1) I am trying to swap my factory shocks for the Bilstein's I just bought. Dumping on the WD 40 on the top nut, but when I attack it with the 5/8 wrench it appears frozen, the whole screw turns. Any advice?

2) I put in a new alternator last Sunday, old one tested bad at Auto Zone. But today is the 3rd Sunday the battery has died. I had it tested at Walmart, they said it just needs a charge. The battery is about 2 yrs old and on the charger for the 3rd straight weekend. I am guessing to buy a new battery regardless of the Walmart battery tests results. Are these tests reliable??

 

cut the shock ( the shaft), you aren't going to reuse it are you? i have a couple of socket snap on makes to fit the little flat at the top, you might want to buy one, or use vise grips on the shaft.

 

Cut the shaft of the shock above the nut, then use a 1/2" (I think) Carbide bit to drill out the rest of it. Keep oiling it to keep the drill from burning.

 

Having the same prob with mine. If you wanted too, you could just buy a new/used strut tower bracket (is that what its called?) and throw the old strut/bracket in the trash...

Today, I'm going to soak mine with a really good penetrator to see if that will work. And yes, you've got to hold the top of the strut shaft with vice grips will you turn the larger bolt.

I had the passenger side completely pulled apart when I found that I could not get the driver side strut out. This was hours later. DAmn!!

Good luck.

 

First, make sure all the connections at the lat. and battery are clean and tight. Second I'd check for anything that could be draining the battery. (i.e: a switch left on, dome light, etc...)

If all that checks out, go buy an Optima battery.

 

Part 1 mission accomplished!!:hail: Thanks a lot!!! Once I dropped the rear end I thought about painting the springs. Thought about it.

Part 2 underway. Everything looked good, alternator tested out good (I hope so it is new) and the battery tested out good again. We'll see this Sunday.

Thanks again...see my signature for next project!

 

sig

 

Just to add a little help to the nut problem *s*. I'd have no clue how to drill that nut out....its a good piece of advice though if you've got tools. I'm going to pull the whole thing out with the bracket still attached to the strut and take it to a muffler shop and have them just use a heat gun to loosen it up or just cut that damn thing off.

I bought the car a few months ago anf son't know if the struts are stock or not, but the crappiest thing about them is the top of the strut shaft. The top is not hex shaped (as would make removing it easier); its just got to flat sides that strip really easy when you try to get a good grip and hold it .

Oh well...tuesday I'll try the muffler shop and let you know how it goes.