Rear Strut Replacement
 

Folks,

I was just trying to replace my rear struts on my 98 civic lx and have run into difficulty getting the 14 mm lock nut off the top portion of the rear strut. I tried to keep the rod from turning by using an allen wrench but it ended up stripping it. What are my options? I noticed that aftermarket strut mounts do not come with springs and the top adapter.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think you have only damaged the shock absorber, which you plan to replace anyway. Are you able to prevent the top of the shock from turning by grasping the red circled area with some vice grips?

Attachment 24468

rear shocks
 

Do like Ron said after you have removed the strut from the car. Your problem may be the lower bolt on the strut however. They can be a bitch and rusted into the bushing set in rubber. I've broken off the nut on a few of them. Good luck.

Thank you fellas. Corey to your point, I got the rear struts out of the car and so I am not sure what you mean by the lower bolt? Do you mean the flange bolt that keeps the bottom of the strut attached to the car? Anyhow, RonJ has got the idea. Unfortunately I do not have any vice grips so I am unable to keep top of the shock absorber from turning.

A couple of guys at OReillys suggested using a hacksaw and cut off the shock absorber just below that 14 mm locknut. I suppose it would mean that I'd have to compress the springs a bit more to lower the top portion.

What do you guys think?

You could probably purchase a nice pair of vice grips for $10 at Sears. Also, if you compress the spring further to create a large gap between the top bolt and mount, then you could either cut the rod with a hacksaw or secure the rod with a pair of vice grips. Have you also sprayed some penetrating lubricant on the problem bolt?

I haven't seen any mention of this so I thought I should point out: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THAT NUT WITHOUT FIRST HAVING SPRING COMPRESSORS TIGHTENED ON THE SPRING TO HOLD THE ASSEMBLY FROM FLYING APART.

Also try an impact wrench, that could loosen the nut without having to hold the shaft because the inertia of the shaft might be enough to keep it from spinning.

yea if you have access to a compressed air source try using an air impact, thats how I've always gotten them off but like mk378 said be careful of the spring flying off.

if you dont have access to air then like Ron said you can usually grip the damper rod with vise grips to keep it from spinning.

Thank you fellas. I had rented the spring compressor tool from Oreillys so I was covered there. Because I had stripped the allen wrench part, I ended up having to saw it off. The rest was fine and I put in the new struts. The 2nd one was fine since I used the correct sized allen wrench to keep it from moving.

Unfortunately I do not have access to any impact wrenches so I didn't go that route.

Appreciate all your help.