'98 S70 Strut Replacement Woes

Post by **firekiller75** » 20 Nov 2009, 06:14

Went to replace my struts, spring seats, strut mounts yesterday. Ended up unable to because I couldn't loosen the top nut from the strut shaft!

Now keep in mind that I don't live in the rust belt. That being said, the car has 186k miles, and i believe the suspension parts to be original.

I sprayed plenty of WD-40 and let the nut sit a while. It won't budge! I have now pretty much rounded off the top of the strut shaft. I tried it in the car, out of the car with the spring compressed, then in the car once again. It hasn't budged!

Once I rounded off the top of the shaft, I beat a 10mm combination wrench end on it, slipped a cheater bar over the wrench, then turned. It bent then broke my Craftsman combination wrench! I mean the nut is on there!

Not sure what else to try. My thought was to use a reciprocating saw and cut the strut shaft with the spring compressed.

Suggestions?

Thanks, Adam.

scigarzz · Post by **scigarzz** » 20 Nov 2009, 06:50

if all else fails, maybe a chisel and a hammer !

Post by **firekiller75** » 20 Nov 2009, 07:14

scigarzz wrote:if all else fails, maybe a chisel and a hammer !

You mean to break the nut?

scigarzz · Post by **scigarzz** » 20 Nov 2009, 07:27

yes, to break the nut, i've done this a few times. just make sure if you use this method, start a groove on the flat part of the nut, and hit it off the shaft.

Post by **jblackburn** » 20 Nov 2009, 07:56

PB Blaster, monkey wrench as tight as you can get it on there, and something to push against! You could try hitting it with a sledgehammer a few times to attempt to loosen it...just don't miss!

If not, then I guess you'd have to Sawzall it!

Post by **firekiller75** » 20 Nov 2009, 08:09

jablackburn wrote:PB Blaster, monkey wrench as tight as you can get it on there, and something to push against! You could try hitting it with a sledgehammer a few times to attempt to loosen it...just don't miss!

If not, then I guess you'd have to Sawzall it!

I saw reference to the monkey wrench in a how-to I read. I guess I am confused about the monkey wrench. I'm just using a 21mm wrench on the nut. Where are you folks putting the monkey wrench?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 20 Nov 2009, 10:06

I use a pipe wrench and a cheater pipe to get the cross shaped nut loose but you are not there yet.

I have used a nut cracker on similar problems. I'm not sure how well a sawzall will work, I think the strut shaft is case hardened and it will likely just shine the shaft as it eats the teeth off of the blade.

...Lee

Post by **firekiller75** » 20 Nov 2009, 10:17

Ozark Lee wrote:I use a pipe wrench and a cheater pipe to get the cross shaped nut loose but you are not there yet.

I have used a nut cracker on similar problems. I'm not sure how well a sawzall will work, I think the strut shaft is case hardened and it will likely just shine the shaft as it eats the teeth off of the blade.

...Lee

Lee, gotcha, thanks. Definitely clears things up. Forgot about a nut cracker, think I've used those before with success. I'll pick one up on the way home today. Thanks!

Post by **firekiller75** » 23 Nov 2009, 15:47

Man that strut was the worst ever!

Pulled the strut back out, compressed the spring, tried again for fun, no joy. Worked on the nut with a Craftsman nut cracker, broke it (OMG!), which is when I realized the nut had a shoulder on it!

SOOO... Took a hack saw to the nut, just about the shoulder, and cut it/shaft off. Then put the remainder on an angle grinder for a bit and presto, it was gone! The cross-shaped nut was actually just finger tight (weird!).

After all that, the darn spring seat wasn't even broken or worn looking! Not sure how that could be after 182k miles! In fact, I saw no wear/tear on the seat or mount other than the fact that the entire assembly would spin pretty freely when still mounted in the car.

Short story long, the assembly has been replaced and my clunking is completely gone! At least all my effort did not go unrewarded!

dbo550 · Post by **dbo550** » 23 Nov 2009, 17:25

Where did you order your parts from? How much did the parts cost? glad you finally succeeded.