(vent)
AAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGHH!
Installing my JIC's didn't go as smoothly as planned. The front's took me about 45 mins. I drove around for a day while I took a break. Car handles a million times better. The next day, I decide to go at the rear. The top strut mounts aren't as hard as people make it out. You just need some creative work with extensions. Got the rear left side done no problem, about 30 minutes. When I go to do the final side, the FRIGGIN bolt on the control arm won't budge! Fine, I bust out the really big breaker bar and stomp on it for all i'm worth. When I heard a loud cracking sound I thought it came loose. Checking the bolt, I find it hasn't moved, it's partially stripped, and I've split my 17mm socket wide open.
Alright, I said, maybe I need a deep socket. Crack that one wide open too. Headed to the hardware store for some liquid wrench. The rest of the night went like this: liquid wrench, strain, watch TV, more liquid wrench, more straining, more TV. Finally around 2 am I give up.
The next day, I head over to sears, and proceed to plunk down 600 dollars on some new air tools. MUAHAHAHAHA, damn bolt, you better run now! Alas, no dice, the impact wrench I got was too weak. I went back to trade up for a bigger wrench, the manager says I can't because it was a packaged deal. Fine, I say, give me the 350lb/ft big ****.
Well I get home and run the compressor and go at it with the new impact wrench. STILL NOT MOVING ONE BIT.

Well now I'm really mad and I'm just impacting away and making all my neighbors deaf. Finally I gave up and put everything back on.

I'm riding on 3 JIC's now and one stock rear strut. My car looks like a lowrider with the hydraulic's stuck on 3-1.

I think I'm going to have to take it to a shop and have them undo that bolt
(/vent)

 

I don't know if it is the stripped bolt that is giving you the problem or not, but at Sears Craftsman sells sockets that actually turn and "lock" or bore into the stripped bolt. They are in two sets one for metric and one for SAE and are $19.99/set. I plan on getting some soon!

 

I believe I saw those for $60.00 check this week they have a sears sale this week, if the bolt is not completely stripped grab the breaker bar, jack the car up high enough place the 17MM socket on the breaker bar slide a fence pipe over the breaker bar for more leverage and it should come off. I have taken off my share of bolts, if push comes to shove you can cut the bolt off, I am not going to lie I have cut one off because a member stripped the bolt and that was the only wat to get it off. Remember on the right side if your facing the shock you push the breaker bar down clock wise towards the front of the car to loosen the bolt.

 

My friend and I busted 2 17mm sockets on the same bolt holding the rear driver's side strut at the bottom. I think the real cause was the strange angle they are at, making it difficult to keep the socket on correctly, thus loading one part of the socket and causing a break. Sears replaced both no questions asked and I picked up an impact wrench socket. Now that thing did the job no problem. There was no way it was going to bust. The best thing to do is just keep trying. Try using the largest breaker bar you have and then put a pipe over a part of it to extend it. Make sure you the socket is always on correctly or you will both strip it and break another socket. Hope you get it worked out.

 

That sure is one tough one. I've heard around that out of all the sockets, that the Snap-on tools ones are the strongest. That combined with a little jumping on the breaker bar with an extension and soaking with liquid wrench is probably the most power anyone can put into it. Unless you want to hit up a shop and watch them destroy all their sockets.

 

NOPE! you cant jump on it that bolt is at an angle youll strip it. have someone crawl place their place thier foot on socket therefor it wont come out of place while the other is putting pressure to break the bolt loose. Liquid wrench loosens them up pretty good.

Snap on makes great impact sockets but craftsman are just as good if not thicker in diameter. I use snap on as well but crafstman are cheaper in price

 

that sux.



the way i did it,, I put the breaker bar on, and I leaned my back against the garage wall. (it's a one car garage, so it's really tight).


and then, I pushed the breaker bar with my legs. I think my legs can put out well over 350 lb of torque. Before my leg method, I wrestled with it for 2 hours, and the damn nut wouldnt' budge.

but in order to do it, you need a wall behind your back.

 

Torch.... just don't torch delicate stuff!

 

just cut it out...use dremel or something to remove it all together...after this much trying , it is probably jacked up beyond use anyhow...good luck.

 

Yeah, I just thought of that as well. Heat the bolt up with a propane torch and then go at it. This makes a lot of difference!

 

I had major problems removing the 17mm bolts on the rear-end while installing my eibach/tokicos, and unfortunately I don't own a breaker bar.. although, I found that taking a good swing at my socket wrench with a 6D mag-lite did the trick after about 4 swings.. sounds like you're in a tough spot though with the bolt that won't budge..

good luck with it

 

I had the same problem on my 2k, well I got a 18" breaker bar and the bolt didn't have a chance, hehe. Chalk one up to leverage of the big bar

 

bahhhhh those useless air tools........ ill give you $50 bucks for the whole lot of worthless POS tools you got.

 

I'm all for cutting stubborn bolts. I always spray down bolts/nuts with a good penetrant days in advance, and do so multiple times. When I finally get to the bolt, if it will not come loose after hitting it with an impact gun, or a breaker, I just cut it.

99% of the time, the bolt is in an accessible place where I simply take a 4" grinder to it. It takes all of 30 seconds to cut the biatch off. If it's in a delicate place, I'll use a dremel. The only ****ty part is, with a 17mm nut/bolt, if you have to use a dremel, you'll probably be cutting for a while.

Here are some general guidelines to removing stubborn bolts/nuts.

