I tried to replace my factory struts earlier this week but was not able to complete the task because the bolt that holds the brakes to the strut will not come off. After looking in Haynes manual and the GM service manual, I noticed that they are torqued down to 190ft/lbs. Mine are also the original struts that came with the car so there is a good amount of roadgrime and rust that has accumulated on the bolt itself.

What kind of tools should I be using to remove this bolt, and what size is the bolt itself? My friend says the only way I am going to be able to remove it is to use an air compressor, which I don't have. I was thinking about using some penetrating oil to help loosen it up, but I don't know if that is such a good idea when dealing with critical suspension parts.

 

Penetrating oil is fine. You could rent an air compressor and impact wrench fairly reasonably, or maybe an electric one. Barring that, an impact socket on a long sturdy breaker bar and BFH would be good. Applying some heat with a propane torch can make it easier to break things loose too.

 

get some pb plaster and soak it, let it sit overnight. like Apeiron said get a good breaker bar, and not that i like to promote "ghetto" methods, but i have slipped a piece of thick wall tubing over the bar to get more leverage, just be careful to not let it slip

 

Using a piece of tubing for leverage is perfectly acceptable. An example of a questionable practice would be putting a jack under the handle.

 

Anyone know the size of the bolt? I was using an adjustable open end wrench to try to remove it because none of my sockets or wrenches fit (even bigger than my 1/2" O2 wrench which is pretty beefy).

Thanks again for the help.

 

Everything on the body is Metric.

 

Thats a good idea!

Those front strut bolts are almost impossible to remove without a breaker bar or a piece of pipe on the end of your ratchet.

 

I remember doing that on mine also, I busted a rachet in like 5 peices, the pipe i stuck on the end of it was a little too long

 

Sorry, I used an impact gun on mine. I belive I didnt have a big enough metric socket and used a tight fitting american one.

IMO, a wrench will not "cut it" on this job.

PB blaster is good idea.
Propane on it is good idea (stay way from brake hose!).

But not both in combo. PB likes to catch fire

 

Especially not an adjustable one.

 

I just went through the same issues. I had no air tools - or even electric tools - available when I did mine, so I had to get creative. I snapped the heads out of 2 cheap breaker bars on it before figuring it out.

I ended up using a Craftsman 18" 1/2 drive breaker bar and a 15/16 socket. I got the nuts off without too much trouble, but the bolts were rusted in solid - so once the nuts were off, I fit the 15/16 socket on the bolt heads, and jumped up and down on the breaker bar . After much cursing and jumping, they finally cracked loose. DO NOT use your adjustable wrench on those, you'll never get them out - and probably round the nuts/bolts off in the process. I started out using an adjustable on mine, and quickly abandoned it because it kept slipping off and rounding off the fasteners.

I'm not very heavy (130 lbs) and I got them out with hand tools - and my car had the factory original struts with 140k miles on them and 18 years of Michigan rust holding the bolts in. With a longer breaker and a bit more weight, those bolts would have been easier to pull out - but I managed with what I had.

Once I figured out the best way to apply the leverage, the hardest part was balancing on the breaker bar while I was jumping up and down on it.

 

I’ve actually put a wrench on it and hit it with the biggest hammer I could find…. A jack will work OK if you can get things positioned correctly, but I bet that you’ll find that you will be able to one side like that and not the other.

A shop jack handle (about 4’) on a breaker bar will help, or look for one of those hammer driven impact dirvers…

Honestly, the last time I had to do a set of pinch bolts without air tools I found that I was able to do it with just an 18” breaker bar, but of course, I’m around 300lb and spend a bit of time in the gym…