Trouble removing Strut bolts/nuts

As the title suggests, I'm changing out the struts and shocks on my '99 C4. I'm using Bilstein B8 sports with H&R lowering springs. The rears went very smoothly at about an hour and a half to two hours for the first one and around an hour for the second. The fronts are a little more complicated as I had to drop the coffin and control arms, the brake calipers etc., in addition to removing the axle nuts. While this was certainly more time consuming, it's all fairly straight forward. The struts are out. Now the problems: 1) I can't remove either of the top nuts so as to remove the top mounts. The Torx sockets at the top of the rods stripped out almost immediately...I'm thinking the only way is to drill the shaft/rod out of the nut. I'm certainly open to suggestions. 2) I can't get the through bolt out of the wheel carrier (the one that holds the strut in the wheel carrier) - these seem like they should come right out with a drift, but no luck. It seems like there may be very fine grit that's been packed in there over the years. My gut says just keep working on them and they'll loosen up eventually...I'm just wondering whether I'm missing something in this connection?...

Can you post some pics of the issue? Is there any tension on the parts you are trying to get out? Food for thought I have the front strut assemblies (including springs and perches) from my old '99 996 C4 sitting in the garage from when I added the X74. Worse case is mangle what you have to get it out and use mine.

1) impact wrench 2) pb baster/kroil and try to release tension betwwen the strut and the wheel carrier by lifting the latter a bit.

Hey Guys, thanks for the quick replies. No photo's at the moment, but I'm not sure they'd help even if I had them. As I explained, The struts are for all intents and purposes "out" of the car (the tie rod ends are still attached, but of course I can remove them if I think it'll help). I've tried an impact wrench (approx. 300 ft lbs), but the rod just spins. I've tried holding the rod with vice grips, pipe wrench etc... no luck. My next step is to just use a whistle grinder with a cutting wheel and cut the top nuts off. The problem is I don't want to damage the cup washer - I guess I'll just have to be really careful! The bolt that hold the strut to the wheel carrier is just a total mystery...I can't figure out why it's stuck in there...

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x2. Since you are replacing the struts, I also recommend getting some flat piece of scrap rubber, wrapping it around the piston shaft and putting a vise grip on to prevent it from turning. Impact gun is the best way to go. Even the electric plug in ones or a good quality 18+v cordless impacts would do in most cases. As for your through bolt, try wiggling the carrier while you take a mallet and pound it through. You can also relieve some tension if you have a spare jack by lifting it up some.

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I just put H&R CO's on mine this winter. If I understand this correctly, you're trying to remove the triangular strut mount from the old strut? First, I would have recommended replacing the strut mounts. They're rubbery and deteriorate. This also means you don't have to remove the old ones. I ended up using a box wrench on the single nut, while keeping a flat side of the mount pinned against the concrete, with a beefy allen key holding the center pin. Are you sure it's Torx? I'm pretty sure mine was Hex.... maybe that's why it stripped? You may have to try clamping a pair of vice grips onto the shaft of the shock absorber...

Ah Alpine ! The ^scrap rubber^ is a great idea, I'll definitely give it a try ! The strut rod is so hard and polished, the vice-grips didn't even scratch it...seriously slippery stuff! For those of you who've had that strut to wheel carrier bolt out, can you confirm that it's a plain shouldered flange bolt (M12 1.5 x 85) and that it's not threaded into the wheel carrier?

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Exactly, I had the same thing happen before and took me many hours of cursing before I came up with the idea. This has always worked for me in the past. You may want to get some of those rubber jar openers, the next time you're at a hardware or grocery store. They come in handy.

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Hmmm yeah judging by the new struts, it seems it is indeed a hex socket... I tried the Hex key socket on the strut rod as well (It's strange, the rear shocks use the simple two flat sides so you can put a wrench on the rod) - it stripped also - granted it was after the torx had already stripped out, but I really pounded it in with a hammer and it seemed tight enough to hold...no luck. The bottom line now is that I can no longer use that "socket" to hold the strut rod. I'm going to give Alpine's suggestion of "rubber" a shot...

Also, does anyone know where to get the hardware - specifically the M12 1.5 85 Strut to Wheel Carrier bolt(s) ?

Part #14 here? It's an M6 x 55 though http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p...section=402-01

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My experience with German / Japanese cars, is you're stuck with either the dealer or bulk distributors like Gregg or Acklands, or specialty shops. The fine threaded metric stuff is hard to find.

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No, that's the spring perch. I'm talking about the bolt that connects the strut to the wheel carrier. It's missing from the Auto Atlanta diagrams...

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Grainger, McMaster Carr, and believe it or not some Ace Hardware stores carries quite a bit of Metric specialty stuff as well.

I followed these instructions and did not have the problems you mention: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...nd_Springs.htm Is something different?

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Right. Never mind. I couldn't find it on autoatlanta or PET either.

