freight tools and get a large crescent wrench (the one I bought had an 18" long handle to give you an idea), set the other end of the strut on a vice and turned it.

There may be other ways, but it worked.

 

if abig cresent wrench cant be found or bought try this......get it in a vice or loosely back on car for a second and try a big flathead screw driver being hit w/ a hammer on end of handle the flat head will "dig " into the side of the nut and spin it in the dir its supp to go (hard to explain)but the notches in mine that the last guy made gave me the idea and it worked (i think he did that too)

 

refer to my answer here:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=314141
they're not world class answer but it might save you some angers.

 

A big pipe wrench and a vice worked for me too. FYI, there is actually a special tool Nissan makes to get the gland nut off. If you have a hookup at a dealership, see if you can borrow it for an hour.

 

btw, you need PIPE Wrenches. I'd paid $14 for 15lbs of 4 Pittsburg steel pipe wrenches ranging from 0.5" to 4" openning. They're freaking awesome for the price you just can't beat it!!!!

 

I know what you're talking about, you could also rent from any stores that carries it. They're oversized 6 points socket. If you could find them, you'll need a 58mm socket. yes, that's the exact size! But remember if this is the approach, you'll have to cut the strut off (no, not the gas housing part or it'll blow up on you, just the traveling arm) to get it reaches onto the cap. Otherwise, it's not possible esp if the strut hasn't completely gone bad yet. If I were you go with pipe wrenches instead of this method. It's not as easy as you think plus you're placing yourself at risk if you're not cutting it right.

 

The pipe wrench did the trick! Make sure you reinstall the spacer, most people need them.