Im helping a friend replace the struts on his 99 Grand Prix. Problem is we're having a hard time getting that top nut off. It has a torx head which is stripped now. Have tried holding the shaft with vise grips to no avail. Gonna try an impact wrench on them today, any other tips?....
amaff
Reader
7/27/08 8:16 a.m.
yeah, pretty much using a good impact's the easiest thing for a top nut.
I've used the vice grips, but I wrapped the shaft with an old dishwashing glove that gave it more grip and stopped it from spinning while I turned the wrench, but your best bet is the impact wrench.
amaff
Reader
7/27/08 9:41 a.m.
If rust is in play, a liberal dousing of PB blaster / your preferred rust buster may also be in order.
I ran into the same issue a few months ago on my GTI.
The shaft cracked so the allen key wouldn't keep the shaft from spinning.
Since I wasn't keeping the strut, I drilled out the shaft with a drillbit just a bit smaller than the shaft. After I got past the nut, I use a vice grips to break it off.
Took a while, but it works if you have no plans on ever using the strut again.
Good rattle gun and 175 psi. IR 2135 or one of the variants.
Yea the impact worked, thanks guys