Hi All,

So here I am, trying to remove the rear struts. I'm doing all custom suspension for all the added battery weight in my EV conversion. So I have nice Monroe struts and custom springs. Things went fairly smoothly in the front (other than a cross-threaded strut resulting in a trip to the machine shop), and that's all done. Now I'm moving on to the rear, and I'm looking at the top nut. I try to loosen it, as instructed by the manual, but turning it only turns the entire shock absorber rod! I've tried to clamp it with a vice grip, but nothing keeps it from moving. I don't understand. Am I doing something wrong? Did someone else do something wrong before me that's now coming back to haunt me? Ideas please!

 

you need an impact wrench.....thats the only way

 

Yep, an air gun will zip it right off. You must also install the new shocks to the OEM mount this way. Otherwise, there will be play in the mount and it will "clunk".

Out of curiosity, why did you choose Monroe? Their pretty cheap from what I have heard. Not knocking your part selection, but just haven't heard much on the performance side of that brand name.

On that note, are you using lower springs? Are those shocks an OEM replacement?.... If so, you may run into rubbing issues & premature wear.

 

Impact wrench worked on one strut, but not the other...not the one that was the real troublemaker to start with. But I did it. I used my metal-drilling bits to cut off a chunk of that crazy nut and pried it off with a hammer and flat head screwdriver. Primitive, but effective (and fun).

As for Monroe, they were one of the brands used by a couple of the custom suspension places I spoke with, and they had a good rebate offer at the time.