Strut Removal Question
 

What going on when you attempt to loosen that middle nut and the strut pole its attached to rotates with it? I didn’t remove the 3 outside, so Im trying to figure out what the problem is.

Capitone

impact wrench more than likeley will do it if you try the breaker bar method on top i used some vice grips on the actual strut "shaft", if your lucky it will loosen. up but if its been a long time just take the struts to the local auto shop and have them remove the nut if you dont have your own air tools, it also helps to have the coils compressed before you attempt this...:eek:

Hey Parkave, thanks for the tip. Should the strut "Shaft" be spinning like that? Perhaps better put, does this problem indicate a specific part that needs to be replaced? I didn't have this issue on the other strut.

Thanks again,
capitone

Are you trying to salvage the struts? If not it can be hard to loosen that one bolt once it continues to spin. Your best bet is to get something to hold that piston from spinning. A second person may be helpful in that attempt. If your not trying to salvage the strut that u can use many of different things to hold that piston stiff as you loosen the bolt.

The strut is new and Im cool with letting my local mechanic torque the bolt off for me, but now my question is...

Why is it doing that in the first place? If something needs to be replaced, I want to replace it while the strut is off.

that's known to happen. my pass. side KYB GR2 did the same thing, and gave me hell to remove it. i ended up cutting the shaft off with a hacksaw (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS :laugh: ). But that wouldn't apply to you since the strut is new. After I replaced the struts with tokico's, that shaft was spinning as well once the nut got to a certain point. so, i don't think it's anything to be concerned about. if you want to try it again before having your mech. remove it, some people cut a piece of garden hose and wrap it around the strut shaft, then grab the shaft with some vice grips. never tried it, but it's been reported to work.

Sweet! Thanks for the input. I’ll give that hose wrap tip a shot, couldn’t hurt. I think I use a busted bike tire innertube though and see how that works. I tried it with just grips alone but it lets the strut slide when you try to torque the nut. Talk about a pain.

Thanks fellas for all the feedback.

Capitone out

I put pro-kits on my 97 about a month ago. If i'm thinking of the same thing you're talking about then this is how I did it.
With the springs compressed I stuck a 1/2 17mm socket on the nut, and locked it up very, very tightly with vise grips. I had a 3/8 to 1/4 adapter and tightened/loosened it by the 7mm. through the 1/2 socket hole.
Hack? maybe,but it did work.

There is an eaiser way to keep it from spinning, when takeing it on or off. The top part of the shaft, the one that gose through the mount that is threaded, should have one side that is flat. This is so you can grab onto it with tools like vice grips, be careful not to crush the threads. Do that and use a wrench to fit under it to tighten or loosen the bolt. Once you have it on good and tight you can use a normal socket to finish torquing the bolt.

how do you do that when the nut and threaded part of the shaft are sitting inside of the hole for the strut mount?

what you're describing will work for the rear shocks. I actually used that method to remove mine. For the front struts though, I think that's pretty much impossible unless I'm not visualizing it correctly

I did it, but the strut was actually off the car...and in a spring compressor. Maby that has something to do with it.

ah, ok. i'm swapping out my blues for some illuminas over the spring. i'll see if i can get that to work