I am thinking that someone here must know a trick. I have trying for an hour and will probably end up taking it to a shop. That damned nut that holds the top cap on the strut. I am using that offset head box-end wrech for the nut and an open-end wrench to hold the piston still. The friggen' nut is so stuck that the wrench holding the piston slipped off and put a tiny round on the corner. I stopped after that to avoid totally stripping the piston. ... ... It just seems to me that the nut is sooo tight that it takes more torque to remove than I can apply to the piston with such a small surface to hold on to.

If anyone has advice, I would appreciate it.

 

Impact wrench. It turns with such speed, the nut is loosened before the piston rod has time to react. seriously, this thing (compressor/air tools in general) has made working on my car so much more enjoyable and has paid for itself immensely. Get yourself one!

A few blips of the impact wrench and the strut is free--no spring compressor needed. And when it comes to compressing the springs for the re-install, the impact wrench makes the task sooooo easy.

Alternatively, an open center socket set might work. The socket will give you plenty of grip and you can still hold onto the piston tip (hopefully). I believe I got my set at Harbor freight--trust me, it comes in handy plenty of times.

 

if you're doing it with hand tools, the trick is to loosen the bolt before you take the suspension off the car.
-GP-

 

use a breaker bar / socket combination. breaker bars are cheap, and mandatory in a toolbox.

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys!!!

I do actually have a big-a$$ breaker bar (which I love) but my issue is I can't get a good enough hold of the piston tip. I wish Nissan used the hex center keyway like everyone else... Also, I gave it a couple hits with my electric impact gun as my desparation grew and that just made the piston spin...

Thanks again, I do appreciate the suggestions . I think that I will bring the struts in to a pro to disassemble for me, I am so frustrated. Hopefully they don't strip the piston tip then I am truly hosed.

 

Before you have a pro loosen the nut, be aware that if you are having problems loosening the nut, you will for sure have problems tightening the nut. I think for the tightening, I used a gearwrench ratcheting wrench set. You can still grip the piston rod tip (use a small open ended wrench) and the ratcheting closed-ended wrench on a tilt still grips the nut enough without stripping. You may want to replace that nut if you already rounded it off some.

 

i used my electric impact gun on the top nut after i compressed the spring. spun right off.

 

deep box end wrenches are another choice.
They work well for me.

e.g. (only pic I could find)

 

Nice. I need to get me a set of those. Having the right tools is the key for any job.