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PICS ON PAGE 5

[rant]
ok so yeah, im attempting to lower my car. front driverside strut wont go together right, after about 5 hours of ****in with it it finally goes on right, the front pass side, bolts are almost seized on, after like 40 minutes we break the bolt and everything is good. now that ended day one cause we ran out of light. day 2. me and adam(RHCP) start again get the rear pass off first, no problem take it apart get the springs on, wow this is gunna be a good day. nope cant seem to get the strut back in the car so im thinking maybe i didnt index right, let me take off the other side to compair. nope thats not happening either, bottom bolt on the strut wont budge. lets see i added a 1.5 foot breaker bar to, TONS of WD40, i tried hitting it with a hammer, that didnt work, i even put a box wrench on it, then put my jack on the wrench and tried to use the force of the jack to break the nut loose. nope that didnt work either, it just lifted my car off the jack stands. so i gave up for the day. IF YOU LIVE IN A SALTY AREA (LONG ISLAND) GO GET THEM DONE. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!!!
[/rant]

 
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an impact wrench and the right tools will get the job done nicely

 
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i put on full coilovers using a tie rod seperator, a 18" breaker bar, and sockets after 3 years of driving through upstate NY winters. Also, I used PB BLaster instead of Waste Dollars - 40.... good luck tomorrow meng!

 
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hahaha i just laughed my *** off reading your post but holy **** that was the biggest pain in the *** pissed off job ive ever done, ive never seen a bolt get stuck like that before. I pray to god mine wont be as hard to get off, if you dont get it done tonight or tomorrow ill stop by lol

 
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Yeah, I did that too, cept it actually worked for me...But my biggest suggestion is that you get some copper-based antiseize. It's good enough for these parts, because they're not going to be getting hot enough to warrant buying nickel based anti-seize.

 
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also, if the bolt wont come off no matter what you do, you can get a torch and heat the nut until its red hot and becuase it will expand it should break the rust and come off.... but if anti-sieze works then use it cuz then you wont burn yourself or your car.....

 
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hmm. well i went throught the same thing. breaker bar helped. good luck again my friend. post pics.

 
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bwuahahahha my sympathy for you bitch

good luck trying to pit yourself into depression with that DIY... bwuahahahaha.

 
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For the rear, there is alot of tension between the strut an rear suspension. I sandwiched my scissor jack btwn 2 pieces of wood and the top of the brake drum and the inner fenderwell to create some clearance when installing the lower bolt. The DIY says u can have someone stand on the brake drum to push it down.

 
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everyone been tellin me about the torch, i got no cash for a torch... a can of anti-seize i can prolly afford. (jobless at the moment) im gunna go work on her now.

 
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i wouldn't torch it you might ruin the bushing. i did what sitting dunk did with the scissor jack it helps get stress of the bolt. since you had some wd-40 sitting on there over night get a breaker bar and try again

 
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Good luck with your install...dang...Mine were like that too...hell...I did struts by myself....

 
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click my sig for my drop dude. i went through the SAME ****. i had my friend step on the rear control arm so i could fit the bolt back on after i was done. AND i used snow gloves on my hands when i pulled with the ratchet/breaker bar. the trick is to use the HEX KEY into the hole, then twist it so its against the chasis, then use a wrench to pull/push with the gloves and breaker bar.

 
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the problem is that we dont have enough room to get leverage on the breaker bar

 
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If you can get the car jacked up high enough, you can put the breaker bar onto the bolt, and then get a long hollow steel pipe, and slip it over the end of the breaker bar. I had to do that when trying to take off the top bolt of the rear control arm...I was going to do it while doing the spring install, but my jack sucked

 
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there is room. its the "secret compartment" thing. the rear of the car should be jacked up. the trunk should be open, you should be in the trunk with the breaker bar on the wrench. i mean there is a little space there for movement, all you need is that little bit. angle it right. good luck

 
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I also used a torch for one of the back bolts, the other one I was able to get off after hours of struggling. Definately the worst parting about installing suspension parts.

 
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i think you are talking about a differnt bolt majin, heres a pic of the one we cant get off, its the rear driver side one

 
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the passenger side was easier to get off because you were able to puch down on the breaker bar, this side you have to push up and its hard to get leverage with only jack stands

 
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ok, have someone push down on the control arm while the other person uses the breaker bar. that bold was like the easiest through the whole DIY for me. i hope your not doing the nut, cause it says not to in the DIY. people will laugh- remember? lol

 
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Oh, I remember, On that side,I put it on the bolt going through the wheel well...If you look at it, you can stick it through the wheel well to get leverage, Notice the position of this ratchet



You should be able to do the same with the driver's side

 
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yea we are doing the bolt not the nut, i dont know if anyone is helping him out now because i am work but if hes still stuck im gonna stop by later and tell him what you guys said but honder what do you mean through the wheel well??that seems impossible to do on the driver side because you have to turn the ratchet towards the passenger side and up and its really hard to get leverage

 
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I did mine with a normal ratchet and a long pipe, as I mentioned...

Did I tell you that on the passenger's side, I broke two ratchets trying to get the bottom bolt loose? I feel your guys's pain...And let me go take my wheel off really quick and snap some pics of what I'm talkin's about

 
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we messed up the 17mm or whatever socket, luckily he had another one. thanks a lot for the picture man

 
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impact wrench borrowed from the auto parts store FTW.

 
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yeah i accually messed up both 17mm sockets, 1 socket wrench and used half a tank of fuel for the torch i just bought and the thing still isnt working... now im bringing it to shop to have it done for 25 bucks. they are gunna install the spring for me on that side. its gunna suck when i do it all over again in a few months to change out my struts.

 
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This is what I was talking about...Get a 6 inch extension, and it'll look like this:




Then you can put a hollow steel pipe over the end of the ratchet like so:




And it will stick out from the car like this. Since this is the driver's side it will need to be pushed down, so this should generate enough leverage to break the son of a bitch off

 
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25 bucks isnt bad, still wanna do mine??? hahaha im gonna be getting the neuspeed sports and the tokico blues, ordereing them friday. Ill go out there sometime this week to see how it looks

 
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i think that pipe would bend his bolt is on so tight, if the cars weight doesnt release it i dont think that would

 
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Never know till ya try...I broke two ratchets on this very bolt until I did this. I didn't have access to a large enough air compressor for an impact wrench to be a viable option.