I really hate factory installed strut bolts

I spent, oh.... About 4-5 hours hammering away at my front struts yesterday. Sprayed WD-40 silicon spray, used a heat gun, crowbar, just about anything you can think of. It got so bad that I finally just gave in and knew I would be ordering all new bolts and nuts that I just beat the living hell out of the nut and bolt.

Yes, they finally did come out of their spline locked holes, but damn, that was insane. I was definitely going insane pounding the same 3 lbs hammer for that many hours. My neighbors probably thought I was nuts.

FYI for anyone doing a spring install in the future. You'll either get bolts that come out with ease or ones that are stuck like mine.

It's also fun paying 2x more in shipping than the actual price of the bolts\nuts.

It's cause they're torqued to about 150 ft/lbs and you need a impact gun (for comparison, the strut bolts under your hood are like ~48 ft/lbs). I hope you didn't reinstall using a wrench without checking the torque spec.

You don't need the most expensive impact gun either. Also buy a basic torque wrench while you're at it. That way you don't mess up your bolts next time.

(inb4 "hurr durr you don't need a torque wrench and real men don't need no fuggin impact gun")

brendon said:

It's cause they're torqued to about 150 ft/lbs and you need a impact gun (for comparison, the strut bolts under your hood are like ~48 ft/lbs). I hope you didn't reinstall using a wrench without checking the torque spec.

You don't need the most expensive impact gun either. Also buy a basic torque wrench while you're at it. That way you don't mess up your bolts next time.

(inb4 "hurr durr you don't need a torque wrench and real men don't need no fuggin impact gun")

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Um, how is this relevant to anything?

Yes, they're torqued on tight, and yes an impact gun will loosen the nut easier, but the bolt is splined. An impact gun won't make that come out any easier.

Mine luckily came out fairly easy. I used a 4lb sledge, and they came loose with a couple of whacks. I was fully expecting a battle too. I recently bought an air hammer though, which would make getting these out even easier.

8 pound hand sledge makes it easier.

z06psi said:

8 pound hand sledge makes it easier.

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Oh geez, lol. I was highly considering going to Lowe's and asking, "Where is your heaviest sledgehammer?"

I agree. Mine stripped on driver side & had to replace the strut mount.

brendon said:

It's cause they're torqued to about 150 ft/lbs and you need a impact gun (for comparison, the strut bolts under your hood are like ~48 ft/lbs). I hope you didn't reinstall using a wrench without checking the torque spec.

You don't need the most expensive impact gun either. Also buy a basic torque wrench while you're at it. That way you don't mess up your bolts next time.

(inb4 "hurr durr you don't need a torque wrench and real men don't need no fuggin impact gun")

Click to expand...

I torque everything to spec, always. I'm just waiting for replacements to come in. They should go in with ease with a few taps this time since the bolts have been removed once. I use my impact just for bolt removal and the general tightening of things.

Thanks for this post, I did the BMR CB006 4pt brace and the additional "Time"#labor to get it installed cost me. I didn't know of this problem and plan to do springs soon. Mercy!

I banged 5 separate cars' bolts out with a framing hammer... use a jack to manipulate the suspension a little and you'll find a sweet spot. Now I just use an air hammer... haha.

plc268 said:

Um, how is this relevant to anything?

Yes, they're torqued on tight, and yes an impact gun will loosen the nut easier, but the bolt is splined. An impact gun won't make that come out any easier.

Mine luckily came out fairly easy. I used a 4lb sledge, and they came loose with a couple of whacks. I was fully expecting a battle too. I recently bought an air hammer though, which would make getting these out even easier.

Click to expand...

I didn't realize he was talking about the splined part. Although I didn't have trouble taking those off with a dead blow hammer. I left the nut at the end of the bolt to give larger impact profile as well. I'm pretty suspicious that he couldn't get his bolts out without destroying them..

take your dress off, and get yourself a bigger hammer, they should come out after a few good whacks with a proper hammer

Zelek said:

Oh geez, lol. I was highly considering going to Lowe's and asking, "Where is your heaviest sledgehammer?"

Click to expand...

This! I went to Home Depot after struggling for an hour or so. Picked up a 4 lb sledge and had both sides out in no time. I've done the job on a couple cars since then and it makes the job so much easier!

Well, I hope others can now find this thread and learn a valuable lesson...

GET A BIGGER HAMMER!

scott_0 said:

take your dress off, and get yourself a bigger hammer, they should come out after a few good whacks with a proper hammer

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This. You were probably scared of ruining things and were just tapping the ends when you really gotta hammer that shit off. I'd rather a little more effort to take out and know that they are gonna stay put from the splines.

And not sure what the heat gun did when you used it besides expand the bolts and make them even tighter/harder to remove. But glad you got them out.

EFI said:

This. You were probably scared of ruining things and were just tapping the ends when you really gotta hammer that shit off. I'd rather a little more effort to take out and know that they are gonna stay put from the splines.

And not sure what the heat gun did when you used it besides expand the bolts and make them even tighter/harder to remove. But glad you got them out.

Click to expand...

3 lbs Hammer used:


Strut nut aftermath:


I was slamming it as hard as I could with the room given and not jacking up my hand in the process. The bolt is pretty much mushroomed on the end and the lower threads are gone from all the hits.