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Problem removing the bolt on top of the strut

MyFastIsRed

MyFastIsRed

Ready to race!
Location
SLC
So I am removing my front struts/springs and everything is going just dandy, I've got the strut out and off the car and the spring compressed but for the life of me I can not get the single top bolt off is there an easy way to get the puppy off??? the bolt is 21mm and there is a 7 mm hex in the middle of the strut screw.. any help would be much appreciated
 
RICK_DIZZLE

RICK_DIZZLE

Banned
Location
South Florida
Car(s)
07 UG GTI
MyFastIsRed said:
So I am removing my front struts/springs and everything is going just dandy, I've got the strut out and off the car and the spring compressed but for the life of me I can not get the single top bolt off is there an easy way to get the puppy off??? the bolt is 21mm and there is a 7 mm hex in the middle of the strut screw.. any help would be much appreciated
Click to expand...

AIR TOOLS!
 
RSMark5

RSMark5

Go Kart Champion
Location
Jacksonville NC
Yeah if you have a set of spark plug sockets, one of them works. Forget the size sorry. Anyway you can ususally get a wrench on those sockets. What you want to do is put the 7mm inside of that socket and run a 6" extension through the hole in the sparkplug socket. That way you can use a ratchet at the top to turn the small 7mm nut. Or you could hold the 7mm nut and turn the big nut. All in what you decide. Its an interesting way or doing things, but it works.
 
MyFastIsRed

MyFastIsRed

Ready to race!
Location
SLC
RSMark5 said:
Yeah if you have a set of spark plug sockets, one of them works. Forget the size sorry. Anyway you can ususally get a wrench on those sockets. What you want to do is put the 7mm inside of that socket and run a 6" extension through the hole in the sparkplug socket. That way you can use a ratchet at the top to turn the small 7mm nut. Or you could hold the 7mm nut and turn the big nut. All in what you decide. Its an interesting way or doing things, but it works.
Click to expand...

ya I was thinking about that, the 13/16 spark plug socket is the closest to 21mm but its a little bit smaller so im not sure it will fit. Anyone have any say on that?
 
RSMark5

RSMark5

Go Kart Champion
Location
Jacksonville NC
I've not had a strut nut tool or a spark plug socket and used my bench grinder to grind 2 sides flat on your run of the mill deep well socket. Same trick as the spark plug socket, just using a crescent wrench instead.

Sometimes late at night, you just have to make a tool.

Of course an impact wrench would be the ideal tool for this situation.
 
TheeFT

TheeFT

That One Guy
Location
440, Ohio
Car(s)
Germans
sounds scary but i've done it without any damage occurring, take a towel or rag and wrap it around the actual strut and clamp down on it with a set of adjustable pliers , stepping on the pilers works the best as you remove the top nut, as this stops it for spinning the whole assembly
 
RSMark5

RSMark5

Go Kart Champion
Location
Jacksonville NC
TheeFT said:
sounds scary but i've done it without any damage occurring, take a towel or rag and wrap it around the actual strut and clamp down on it with a set of adjustable pliers , stepping on the pilers works the best as you remove the top nut, as this stops it for spinning the whole assembly
Click to expand...

^^^^That soudns like an interesting idea. Funny the things we come up when we have to.


What did you do about the spring compressors though? Did you just like work inbetween them?
 
G

GodSquadMandrake

Radioactive Rotary Rocket
Location
Minneapolis
No one has heard of an O-ratchet set? It's just a normal ratchet with a hole in the top so you can stick a hex key down there to remove strut nuts and the like.

 
C

ChouDawg

Null
Location
San Diego, CA
Car(s)
2014 Subaru WRX
You need to hold either the nut/allen and turn the other. I've done it before where I used a deep socket, socket only, inserted allen through socket and held socket with a pair of channel locks. Then turned the socket or the allen while keeping one of them stable. Another option is airgun should be able to blast it off without the shock spinning. There are various other options too depending on what you can/cant get to. Another option would be one of those specifically designed wrenches with a hole in the top or a side mount for the wrench. You can prob manage without the right tools, but the right tools make the job way simpler
 
dubbin

dubbin

All in, All out..
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
Car(s)
09 GTI
actually godsquad i havent heard of that kit, that would have been helpful when i did my install lol. what i did was was take a cloth and some vice grips, held the actual shock, then had a buddy with a good old socket/wratchet spin it. worked for me pretty well.
 
kmfp5150

kmfp5150

New member
Location
SL,UT
Car(s)
Your mom
I used a pipe wrench on the 21mm socket to keep it from spinning then inserted the 7mm hex into the top of the socket. Remember your wrench with the 7mm should be set to "tighten" since the shaft is going into the and nut the not the nut coming off the shaft. If I had to do over again, I definitely would buy the tool.
 
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