Tightening Steeda Shock

[3szoom]

I’m trying to tighten up the steeda pro active dampers on the front with the recommended 76 lbs of torque and am having a hell of a time with the 6mm Allen socket to stop the shaft from spinning. I have the socket with the cut out so I can keep the Allen key in place while having the 19mm socket attached to the torque wrench but I’m either breaking/twisting the Allen key or not able to get enough leverage. Any suggestions on what I can do to hold the shaft from spinning so I can get this torqued down?

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[ice445]

Impact gun or tighten it as much as you can, and then install it. Torque to spec when the car is loaded and on the ground. Takes away the leverage concern and the friction of the tire makes it much less likely to rotate

 

[3szoom]

Impact gun or tighten it as much as you can, and then install it. Torque to spec when the car is loaded and on the ground. Takes away the leverage concern and the friction of the tire makes it much less likely to rotate

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean if shaft freely spins when the car is on the ground? Basically if I tighten just the nut it turns without much resistance.

 

[ice445]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean if shaft freely spins when the car is on the ground? Basically if I tighten just the nut it turns without much resistance.

Hmmm, must be the design of the strut. I've only done this job on different cars where that works. Sorry for the bad advice there. It doesn't make it any easier to hold it with the Allen key?

The theory behind that trick is that the weight of the vehicle will compress the spring and provide some binding force on the shaft from the mount as you tighten the nut.

 

[3szoom]

Hmmm, must be the design of the strut. I've only done this job on different cars where that works. Sorry for the bad advice there. It doesn't make it any easier to hold it with the Allen key?

The theory behind that trick is that the weight of the vehicle will compress the spring and provide some binding force on the shaft from the mount as you tighten the nut.

All good. Yeah it definitely stops it from spinning but finding it hard to get the Allen key to generate enough leverage so I can torque it down without breaking the key. It just seems like a lot of torque for a 6mm and which they used a different design.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Dont sweat it too much.

as long as its not making noise (knocking) then you’re ok. You can check it a few times to make sure its not loosening up. I’d also definitelydo the final tighten on the car but ya the shaft will spin

instead of that slotted socket Steeda uses. You can use an “offset box wrench” and thena hex driver socket to hold it. Much easier to generate torque with those tools

 

[3szoom]

Dont sweat it too much.

as long as its not making noise (knocking) then you’re ok. You can check it a few times to make sure its not loosening up. I’d also definitelydo the final tighten on the car but ya the shaft will spin

instead of that slotted socket Steeda uses. You can use an “offset box wrench” and thena hex driver socket to hold it. Much easier to generate torque with those tools

I’ll give it another shot with those. Yeah I have some knocking I’m pretty sure is coming from not being tightened enough and it’s driving me crazy.

 

[MrMike]

instead of that slotted socket Steeda uses. You can use an “offset box wrench” and thena hex driver socket to hold it. Much easier to generate torque with those tools

Yes this. You can also use two ratchets if you have a flex head.

Having a medium size set of hex driver sockets is important when working on cars and motorcycles.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I’ll give it another shot with those. Yeah I have some knocking I’m pretty sure is coming from not being tightened enough and it’s driving me crazy.

The most common knocking after a strut install will be the sway bar endlinks. They take a surprising amount of torque and like the top nut, its also hard to keep them from spinning when tightening them. Double check those too.

 

[boB]

Faced with the same problem I made a tool to hold the strut shaft. 2 pieces of 1" steel bar stock drilled for 1" plus enough for a strip of brass sheet to avoid scratching the shaft. Good for 100+ lb*ft.
But almost no one is going to go to all that work so... a really big vise grip (and the brass strip) should work well enough. 6mm Allen sure does not seem like enough for 76 lb*ft.

 

[3szoom]

The most common knocking after a strut install will be the sway bar endlinks. They take a surprising amount of torque and like the top nut, its also hard to keep them from spinning when tightening them. Double check those too.

I’ll give these another look too.

 

[3szoom]

Faced with the same problem I made a tool to hold the strut shaft. 2 pieces of 1" steel bar stock drilled for 1" plus enough for a strip of brass sheet to avoid scratching the shaft. Good for 100+ lb*ft.
But almost no one is going to go to all that work so... a really big vise grip (and the brass strip) should work well enough. 6mm Allen sure does not seem like enough for 76 lb*ft.

Ok this is brilliant

 

[TeeLew]

Faced with the same problem I made a tool to hold the strut shaft. 2 pieces of 1" steel bar stock drilled for 1" plus enough for a strip of brass sheet to avoid scratching the shaft. Good for 100+ lb*ft.
But almost no one is going to go to all that work so... a really big vise grip (and the brass strip) should work well enough. 6mm Allen sure does not seem like enough for 76 lb*ft.

You could make the same thing out of AL and not worry about the brass strip, but overall, this is the way to do it.

 

[3szoom]

Last question: can this be done with the car lifted or does it need to be on the ground when torquing to 76lbs?

 

[boB]

You could make the same thing out of AL and not worry about the brass strip, but overall, this is the way to do it.

I think you are right, if I make another I will try aluminum. But it is not ilkely I will need another. ;)

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