Is it possible to tighten the nut on the top of the front struts without an air impact wrench? Using a standard 17mm deep socket just turns the piston rather than tightening the nut. I know an impact wrench has so much torque that it tightens the nut before the piston has a chance to move, but I dont own any air tools or even a compressor.. I've been on a journey to cure a front clunking noise and I would like to make sure my struts are tight.

I used a prybar (aka wooden plank lol) and put it between two of the bolts that hold the strut to the frame of the car which kept the top hat from twisting. Eventually, it got loose enough that technique didnt work anymore but some small visegrips was enough to keep it from spining. I'll try to looking for a picture so you can see what im talking about

Could be a bad strut. I chased a clunk on mine - tightening and tightening the top nut until I finally swapped the strut and identified the culprit.

could the strut be bad even if it still absorbs bumps normally? I can push on the fender and it is just as stiff as the other side.

In my case, yes. The car seemed to drive and handle fine, but after going over some bumps, there would be a judder/clunk that bothered me. Finally replaced the strut w/a new one (both were Tokico D-specs) and the noise went away. When I inspected the bad strut, you could feel and hear the click/judder as the piston rebounded to the top of its range.

I just did a bud of mines SI and i had the same issue lol. What i did was let the spring hold the piston and then tighten til it spun. Then let the compressor out a little more til it got tight and repeated process. Used a crowbar for last tightening. Finally installed and did another tightening.

Also had to use the crowbar method to break the nut loose initially.

In my case, yes. The car seemed to drive and handle fine, but after going over some bumps, there would be a judder/clunk that bothered me. Finally replaced the strut w/a new one (both were Tokico D-specs) and the noise went away. When I inspected the bad strut, you could feel and hear the click/judder as the piston rebounded to the top of its range.

I use an offset 17mm wrench to turn the nut while holding the top of the shaft with a little tiny wrench (8mm maybe?)

it sucks to do with the strut installed because you can only get a tiny turn on it before resetting the wrench, not to mention that I had to buy an entire set of offset wrenches and that is likely the only use I will ever have for them.. I got mine at autozone for ~$20, so it wasnt that bad, but I hate crowding my toolbox with crap I dont use

if you can tighten it with the strut out of the car it is way easier, but I cant ever get the tophat lined up right if I do that