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Ooops! They're not 85 mm long, they're only 70mm so I should be able to get them without too much trouble. That said, I still can't get the damn thing out... It turns, but won't back out

This "bolt"? http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...mall/pic02.jpg junk.jpg

This one! Wheel carrier to strut. As u can see, the nut is off, but I can't get the bolt out of the carrier. 😳

I suspect it's the rusted rectangular piece grabbing the threads in the middle of the bolt. Can you spray more pb or kroil into the hole and hammer the rectangular piece at different directions to loosen up all the rust a bit? May also try to pry around the crack between that piece and the aluminum carrier carefully.

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When I got to step/figure 6 I hit a snag😉

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Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing. I can't believe that that little piece of sheet metal could hold that bolt. I've beaten on it quite a bit with a heavy hammer and drift, it just won't budge. It's like it's threaded into its side of the carrier (like a threaded shoulder - I've seen suspension bolts like that on bmw's) 😨

Thread a nut on there, three or four threads, heat it red hot (the bolt) with a propane torch and then hammer it hard. It will come out, just stuck due to corrosion. Be careful you fully support the aluminum wheel carrier housing perhaps with a large socket directly under the bolt. You don't want it to crack.

+1 on your local ACE/True Value Hardware store.

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x2 I always reserve heat as last resort as it can alter the metallurgy and when you're dealing with grade 8 bolts, you may want to replace the bolts afterwards to be safe. If PB Blaster doesn't loosen it after a liberal soaking overnight and you don't have readily access to Kroil, try putting some ATF on it. This is the old school formula for loosening nuts and bolts before Kroil came along. Some say Kroil is based on an ATF derivative. Good luck and keep at it. If it makes you feel any better, it took me over a week to replace my rear suspension on my old Civic due to rust and many frozen bolts.

So, I got the first one out of the wheel carrier today - After 3 days soaking with PB's and beating the hell out of it with a drift and a big ball peen hammer!!! It came out - I guess it's just the steel bolt in the aluminum carrier...big pain, but everything is progressing now. Good thing I ordered new top-mounts (Tarrertt adjustable camber mono-ball) as mine were toast. I'll post some photo's later... As you can see, the top mount was shot! New strut, just waiting for camber plates to reinstall

Now that I've gotten one of the front struts out and am working on the other, next question... Upon pulling the wheel carrier off the end of the axle, I noticed a little play in the wheel bearings. There isn't a lot of play, but it is noticeable (maybe 1/16" ?). This wasn't noticeable with the wheels on, but once they were off and the hub was exposed it feels a little loose/wobbly. I figure that now's the time to replace them as I don't want take this all apart again. I've already ordered the bearings and they should arrive this week. My plan is to use a screw type bearing extractor as I don't have a press readily available. My question is this: Using the screw type bearing extractor, would it be easier if the wheel carrier was back in it's installed position in the car (mounted on the strut) or loose/on the bench? It seems to me that I should mount everything back up and then extract/install the new bearings - I just want to check with those who've done it.

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I have not had to replace bearings but if did I would prefer to do it while they are mounted on the car for better leverage.

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^That's^ what I'm thinking. I've got a large vise on the bench, but given the unusual shape of the carrier, I think having it mounted and held by the suspension components is probably the way to go. Thanks for the thought

I've been working on the second strut for three days now - Soaking with PB blaster and hammering with a drift. I've also used a bit of heat (heat gun) but I'm very hesitant to use too much on the aluminum casting... I can't even get this bolt to turn, whereas the other one turned, it just wouldn't back out... Man, what a pain in the ***! I'm thinking I may need to bring the whole carrier/strut assembly to a shop with a press and have them press it out...

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Have them extract the bearing at the same time. Perhaps take both carriers with you...just an idea.

Good thinking Joe !

I also had trouble removing the drop link bolt through the wheel carrier, so this and other info online has been helpful. I did end up putting some propane-powered heat on it at one point but I'm not sure I did it long enough to do anything. The strut itself would be wiggled left/right/up/down, so I know it wasn't the tab getting in the way of the bolt. I recently picked up my first bottle of Kroil, so I was very liberal with this. For a while I couldn't get the bolt itself to turn, so I ended up grinding off the joint on the back side leading to the drop link itself. This allowed me to get a 17mm socket on and turn it. It was helpful to turn the steering wheel left and right to get better access to hitting the bolt with a 3 or 4 lb hammer. (I did not undo the tie rod ends). I first starting working on this on Friday, sprayed a little more Kroil on Saturday, then worked on it Sunday night, so maybe the time aspect helped a bit. After having a better angle to hit the bolt, and confirming there was some movement turning in, I was able to get some slight movement in the axial direction. A little more Kroil and and more pounding got this moving and eventually out! This was a big win as I was worried what I would have to do to get this out! Note, this was on the driver's (left) side, I still need to get to the passenger side.