Rear shocks top nut

[toolpusher]

Hi,

The rear shocks of our 2010 3.2 are shot.
Can’t get my hand around how much shops charge for something that appears a quite easy job with fairly cheap parts.
The only piece I have respect for is get the top nut loose.
Is there a reason not to try to get the top nut loose first with the car on the ground and on its wheels?
Or does the car need to be lifted with bottom screw loose first?
Thank you

[xHeart]

Hi,

The rear shocks of our 2010 3.2 are shot.
Can’t get my hand around how much shops charge for something that appears a quite easy job with fairly cheap parts.
The only piece I have respect for is get the top nut loose.
Is there a reason not to try to get the top nut loose first with the car on the ground and on its wheels?
Or does the car need to be lifted with bottom screw loose first?
Thank you

Pete would say to loosen the nut over the half moon washer inside the cargo area before raising the car, unless. This may help a little viewtopic.php?f=9&t=91242

This diagram may help a too...

[cn90]

I'd recommend to replace more than the shock: the springs should be replaced too.

I posted a DIY below, you can see the REAR spring was bad too.

Make sure you know how to lift the car SAFELY and place it on jack stands safely.

DIY: REAR Suspension Rebuild (2005 XC90 2.5T AWD with 120K)
viewtopic.php?t=92099

[toolpusher]

Hi, so on my first attempt with the impact wrench, the top nut is spinning on the shaft. Can anyone tell me what size the torx bit has to be to keep the shaft in place?

[SuperHerman]

If you are going to change the strut - just grab the shaft with a vice grip. One does not do this normally as it will ruin the strut.

[toolpusher]

I cut the cover of the shaft open. My admittedly cheap locking plier can’t lock the shaft. Will a higher price plier like Milwaukee torque lock make a difference or do I have to start thinking about defeat?
The top nut will not move an inch despite one week of daily flooding with PB Blaster

[SuperHerman]

I have always used a ViceGrip brand. What ever you have just crank it down as hard as you can - to the point it takes two hands and maybe a channel lock to get the final snap for closure. The jaws need to dig into the piston shaft.

I would get a helper to hold the vice-grip and use a ratchet or breaker bar to back off the bolt. Talk to one another and become one with the bolt. With stuck bolts feel is important and impact wrenches sometimes put forces in the wrong direction and almost work against you.

[toolpusher]

Had a buddy come over who brought his Milwaukee pliers and a channel lock the size of a dog.
Undoable. Still slips.
Anyone experience with cutting the top nut with a Dremel?

[SuperHerman]

I feel your pain. I may be confusing the XC70 and XC90, but in the parts diagram #7 was removable when I did it. So #7 came out with the shock. It is a replaceable part - when I did it I recall two or three bolts accessible from below with nuts accessible from above (possible they were studs on #7 with nuts on top). The unit came out with #7 attached. Look around the shock nut and see if you can find the nuts for #7. Look from below and you should be able to figure out where the relevant region to look is.

I have done shocks on both an XC90 and XC70 and it was pretty straight forward. (The other guy's luck).

Can you get a grinder to roughen up the piston?

The problem with grinding the nut is grinding wheels require unrestricted space. That bolt is a pretty narrow spot.

An idea came to me though - maybe try an oscillating tool with a metal blade. Cut the bolt and then keep going until you get the nut. Keep going at it until you get 1/2 way and then see if it is loose enough. When you get to the final stages I would use a chisel and split the nut that remains.

Another option - a very new one, is try drilling the shaft. Keep it straight and start small. Move to a wider drill bit and keep drilling. Depth is bolt depth plus a hair. As you drill and switch bits, try the vice-grip each time you switch. At some point you will be drilling at the width of the bolt threads and it will fall through.

I would do the drill option first. The process will be tough as the metal involved is pretty stout. You are going down a destructive path, nature of the beast, so once you start you have to finish and have back up plans. Keep in mind you may need to control the spin with the vice grip.

[toolpusher]

Another idea I had use a straight die grinder and roughen the shaft to get a better grip for the locking plier.

Edit: just saw that you recommended that as well, thank you!