i currently have H&R with KYB AGX struts...well its time to change the struts cus they are blown...i ran into a problem with removing the top strut bolt...

i have the entire strut/spring assembly off the car...
springs compressed...
now i'm trying to remove the top strut bolt but when i turn it, it turns the whole rod/shaft of the strut

vise grip won't help...as the rod still turns...any tips on removing that lil bolt? i'm thinking i might have to just dremel that bolt off

any help/tips are appreciated

thanks in advance

 

I fought this battle when I installed my Tokico kit. What an awful nightmare! Vise grips didn't work for me either. I ended up............ Yes, taking a hacksaw to the strut shaft while the assembly was pointed away from me. Not the safest or most fun method, but nothing else was working, I was losing daylight and I had no access to an impact wrench.

What some people have tried with success is cutting part of a garden hose and wrapping it around the shaft, then clamping the vise grips onto it. You can give that a shot. Good luck man.

 

i hope i dont have to do that

i might give the garden hose thing a shot

 

Is the cut out in the strut mount stripped? If not u can use a screwdriver or something to wedge in through 2 of the 3 strut mount bolts and let the end of the screwdriver go to the ground, this will hold the mount from spinning, if its stripped like mine was I used vicegrips but put it over the dust cover so its not metal to metal and it wouldnt slip, took a couple of tries but got it.

 

A pipe wrench (monkey wrench) might work better than vice grips.

 

I had the same problem, but in the end used the vise grips. A friend and I did a balancing act on the wrench and vice grips. The two formed a /\ on the strut. We'd jump together and busted the nut off. Yes it's weird, but there was no other way. Use the vice grips on the strut in between the springs. Really tighten it hard and use a spare spring compressor or some thing to shut those babies closed. then it won't slip.

 

You should have loosen that bolt before you took the strut assembly out of the car. I recently did the front struts on my Max and the top bolts broke free both times no problem.

 

an impact will usually get it.

 

I just went through the same thing a week ago for the rear ones. I ended up using two vise grips, one for the rod itself, and the other for the tip where the threads stop. That allowed for a good enough hold for me to use a wrench to crank that top bolt off.

 

when i changed mine about a month ago the same thing happened to my rear ones, i wrapped electrical tape around some channel locks and had sb hold it tight on the piston while i turned the bolt...worked on both of them and didnt even damage the piston!

 

Yup thats the only way I do them.