Trouble Removing Strut Top Nut

[smacmillin]

I can't remove the top strut nut on my 98 Prism. I have the strut off the car and don't have a good way to imobilize the spring top seat to keep the strut shaft from rotating when I turn the nut. The strut shaft is too hard to grab with a pipe wrench or vise grip. I don't have air tools. Any suggestions?

[Flashmn]

have a shop do it. you'll fuck up the coating of the shock tube with vicegrips. airtools are pretty much the only way to do it.

[REN69]

Air tools or an impact drill will do it.

[toyotaspeed90]

you can put it back on the car, with weight, and loosen the nut......

if you're replacing the strut, then vice-grip it up.... who cares if you ruin it, you're replacing it....

i've also done it by using a couple rags on the very top of the strut while using vice grips....

the upper strut *should* be locked into the strut mount (there should be rounded and flat sections).... so you could try to rotate it and see if you can get it to lock in place..... sometimes hard to do if the strut is blown

[niko3257]

i 3rd it on the air.
must has air and air tools to do stupid stuff like this.
it's always the stupidest things that hold you up. when if you had some air
you'd be saved.
well good luck.
i've done struts with no air before and man it sucks.
now no problem

[retiredat44]

my air tool saved my ass 100 times... instead of beating on bolts, I just give them a quick triger ont he gun and the bolts wiz right off... where as using hand tools I could never have budged them..

but be careful, if it's a small bolt, it will rip it off and break the bolt... also, you don't need a great air compressor and air guns.. all you need are decent ones...

if you only do repairs on your own car, in your garage there is no sense in buying hte best, most any wil work fine for many years..


You can get a complete package of tools and a compressor for cheap if you look around..

[smacmillin]

I went out and bought a cheap 1/2" air impact hammer from Lowes. I hadn't tried one before because I thought my nailgun compressor would be too small. It worked great - best tool I ever bought!! The top nut came off in about 1 second. Even though the compressor is rated at only 2.6 cfm @90 psi, it has enough air to do a lot of tasks.

Here are things I tried that did not work:
1. Turning the nut and the car spun the shaft.
2. A vise grip and pipe wrench could not grip the shaft, the steel is too hard.
3. Using a belt wrench on the floor could not hold the hold the strut to break the nut.

[diver9000]

Glad it came off with the air gun. Be careful when doing that cause you are correct about the low cfm. You should generally get a compressor that produces 5 cfm @ 90 psi if you are going to use an air gun for an extended period of time. In some cases when you tighten your bolts down that compressor may not produce enough air to tighten the bolts down properly. Be careful.

[toyotaspeed90]

well, i have air and 90% of the time i don't use it (and a decent compressor..... ~5cfm @90psi and a 155psi max)....