Help with Strut brace-nut wont budge

[PDACPA]

One of the 4 nuts that needs to be removed (8mm allen wrench) will not budge!

Used wd40 and some lubricant and no luck. I scraped and scored under it to get the black stuff off.

Any ideas what to do? It seems a bit stripped inside.

Thanks

[rcecale]

If it is stripped out, you may end up having to take a Screw Extractor to it. Here's a link, just in case....
http://www.bluepoof.com/motorcycles/howto/screw_extractor/

Randy

[Joeaksa]

Take a breaker bar and try to tighten it just a little to break it free, then loosen it. If needed put a piece of pipe on the breaker bar. You might also try tapping directly down on the allen screw with a hammer and bar to break the grip inside.

If you can find one of the old "hammer type" impact wrenches I would try that to see if it can loosen it up then use the breaker bar.

If this does not loosen it, or if the allen socket gets stripped out, then you may have to cut/grind the head off and then drill out the remains after you get the part out of the car. Its difficult to get oil or heat in to this part as its so close to the fender and you do not want to "bubble" the paint.

I removed all of the hardware on mine and then scraped the old tar off of the mount. Then used steel wool and cleaned it up nicely. Where the black tar was I then painted with flat black and it turned out looking a lot better than before.

Joe

[sammyg2]

WD-40 is the Yugo of penetrating oils. Try a real penetrant, my favorite is called Kroil. It works at least 10 times better than WD-40 in my opinion. There are other products out there that work good, Liquid wrench makes one.
Soak the bolt well, wait 10 minutes, and rap on the top of it several times witrh a hammer. Not hard enough to deform the head, just hard enough to set up shock waves through it. Re-soak, repeat. You may have to do this many times over a few days, but eventually it will come loose.
If you break it or strip it you will be very upset.

[Joeaksa]

Sam,

Wish more people would do their homework like you did! WD-40 is a "water displacement" agent and a very poor lubricant!

You want an oil, get oil. The WD-40 people portray this stuff as doing everything from curing gout to making hair grow, just to sell the product. Really is a dis-service to people who need something that is a real lubricant or penetrant oil.

Thanks for the tip! Have not used Kroil but will look for it next time I am in a good store.

Joe

[89911]

Dump the allen keys if your using them and use some allen socket bits with a breaker bar.

[JohnnieA]

I had the same problem. It looked hopeless at first. I used liquid wrench & a set of vice grips on the outside of the nut. Took a lot of muscle, but it came off.

[PDACPA]

I just picked up what Lowes had as their best unfreeze for a nut (it might be Liquid Wrench, they did not have the stuff someone posted about earlier in the post) and I found an 8mm socket.

I will give it a shot tonight and keep the vice grip idea in mind too.

Ticked me off that 3 came off with no problem.

[pegasus9]

Don't know if this will help.

But I purchased a gator grip socket wrench that works well on stripped nuts. Worked on a few of my 'nut' problems. Got mine at Home Depot for like $10. Good luck.

[PDACPA]

Lowes sold some 8mm sockets and with all my weight it came loose (after a few squirts of liquid wrench).

What a pain and now the nut is stuck in the socket!

[911pcars]

Sudden impact works well in this application. Obtain a hand impact tool. Harbor Freight carries them as does Snap On. This tool holds the hex socket in place. You then twist the hand to preload it, then pound it with a large hammer (dead blow type preferably). The hammer blow keeps the tool bit inside the hex as well as imparts a high sudden torque to the fastener. Apply some Kroil first, then try it. If this doesn't work, get a bigger hammer, then try the other methods.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars