Rear shock nuts

[13726548]

Are there any tricks to prevent the shock tube from spinning when I'm tightening the top nuts?

I thought I could put a vice grip on the "hat" of the threads and turn the nut with a crescent wrench. But the vice isn't strong enough for that. Is there another way to do this?

 

[saintsfan]

I bought a special too that fit over the nut and then you could hold it with the wrench. I have an 08 Bullitt that sat on the lot, so maybe that had something to do with it being extremely hard to release.

the tool I bought was made by lisle, but it wound up snapping top of the rear shock off and getting lodged in the tool. We just used a vice and an impact.

Good luck.

 

[13726548]

Is this what you're talking about? I was just a mouse click away from buying this but I read reviews saying it only fits 15mm nuts or something.

How did you get the vice and impact to work?

 

[SherrodMustang]

Impact will do the trick?

 

[13726548]

Impact will do the trick?

It didn't do it for me. A traditional impact/socket will just spin the shock tube at whatever speed the impact is turning. A tool like the one in the picture I posted should work but they don't make any for a 5/8" nut.

 

[saintsfan]

Is this what you're talking about? I was just a mouse click away from buying this but I read reviews saying it only fits 15mm nuts or something.

How did you get the vice and impact to work?

Yeah, the one I had was like that, it had a few pieces and one of them fit over the top of the nut. But like I said, the top of the strut snapped off inside the socket, leaving it pretty much useless unless you can drill it out.

We actually clamped the strut itself from the bottom to get it from stopping spinning if I remember correctly. One guy was on the impact and the other (stronger guy ) was holding the strut until it broke free.

We also doused everything in penetrating oil. Maybe that'll help?

 

[SherrodMustang]

It didn't do it for me. A traditional impact/socket will just spin the shock tube at whatever speed the impact is turning. A tool like the one in the picture I posted should work but they don't make any for a 5/8" nut.

Interesting. I hit my with the impact and it spun right off, no problems.

 

[13726548]

Interesting. I hit my with the impact and it spun right off, no problems.

Well yes, I was able to get it off to remove the stock shocks. Now the Konis are on and I can't get the nuts to tighten. Do these aftermarket shocks require new hardware? I bought'em used and they didn't come with any extras.

 

[SherrodMustang]

Well yes, I was able to get it off to remove the stock shocks. Now the Konis are on and I can't get the nuts to tighten. Do these aftermarket shocks require new hardware? I bought'em used and they didn't come with any extras.

Cant speak for koni shocks. I know my QA1 came with all new hardware and rubber isolators.

 

[13726548]

Yeah, the one I had was like that, it had a few pieces and one of them fit over the top of the nut. But like I said, the top of the strut snapped off inside the socket, leaving it pretty much useless unless you can drill it out.

We actually clamped the strut itself from the bottom to get it from stopping spinning if I remember correctly. One guy was on the impact and the other (stronger guy ) was holding the strut until it broke free.

We also doused everything in penetrating oil. Maybe that'll help?

Which part of the bottom did you clamp? I didn't see any exposed part of the strut down there.

 

[Ampire]

I had a similar problem but slightly different problem on another car; the shaft was spinning when I tried to tighten the top nut. I wrapped ducttape around the shaft at the top where the bumpstop was and put a vicegrip on it, then tightened the nut down. You don't want any scratches on the strut's shaft or it will damage the seals when the strut compresses, but using ducttape and clamping it at the top will prevent most scratches.

 

[weather man]

Duct Tape...what can't it do!! LOL

 

[skwerl]

The Koni shocks have a different size/pitch thread than the stock Ford shocks. You cannot use the nuts from the stock shocks on the Konis. You must get nuts that match the threads.

 

[2kanchoo]

My koni's came with replacement nuts, bushings, washers. Also the top head of the strut (above where the threading starts) is somewhat squared off so vice grips were able to hold it more than enough for me to tq it down.