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My strut stated to leak really badly after changing out my brakes. Must be the lifting the wheel off the ground that did it, who knows.
I am breaking it up into 2 days. Today I sprayed all 3 nuts with PB Blaster, and took the fender liner off to expose the filter. The original, factory installed filter appears backwards. And I am planning to install the replacement the same way too.
Tomorrow will be the 265Nm nut day. I am ready with an impact and a borrowed torque multiplier, if it comes to that.
The strut is leaking, so you're replacing the intake filter on the air pump? I wasn't even aware there is a filter. I assumed it was integral to the pump or something.
Strut replacement is easy. No need for PB Blaster. Maybe if you have rust, I dunno.
Just remember to tie up (compress) the strut before you put it in. Many threads here on strut replacement.
You did get Arnott struts, right? Consensus opinion here is they're the only game in town.
Last edited by eric_in_sd; Sep 20, 2019 at 12:14 AM.
Well, since you already bought them ... but even so, if I were you, I'd pay the restock charge and buy Arnotts instead.
Why are you messing around with the air filter? Why did you take off the fender liner to change the strut?
The filter - someone suggested I change it as a maintenance item.
But bad news on the rest of the work. I could not budge the first nut I tried - the sway bar link nut. I went over to Home Depot and grabbed the biggest impact they had - a Milwaukee rated for 1400ft/lb. Still nothing. I must have been doing something wrong. I checked that the bolt wasn't rotating, it wasn't. Compressor set at 88psi.
Due to lack of time - I drove the car to my indy in desperation and left the car there. They told me they will probably not use my parts as it screws with the "ticket profitability". So I suppose I'll be restocking those struts after all. Instead, this shop buys remanufactured MB struts. I don't know what's worse. But these cost $700 each last I talked to them.
Milwaukee... yeah, you must have been doing something wrong - like maybe you had it in reverse? Or, maybe your compressor isn't putting out like it should - maybe once you're on the gun, the pressure is dropping. Could've certainly cranked the pressure higher, too. Or the compressor doesn't have enough CFM to support the gun - especially if it is just a small, pancake style. Either way, hand tools work just fine - if anything, just put a pipe over the handle for some exra leverage.
Man, I'd shop around. Getting that lifetime warranty on Arnott's (and half the price!) is well worth some shopping time.
Ah! The battery powered one! But... if you used a battery powered gun, what did you set to 88 psi? I'm confused. But, yes, a little 2gallon guy may not be able to provide enough flow.
But, back to the battery powered gun... that is most likely 1,400 INCH pounds, not FOOT pounds. It's still plenty powerful, but depending on the 1/4" adapter you used, that could rob some of the power. Also, I believe that the larger the socket you use, the less power you effectively transfer to the nut... although I'm not 100% sure on that one.
I was wondering about that 1,400 ft/lbs - that would have been an AWFUL big gun - probably at least a 3/4" gun, if not larger. And it wouldn't be something that someone would buy on a whim... let alone would HD likely even carry it in their stores.
But bad news on the rest of the work. I could not budge the first nut I tried - the sway bar link nut. I went over to Home Depot and grabbed the biggest impact they had - a Milwaukee rated for 1400ft/lb. Still nothing. I must have been doing something wrong. I checked that the bolt wasn't rotating, it wasn't. Compressor set at 88psi.
.
If they are OEM: The sway bar link ball joint shafts that the nuts thread onto have a torx or insex head at the bitter end...to keep the joint from rotating as you try to torque down or loosen the nut. Use a pick and dig around a little to remove the dirt that's usually caked in there.
Apply some blaster, hold the bolt with the torx bit and the nut should come right off with a regular old box wrench. Don't remember the numbers but the studio space is yours to explore.
I used this heat gun along with ice cold water to give that nut few temperature shocks. And it was very easy. I don't use penetrating oils as I know they don't really "penetrate".
Interesting. I have something like this for heatshrinking. I’ll have to check the temperature listed on the box.
This bolt didn’t even look rusted, it had a galvanized tinge to it. which is even more embarrassing that I failed to take it off.
I watched a few YT videos on using an impact wrench. Is it true that sometimes you need to stay on a nut for a while, hammering? 20–30 seconds? I used one of those spherical ball ujoint and a 4” extension to get access to the nut. The 21mm socket had a little bit of play around the nut. Why does that happen? It’s a metric system that’s supposed to be perfectly precise.
One note on using heat... to do this correctly, you need to heat up the nut cherry red - which ain't gonna happen with no heat gun! You need to a torch to do this right. You need to heat it up quickly so it expands - heating slowly will also heat up the screw stud, as well. Besides, IF it was possible to heat it up enough to cherry red, I would imagine it would take at least 3 beers to do so. If a heat gun did the trick, the nut would have come off with a little more power, as well. But it certainly can't hurt, either.
While penetrating fluid doesn't 'always' work, it can work and work quite well. PB Blaster is my favorite, as well.
Every "joint" that you add to an impact wrench robs power. Yes, sometimes you need to stay on it for more than just a second or two.
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You need to a torch to do this right. You need to heat it up quickly so it expands - heating slowly will also heat up the screw stud, as well. Besides, IF it was possible to heat it up enough to cherry red, I would imagine it would take at least 3 beers to do so. If a heat gun did the trick, the nut would have come off with a little more power, as well. But it certainly can't hurt, either.
