Rep Power: 0

Ok, last weekend i started my tein basic coilover install. Thanks to mex for his printable DIY it gave my cheap printer a workout but it was well worth it. I posted pictures of the project and i'm still currently working on it for many reasons. The fronts i got off with a torn tie rod boot as my only victim. pretty easy install, took about 3 slowly drank miller high lifes worth of time. then came the rears, i was all ready to go when i found that the 17mm bolt wasn't budging. No impact to use in sight. So i used my buddie's gf's run down Hyundai accent to run to the local hardware store and pick up a socket to fit the breaker bar i had. Soaked it in pb blast. then tried again. no luck. Hammered on it. no luck. put an extension on the socket, attached the breaker bar, came through the wheel well (for more leverage), attached a jack handle to the break bar, put everything i had into it. and it torqued the extension in half. No luck. So i gave up on the project until i could get an impact wrench. drove my car away, and found my steering wheel to be cocked to the right, while i was driving straight. I'll continue on that in a bit. Got an impact from a guy at work last night, and found my 17mm impact socket to be too long to fit that with the impact between the bolt head and the rear suspension link. I finally finaggled it in, impacted away, and the bolt still won't budge. I'm getting pretty frustrated at this point. My new options are, torching the bolt, and i'll buy one more non-deep well socket today to give it another try. So here are the questions i have. Any other ideas on how to get that rear bolt out? I have read that in order to replace the tie rod boot i'll need a special honda tool. anyone have any "alternative" tool ideas to use to replace that boot? what's up with the crooked steering wheel? i've read on here that it's an alignment issue and once i get it aligned it'll go away, but it seems to me that i'd need to lengthen one tie rod and shorten the other for it to straighten out. and lastly besides local shops, any nation wide places that do good alignments that you guys know of? Anyways, i'll take more pics of the final product when i finally get it done.

 
Rep Power: 305

the alignment will fix the crooked steering wheel problem. same thing happened to mine, except mine was crooked to the left. as far as getting your alignments somewhere, i got mine at sears, and i haven't had any problems at all. good luck getting that bolt out.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, best bet would be to take it to any shop for an alignment, especially after changing the entire suspension. You could get your steering wheel straight by adjusting the tie rods (which is part of an alignment), but without the proper equipment it won't be right and it will pull and/or wear your tires prematurely. Alignments are one thing you can't eyeball.. You've completely changed the suspension profile, so it needs to be done. Sears or any other large auto shop should have an alignment rack.

For the rear, PB blaster, a torch, a breaker bar or impact wrench are your best bets. It'll come off, its just mired on there (I win awards for being obvious..). When using a breaker bar, use steady pressure and there will less chance of something snapping. There's really no other way to do it.

 
Rep Power: 305

as for your rear bolt that wont budge... make sure you're trying to loosen the correct bolt. theres a bolt that people commonly mistaken for loosening, when in fact, it is welded onto the a-arm (i think thats the part). you have to go from behind.

sorry if thats confusing, but if you dont know what i'm saying than nevermind me!

 
Rep Power: 0

^^ That is the truth man, but its kinda obvious when your down there. My instal on my coils went very smooth, but now they kinda make a creaking noise when i trun the wheel hard, IDK I havent had time to jack it up yet, so hopefully its not doing damage...

 
Rep Power: 0

When I did my eibach sportlines I had the same problem with the rear lower shock mounting bolt. I ended up using a Sawzall to cut the bolt. took 2 minutes. I kinda nicked the lower shock mount so I just ordered new rear shocks from honda. Would it happen to be the left rear lower bolt?

 
Rep Power: 0

Ok, here's an update, i got the passenger side rear off at work with a torch, and using an impact, tightening, then loosening, and over and over again until it finally had enough momentum to loosen. the other side, now THIS is going to be a problem, i tried the same thing, and it's stripped, either the bolt or the welded on nut. it just turns in place, doesn't go in, doesn't go out. So, i was going to torch the welded on nut off, try and easy-out the remaining bolt. and weld another bolt on. How's that for an operation, just to put some F#$%'n coilovers on.

 
Rep Power: 0

Is gettin hot in here ~!! we can all see that u have been workin very hard this coilover, is all about using the right tool maan. if it continuously giving u trubles, y dont u just take it to the shop

 
Rep Power: 0

Shops are for suckas. Keep at it man!

 
Rep Power: 336

good luck with your rear install...it was biatch for me too...i worked alone on my car...rear took 3 hours each...

damn nut stripped for me too...had to use hammer to get nut out...i will try to find the nut for pics if i can find it

 
Rep Power: 0

i had a lil trouble with my rears too but the thing is that i had a friend help me out with the rear. as far as u not being able to take the nut out... wut i did was i stepped on top of the wheel and applied pressure to push it down far enough to where my buddy was able to pull out the nut. same thing applies when ur putting it back in. the one that ur supposed to torque is if ur looking at ur rears its the bolt thats facing the rear of the car. i don't know if that's wut ur talking about. maybe some pics of where ur at would help to clarify things up a lil?

 
Rep Power: 256

hey do u still have that long diy install sheet?

 
Rep Power: 388

Hook your socket and wrench up, no breaker bar, and tap the end with a hammer. Its something about brute force that has broken many of my sockets (craftsman) due to stuborn bolts, and then I tap the back with a hammer instead of pulling my brains out, and it comes off every time.

 
Rep Power: 257

Triz is right. Tapping with a hammer works very well. It's too bad you've stripped the nut. I hate it when that happens, it just escalate your problems to another level. It's gonna be a bitch putting the coilovers in too, just not enough room to work with. Well good luck bro.

 
Rep Power: 277

When I brought my car in to have the suspension changed they told me I might get charged an extra $120 for labour if any of the rear bolts are seized and they won't know until I get it in there. I thought he was trying to rip me off so I did the install myself. Now I know he wasn't lying. It can happen I guess.

As for an easier way of getting the tie rod out without ripping the boot, don't even touch the boot. Take out the cotter pin and turn the nut so it's hanging off the end of the tie rod bolt. Then beat upwards on the nut with a hammer until it comes free. Then put the nut all the way back on and take it all the way off to straighten out the threads again. Worked fine for me.