Removing Nut on top of Strut??

[connor014]

I finally have the strut out and removed from the car and put on the spring compressor but the strut still pulls down so I cant push the upper bracket down with it pulling on it so I cant remove the nut. Any advice on how to do this? I also bought a impact wrench with a 22mm socket for the nut but it wont fit onto the nut because it is too thick to fit onto the nut.

[p901911]

The upper bracket probably won`t push down because the shaft has a shoulder underneath the metal collar which is located in the rubber bushing.
If this shoulder was not there then the shaft would push right up through the bushing during the action of the suspension.
Your impact socket has a very thick wall in comparison to a regular socket.
I`ve found that an impact socket is not really necessary for this operation since these top nuts, even though they are tight, they are not so tight as to require an impact wrench and socket.
If the reason for using the impact is to loosen the nut rapidly without turning the shaft of the strut then you can grip the shaft with some hefty vise grips if you are changing out the shocks. If you are removing the springs for a spring change but keeping the existing shocks then you would not want to grip the shafts since the vise grips will ruin the finish.
In this case I would compress the spring, lay the whole assembly on the floor pointing away from you and anything of value, just in case, then what I do is to cover the whole assembly with a thick packing blanket double folded. It would be highly unlikely that anything would let go unexpectedly but I don`t trust these things at all. Once you have the unit on the floor with the spring compressed and covered with the packing blanket then stand with one foot on the unit at the head bracket, the other foot clear to the side, and use your breaker bar with a standard wall thickness socket. These nuts usually come right off.
If necessary you could grip the top of the shaft way up high with the vice grips to keep it from rotating and the area gripped by the vice grips would be higher than the shaft would ever stroke down into the shock so no harm done with that method even if the vice grips did put a burr onto the hardened shaft.
Years ago one of the mechanics in the shop was doing an expeditious strut change, laid the strut down of the shop floor and placed one foot on the head bracket. With the impact gun he quickly zipped the nut right off the shaft and let the shock cartridge release out the other end. By standing on the spring the reaction of the force kept the spring in place right under his foot while the cartridge went out toward the back bay door of the shop. Because the spring was not under full compression the residual force remaining only caused the cartridge to go about 15-20 feet towards to open back bay door of the shop. Suprisingly it seemed to lose quite a bit of energy quickly once release. My impression while watching this from my bay was that this thing was going to go to the moon but it didn`t. Not suggesting you attempt any of this, just an anecdote to give you some sense of the technique available to experienced techs. Using this method the mechanic had made use of a couple of advantages, the overall spring pressure was greatly reduced because it was not compressed, so the danger of the a highly compressed spring was reduced. However this retained enough pressure on the top nut to keep the shaft from turning in the bushing. The mechanic felt, from experience, that this was necessary in the case of severely corroded top nuts. This was one of those guys that had a deep bag of tricks and they always worked.
Always work within the limitations of your experience. Be safe.
andrew

[BS05ZHP]

I finally have the strut out and removed from the car and put on the spring compressor but the strut still pulls down so I cant push the upper bracket down with it pulling on it so I cant remove the nut. Any advice on how to do this? I also bought a impact wrench with a 22mm socket for the nut but it wont fit onto the nut because it is too thick to fit onto the nut.

Honestly go get a 22mm that fits into it. Take the whole assembly with you to the store if you have to. I have a Porter Cable set of metric sockets for my air impact and they fit just barely.

Your other option is to make the tool referred to in most install guides. (search for E36 Coilover Install - it's a PDF file that has more details) But using an impact is really the no-brainer way.

[mgambini]

If you don't have an impact, just get a socket the right size for the strut nut and grind flats on the sides, then put the socket over the nut and shaft, and turn it with an open end wrench, while holdog the top of the shaft with an allen wrench or regular wrench(whichever is appropriate). I have an impact, but always do it this way anyway because it seems easier.
MikeG

[connor014]

Yeah i just bought a 22mm standard socket and it pulled right off....thanks for all the help

[hc1001]

an impact tool will get that nut off... its really hard doing it by hand...