That stupid nut holding the top of the strut on, will not come off, at all. No matter how much WD40 or torque. Plus teh vice grips that I am using to hold it, can't hold it at all. The top peice is already stripped to hell. No matter how tight I have the vice grips on there, it just won't hold with the amount of torque I need to break that thing free.

ARGH.. Spent way too much time on these, the rear shocks were a breeze.

 

I had the same problem.Even with the proper Wrench to hold the shaft,it still rounded off the shaft.I ended up drilling several small holes starting at the top of the nut and working down to the flange at the base.The steel is really soft and easy to drill.Then all I had to do was split the nut with a cold chisel.You could drill both sides if you dont have a chisel and spread it with a screw driver.Just drill the holes really close together.Also cover the strut mount area to keep the chips from drilling out of the Bearing.

 

To get my strut off on the drivers side, (lower bolt) we took a torch to it. Passenger side came out easy.

After that the other three remaining kindly let loose after that threat was carried out lol

 

Impact wrench, Impact wrench, Impact wrench. The top nuts come off in all but 5 to 10 seconds. If you dont have air tools they are relatively cheap to rent and make things go incredibly easier and faster when working on the front struts.

 

Even with the gun it still refused to come off, that's why we opted for the torch to get it off.

 

When I did mine, me and my dad used a grinder with a cutoff wheel.

 

I ended up dremeling the nuts off. This project took me WAY longer to than the amount of time it should have taken. It litterally took me ALL day workin on these things. Running for parts, etc.

Oh well.. I know exactly how to do them now. I at least feel good about that.

 

Oh, and I failed to mention. I have had vibration in my car for 3 years now. I thought I had done everything possible to fix it.

THE VIBRATION IS NOW GONE.

Apparently my upper strut mounts are shot to hell. At least the driver side one is. The bushing inside of them is crumbling pretty bad. I didn't replace the strut mounts because I don't have the money. Anyway, with the upper strut mount coupled with the weak struts, they vibrated. At high speeds it felt like the car was shaking loose. Now the car is MUCH smoother at high speeds, the faster I go, the smoother it gets. I am sure all of the vibration would be gone at all speeds with the strut mount replaced.