I was installing some front springs today & had nothing but problems with rusted bolts and such but anywho here is where I am.

Long story short the top 3 bolts of the strut wont budge, 1 of them is also really close to being rounded so i was going to call it a day and leave the front suspension stock till later in the week but now I cant get this bolt to line up.



Any tricks to getting this to line up? It lines up on the other side & I can thread the bolt through to here and then it wont make it through the opposite side. Since I cant remove the strut I cant re-position it.

Thoughts?

This is my DD and I work tomorrow so any/all tips would be greatly appreciated, im way too hung over for this right now. Thanks!

 

i had to force it.. itrealized it's because i used a breaker bar and it was "bending" bushings due to the crazy angle...

I would really recommend you go buy a cheap electric impact wrench.. like $50 and $20 for a socket set..

trust me.. it'll make the job soooo much easier.. and it won't deform the bushings...

 

I have an impact, I can thread it no issue, the problem is getting the opposite side to line up so it will pass through for the nut.

 

If I try to use the jack to lift that the fork just goes lower. I tried to catch just the lip of the fork and lift that but it just slips off pretty easily.I just need that fork up 1/4" on that side, The other side is perfect and the bolt is all the way to this side of the fork.

 

Welp, I think im screwed for now.

I cant move the fork up because I cant get those 3 bolts out. 1 of them is rounded off. Only 1 side of the fork will line up, ive tinkered with it for way too long.

Ill need to get up early, buy one of these

http://www.sears.com/sk-174-12mm-dee...&blockType=G33

-removed the broken nut
-reposition the fork then it should go in easy peasy

Just blows that ill have to wait to get that nut off, After I get it off ill have to get a replacement from infinity. Running 2 out of 3 for <15 miles should be ok.

Looks like I wont be going in to work tomorrow. Lesson learned, remove the 3 bolts before messing with anything else or have another car available while working on your car on a day where most business have normal hours.

 

we've all been there..

so are you having this issue while putting everything back, or are you just starting?

just wondering, how the 3 bolts won't budge? isn't it like 40lb torque?

 

2 of them came off, the last one is rounded off. Every bolt removed was a PITA. Lots of wd40/pb blaster & air tools.

The top bolts I did by hand to avoid such issue but on the first turn it literally just rounded off like it was nothing. I was trying to put the front back to stock so I could drive the car but I cant adjust the fork position without getting those 3 top nuts off. Im just taking the day off tomorrow. Going to buy one of these to remove the damaged nut.

http://www.sears.com/sk-174-12mm-dee...3&AID=11042411

Then ill replace the front springs and finish the suspension while im at it. Sometimes its 1 step forward, 2 steps back but in the end it should be nice. I already love how the rear sits after installing those springs+spacers.

 

Use a punch and line it up once you have the first end in, next give it a light tap with a hammer and it should slide in quickly. Otherwise as others suggested use a jack and play around different parts of the li Kate I recall I had a similar issue but a jack did the trick

 

This^^

Use a punch or stout screwdriver, stick it through the side that doesn't line up and use force at different angles to get it to Then pull the punch/sd back through with the bolt following it slowly and that bastard should come through with no issues. Also as you have found you have to be careful with the top 3 nuts as they are super soft. I also stripped one of them and the extractor worked like a charm.

 

Well I got the rounded nut off but moving that fork forward towards the rotor so I can get the assembled out is being a royal PITA.

I removed the bottom fork bolt, the top 2 for the arm, the top 3 of the shock tower but I cant get the damn fork to budge towards me so it will drop down & out. I remove the nut for the endlink as well but did not remove this completely, Most of the articles I saw they only removed the nut.

Any easy ways to pop that fork loose so I can slide it towards myself and down & out? Of course all the articles make it look sooooo easy haha, nothing but issues with rusted bolts and **** that wont budge for me lol!

Edit: Im retarded..once that end link was removed it popped right out

 

Note: I used those nut extractor sockets by craftsman. It still took alot of effort to get it off but eventually it got loose. I had to hammer the socket down onto the nut so it will fit snug in order to catch & loosen.

Welp got my suspension done..finally. Wish it was a tad lower in the front but the rear is sitting pretty. Its almost too low in the rear, i have like a nails amount of space between the rear tires and fender. Hoping they dont rub when it settles.

I could always remove rear spacers if needed. While I got new tires on the rear today I check out the exhaust on there shop rack and damn...its rusted out...at the muffler its completely eaten and right behind the flex pipes its really, really closed to be gone from rust as well.....ill either look to replace the entire thing from header back or have my guy fab up a custom replacement but use the oem muffler. I suppose ill shop around this week and listen to exhaust clips. I just dont want this thing sounding like a civic, the stock sound is exotic and beautiful so keeping that style tone is a must.

Heres what a stripped nut looks like...finally got it off like 2 hours later...



Rear tires







This pic was before the front was done.



Ill clean her up tomorrow after work, replace the stripped bolt immediately & snap some better pics to reference. Ill also be looking into a camber kit to help save the tires but for now this will do.

 

joo know what joo dowin?? O.o

 

haha, it was a nightmare because all the damn rusted bolts, the rear took <30 minutes. The front...well the front was hell lol!