FFjwhite

Ok I am taking my rear struts out of my 1998 Chevy Lumina and I need to replace the Strut Mount. Now I have the strut and spring out now. I have a coil compressor and I am trying to take the strut mount bolt that is on top. But all it does is keep spinning. Is there some other way to get it off?

john51md

you are refering to the nut on top of the strut rod i think? does it have a hex on end of rod? or a hole that a hex key fits into? If so you use a box end wrench on nut and small wrench or hex key on rod.
If none of the above, try good vice grips on the shaft in between spring coils to get it loose.
But.. those shafts (rods) are very hard, sometimes vice grips will just spin on the shaft. If you are replacing struts with new ones, you can do this if you have access to a welder, find a place on the strut rod you can run a short bead of weld on each side, clamp vice grips, or a pipe wrench over weld bead, gives them something to bite into.
Other than that, maybe someway file or grind a flat on rod to use vice grips or pipe wrench on.

Blue Bowtie

There IS no such thing. Vise-Grips are "good" only as welding clamps, not as pliers. If you want to really hold something, their jaws are generally too soft, and leverage is not optimal. Try Chan-Nel-Lock 410 or 414 self-gripping pliers, or Knipex pliers, as either of those have jaws which are a lot harder and will almost always bite better, but none of them may be hard enough to hold a strut or shock absorber piston rod.

An impact wrench is also very useful for removing strut nuts.

The welding suggestion is also useful if the high offset box wrench and Allen wrench don't work out.

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john51md

Soorry to differ........ i have held many a strut rod with "good Vice Grips" and i also had a lot not hold, all depends on how tight that nut is. And "good" refers to Vice Grip brand instead of the type the dollar store sells. I didnt say they were a cure all, i said try'em, or pipe wrench, or weld a bead and use grips/pipe wrench, or.......... do it with the proper tools. All suggestions to a fix for a problem is all..

northwichita

I saved some money taking the strut off the car, but let a mechanic change the actual struts for 50 bucks. His wife incidently then charged my 60 when I picked them up, but I didn't care, those stuts can be nasty to work with.