rear bolt at the bottom of the strut will not come off... have conventional tools, ie no air tools. tried liquid wrench, even tried jacking up the wrench, tried breaker bar, tried hammering. this is seriously the tightest bolt i have ever seen, its already broken one socket, is there anything i can do? any suggestions appreciated.

 

A breaker bar didn't work? Wow! that's one tough bolt. Breaker bar always does the trick for me. Hmmmm, have you tried heat? Got a propane blow torch around?

 

I had that problem on the fron one. Even my compressor couldn't get it off. What I did was sit down facing the wheel well, proped my legs on in the well, and pulled as hard as I could. Slowly it gave. Sometimes your own hands are better than airtools.

 

If you have a cheater bar that would help. Slip a pipe over the breaker bar so you essentially have an extension. The longer the bar the more torque you can apply.
-hype

 

but dont jerk it slowly add more pressure but dont jerk it...that causes stripped/broken bolts and socket. oh yeah busted hands

 

Spray some WD40 and wait for about 5 mins and then try it. I would advise you not to use the socket but a ring wrench. I had the same prblem when I did my springs.

 

Use 6 point sockets, not 12 point ones or you'll strip the head of bolt or nut.

 

I just did my suspension today. No problem with those bolts for me. Anyway breaker bar + cheater bar + liquid wrench/pb blaster + 6 point 17 MM socket will bust it off.

 

Go get yourself some real Liquid Wrench, not WD40, which is better than nothing but not by much.

Spray the **** out of the bolt and nut. Wait 5 minutes.

Spray it again. Find a 2 foot or better length of metal pipe that will fit over your breaker bar handle. (Home Depot, Lowes all carry steel pipe,) GEntly apply some torque with the extention. Don't snap the head off the bolt....

Now, get a propane torch. Heat it up. Not glowing red hot but hot enough to cook all the penetrating spray off. Try the bar again. Easy does it.

Now spray it again. Soak it until it stops sizzling. Now with it soaked(this is the secret) start sharply rapping the head of the bolt with a hammer. It doesn't have to be that hard, just fast raps. Spray. Hit. Spray. Hit. The vibrations allow the fluid to better soak past the threads. Don't F up the head of the bolt.

Try it again with the bar.

If all else fails, soak it and let it sit for and hour, or overnight if you can.

Now rap it hard again with the hammer. I've NEVER had a non-exhaust bolt not come off by doing this. Get the breaker bar/pipe and pull slowly and evenly until it either moves or snaps off. It'll work...

-RMB