- ALWAYS spray penetrant days in advance, multiple times
- always use a good penetrant, i.e. kroil
- if most of the threads are rusted to the point where the nut will no longer come off the bolt, cut
- if you round the bolt/nut because it is rusted, cut the head down to a smaller size with a dremel and a grinder tip
- if you round the bolt/nut because it is overtorquedd, cut it
- if there is a washer between the bolt/nut and the fixture, cut the washer off, this often alleviates enough stress to remove the bolt/nut
- heat only works if you have a hot enough torch, can get the bolt/nut glowing, if you can't, don't bother
- be careful with heat, you often don't have enough space to heat the nut (never heat the inner piece, only the outter piece) don't use heat
- if rusty, use an impact gun, if seized, use a breaker bar
- it often helps to tap the bolt/nut with a 5 lb sledge, and if necessary a punch

Also, most of these bolts/nuts that get stuck, will not be able to be reused anyways. So don't think twice about cutting them. Just go to a machine shop and buy a replacement piece, and USE ANTI-SEIZE!!!

 

buy a new nut at the dealer, then use a nut splitter (ouch!!) on it and remove the ****.. then go about life like it never happened.
either that, or take it to a tire shop and have them break it loose.. the impacts they use there will definitely pop it loose.. we all know that after trying to remove the lugnuts they've put on!

 

lmao at the subject, possessed bolt! that sh*T was like, u cant hold me

 

just use a grinder and grind out the entire bolt. goto the local nissan dealer and buy a new bolt. i got lucky and the mechanic just gave me one for free. take it from someone who's had the suspension apart more than a few times! lol

 

Sadly, it's not for lack of tools or effort that this thing isn't budging. It is possessed by the immortal spirit of the demon Beezelbub.

I got the craftsman bolt off kit, but I don't think I need it as the 6 sided hex sockets are grabbing.

I really am sore as hell, and have no strength left.. or I'd gladly take a dremel or a blowtorch to it. Only problem is the dremel cutting bit is a bit too shallow, and the blowtorch would probably just weld the bolt to the surrounding metal and melt the rubber bushings . Besides I'm done spending money on this thing. I have tried almost all of the above. I'm ready to take it to the tire shop. I'll update you guys when I get back.


or maybe I should head down to the church and grab a priest..

 

Try using a socket made for impact gun use. Those flat black sockets are thick as hell. I doubt anyone could split one of those.

 

dude use a grinder. it rocks..it will take about 1mm of metal off the shock body, but that's negligible., just paint some clear on the surface to prevent rust. good luck.

 

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

 

 

 

I WIN!!





Seriously though, that bolt struggled to the last. I went to Just Tires, and the guy impacted it loose for me. I got home and it was turning but man did I have to fight it for it to come out. The stock jack helped a lot. When it finally did come out the rotor assembly almost dropped on my knee. It was at this point that I realized I had left my torque wrench in my brother's truck and now I still wont be able to finish until later. The replacement bolt I recieved from the dealer had anti-seize compound applied VERY liberally. I don't want this happening again..

As for the bolt itself, as soon as I get my car running, i'm taking it down to the local lake and dropping it off the bridge!

 

Hahahha... Nice tools.


Burial at sea?

 

if thats the little impact you were using that goes to show you were using 3/8 sockets, you were suppose to be using half inch sockets. Also turning up the PSI on the compressor will make that impact a bit stronger but careful you were using the silver sockets on that impact thats why it broke thats very unsafe.



Glad you got it off. Later on look at the snap on website if you like a impact from there I ll be placing order for myself I can get those snap on air impact wrenches $40 cheaper then the website or truck price seriously.

 

Thanks dude. But I went back to sears yesterday and got a half inch 350lb/ft impact and a 1/2 inch socket set. I only used the silver sockets on the breaker bar and never on the impact wrench.

i'll take a look at the snap-on website but maybe we could set up a group deal? anyway thanks to everyone for all the input this fish is now cooked!

 

alright I can do that set up a group deal from the snap on website and lets see if anyone is interested.

 

I can't believe you even attempted to do any suspension work without having 6 point 1/2" drive sockets and a BMF breaker bar.

So how much has that bolt cost you so far?






Glad you finally got it out. Now lets see some pics of the car!

 

Grrr.

This is what I started off with:

Breaker bar
Steel pipe
2 full silver socket sets (3/8) (only one was 6 point)
torque wrench
a few assorted impact sockets (1/2) (hex)
liquid wrench

This is what i added in the past few days:

all craftsman
150psi 30 gallon 6hp compressor
3/8" drive air wrench
3/8" drive air ratchet
1/2" drive air wrench
1 craftsman bolt-out set
1 3/8" drive deep socket impact set 10-19mm
1 1/2" drive deep socket impact set 10-23mm

so you see I WAS prepared.. if it had been anyone but me and my luck, or any other bolt than that one there would have been no problem.

In total, if you don't count the tools (I was going to buy them anyway):

bolt: $3.75
tire shop: $20.00
pain and suffering: priceless


I got everything on but I have to spend the rest of the night messing with the ride height. I'll have pics on the morrow!

 

 

I've been looking for an excuse to buy that 60 gallon double stage intercooled compressor that puts out 12 cfm at 90 psi, 175 psi max. Maybe I'll do a little suspension work this weekend ...

 

I just wanted to say that that bolt is hard on all Maximas. I'll give you Papasmurf's method for removing it. It works as Papasmurf and I have done over 20 suspensions this year alone and have used the same method.

First you locate a new socket. Use a pretty stout ratchet (or one that you don't mind putting stress on). Get a claw hammer with a metal handle. (the bigger the better) Put the ratchet and scoket onto the bolt and rotate it until you have to push down to get it loose (under the control arm). Use the hammer and hit the ratchet with the metal handle. This uses the head of the hammer to put additional weight on the handle of the ratchet. Keep striking until the bolt breaks loose. This method "shocks" the bolt instead of putting gradual force on it.