Oppo, pray for me.
-
I’ve been trying to swap the front struts on my Xterra this evening. I was already blessed by cooler weather (108F) and a bit of rain. I got the bottom bolts loosened, but the top nuts are pretty rusted, and were coming apart in my sockets. I’m probably going to have to muscle these off with vice grips, as it seems the PO already had a go at them. I hit them with a healthy amount of oil and heat, but am gonna let them soak overnight and try again in the morning. Send me your cargod vibes so I can get my roadtrip started. We’re supposed to camp in Death Valley tomorrow night, then get a hotel in Reno the following night before heading into the forest.
Edit: I’m not picky about who said prayers are sent to on my behalf.
-
@DipodomysDeserti Prayers sent, good luck!
-
@DipodomysDeserti manual labour? You’re in my thoughts
Curator
1986 Dodge D100 & 2021 Jeep Wrangler Willys -
@CarsOfFortLangley Thankfully the clutch is solid, because I don’t have it in me to do manual manual labor under the godforsaken summer sun in my driveway.
-
@DipodomysDeserti Good luck!
-
@DipodomysDeserti if you have another sacrificial nut put it on the bolt and give it a good couple walks. Helps release seized threads. Same tip works well on stuck drain bolts as it allegedly slightly deforms the crush washer enough.
-
@DipodomysDeserti said in Oppo, pray for me.:
Send me your cargod vibes
I never though of the Vibe as a god, but here you go anyway.
-
@DipodomysDeserti
108 and rain? That sounds like hella swaas.Regarding prayers, I’ll remind you that based on Taoist beliefs, doing nothing is also a perfectly cromulant path to take.
-
@DipodomysDeserti praise be to Nissan. Blessed be VQ. Amen.
-
@DipodomysDeserti
May the Hammer of Huey and the Vicegrips of Uppu bless you in your endeavours and keep you from contusions...Since I'm not far off starting a tractor teardown to replace the diesel injectors...I may be looking for similar prayers.
-
@DipodomysDeserti if there’s clearance to get vice grips on, I imagine a angle grinder will too. If they’re that bad just cut them out. Alternatively, nut breaker
-
@DipodomysDeserti
May Lord UppU’s claws be the powerful ratchets that loosen all your bolts. May his divine carapace shield you from flying shards and debris. And, may the sight of his eyestalks guide you through the Valley of Death to the blessed shores of his grace.Curator, Kia enthusiast, dad joke specialist
-
@ClassicDatsunDebate Yeah, it caught me off guard. It was a light sprinkle, so it cooled everything off nicely.
-
@Albino-Kangaroo Good idea. I’ll give it a go.
-
@Qaaaaa The upper control arm sits in front and won’t let me get my angle grinder in there. They might be rusted enough to cut through with a little handsaw if all else fails. Or I can go out and get a small dremel. If I can’t get the nuts off in the first hour tomorrow I will just cut them.
-
@DipodomysDeserti Ever used a nut breaker?
Helped me out on seized nuts many times. Put it on, send it with an impact til something breaks. Generally it’s nut -
@Chariotoflove Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no rust: for thou art with me; thy PB Blaster and thy vice grips, they comfort me.
-
@Qaaaaa I have not, but that looks like a good solution. I live in an oven and am uninitiated in the dark arts of rust exorcisms.
-
-
@Qaaaaa Tried one of these out this morning. It cut through the nut but also molded it to the bolt a bit. Tried to chisel the rest of the bolt off, but no dice. Wife is picking up some metal cutting blades for the sawzall. With a long enough blade I can reach the back bolts.
-
@DipodomysDeserti tough go. That can happen if the bolt has gotten real soft of you just absolutely send it on there. I’ve done both.
-
@DipodomysDeserti I am assuming that you are talking about the three strut mount bolt/nuts similar to those shown below. If so, I would suggest that if you are changing struts, you should also change to new strut mounts. They are cheap enough and if you don't the bushings will fail and sooner or later they will get noisy.
So if you are replacing the mounts, you ought to just hack the nuts off and be done with them.
The perfect perfect a tool for cutting those nuts off is a Dremel with a Dremel cuttoff wheel. Its small and can cut almost anything. I use mine about 4 or 5 times a year.
-
@RacinBob @Qaaaaa Yep, that’s it. I bought the whole preloaded unit as the springs were all rusty as well. The UCA sits over one of the rear bolts and there’s a bracket for the wheel speed sensor sitting over the other rear one. Didn’t look like I’d be able to get a dremel tool in there, so I got a 9” metal blade for my sawzall which I was able to reach in and cut the nuts off. I couldn’t get low enough to cut off the flanges, but was able to pop them off by wedging a big screwdriver in between the strut mount and the bracket and levering down on the strut. I have one strut out and two more bolts to go on the other one. New strut went in easy peasy.
Now I just have to finish the last two bolts, put everything back together, load the truck, and drive 7.5 hrs before camping.
