Mattedg_man

I am having some serious trouble getting my strut bar off. The 8 end plate bolts just wont come off. The attached picture is the position my adjustment nut was at when i started. The picture is taken looking towards my front bumper. The black dot is positioned facing my rear bumper. I have heard a lot of conflicting things regarding how to get this off but this is my situation. I return the nut to its "default" position after each attempt so i know where i am starting from. I put the markings on the two end jam nuts so i would be able to line everything back up when i get it off. Car is also on the ground while i am doing this.

I have tried:

PB blasting the hell out of the nuts

Relieving tension from the strut bar by turning the adjustment nut towards the FRONT bumper 1.7 turns and towards the REAR bumper 1 turn. Around this many turns i feel tension again (the nut never exactly spins free but is much easier to turn after about 3/4 of a turn towards the front bumper then gradually gets more resistive. Turns towards the rear i feel constant tension).

I have tried both ways as neither seems to work any better despite what i have heard.

I have also tried setting it in this "middle" position where i feel the least amount of tension turning the nut as I dont want to set the preload either way and strip something if i do get the nuts loose by having one side of the bar pop up. This makes sense in my mind but my not be the proper way of doing this. Basically i have thrown caution to the wind to try and get these damn things off as nothing seems to be working.

I have also tried looking at the FSM but I was unable to find the proper procedure on how to loosen this. Just to "remove the bolts with power tools"


I have used:

Ratchet

Torque wrench set to 50ft/lbs

3/8in impact driver

Will try a 1/2 inch driver this weekend.


End plate nuts are still stuck on. I am in the process of attempting to install some aftermarket springs and struts front and back as well as replace my knock sensor harness so i need to get this off. I am at a loss here and am debating taking it to a shop and having them use more powerful equipment but am nervous to do so as i dont want to strip the inserts and completely bone myself.


Has anyone experienced something similar or know the proper way of going about this? I have done a lot of research to try and figure out what the problem may be but keep hearing conflicting information. I am slowly feeling my sanity go fighting this for the past week or so.

MicVelo

You tried a breaker bar yet? Or if that doesn't work, a 4-5 foot pipe wrapped around the breaker bar for leverage.

This shouldn't be this difficult. I went outside and used a 1/2"x24" breaker bar and socket on one of the nuts (I only tried one as a test) and it broke free with no additional leverage needed. Then again, mine's been off before but I don't recall any issues the first time.

As an aside, I'm kinda curious, how do you set a torque wrench for loosening a nut? Do they work backwards? Hmmmm... Then again, I would never use a torque wrench to break a nut. (I come from the days of torque wrenches using a needle to measure torque and reversing it could bend it all out of shape. Laff...)

Oh, and next time, just add to your last thread on a same subject next time.

Mattedg_man

Yeah i really didnt think it would be difficult either. I really really doubt they have ever been loosened in the 18 years my cars been around so im just guessing they are seized like crazy. Not rusted though. As for torque wrench that was really just throwing something at a wall to see if it would stick. Longest piece of leverage i had on hand at the time so thought id at least give it a shot. Didnt expect it to really do anything. Wont be doing it again lol.

Friend is letting me borrow his 1/2 impact this weekend and I got a breaker bar the other day so we can give those a shot.

Didnt expect these to give me so much trouble!

jhc

Just covering the basics-
The torque setting for the inner 2 adjusters is probably about the same as a spark plug, say 15 ft lbs. Is it possible you're attempting to loosen it yet forcing it tighter? (We've all done it...)
The other less likely option is someone used Loctite on it previously which will require a small propane torch for heat. Gl!

edit -
Soak all available threads over night with Liquid Wrench (not WD40 or PB Blaster). If it's a rust or mechanical seizure this will help.