Alrite... heres the deal.. i took my whole shock/spring assembly out of my 4th gen lude today.. about to do some spring upgrades. the thing is i cant take the cap off the top of the shock off. am i suppose to break those 2 bolts apart? and what kinda if tool is thin enough to do it. i went to autozone, lappens, ace hardware, and home depot. no luck. any suggestions on how to take the cap off the top?

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each bolt is like 2 quaters stacked thick. and the open wrenchs are too thick to hold just 1. i've tried.

 

Try Sears. There should be some thin craftsman wrenches you can get your hands on. Or else get some cheapies and grind'em down until they are thin enough to work.

 

whats the probelm with removing them one by one?

 

Hold the area just above the treads with vice grips and only loosen the top nut. Be careful not to get into the treads.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bb4 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats the probelm with removing them one by one?</TD></TR></TABLE>

the problem is the whole top part spins with it. and you cant spin both of them at the same time.

 

use a pair of vice grips to hold the very end above the threaded part. then try and get a 12 point closed end on the top nut and crank it with all u got.


Ahh Oaks beat me to the punch. damn me and not reading.

 

i say screw the vise grips and just hit it with an impact wrench, less chance of damage that way, plus a **** load easier

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by digitalh3lix &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

the problem is the whole top part spins with it. and you cant spin both of them at the same time.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Bud, Look at the top of the strut, there is a hole made for an allen wrench. YOu hold the whole assembly with that allen wrench then use regular wrenches for the nuts holding on the pillow mount. Vice grips will strip the threads. Or if you can get your hands on an impact wrench that works too, but that top part is ment for an allen wrench!! Let me know how it works!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by maxvtec7500 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Bud, Look at the top of the strut, there is a hole made for an allen wrench. YOu hold the whole assembly with that allen wrench then use regular wrenches for the nuts holding on the pillow mount. Vice grips will strip the threads. Or if you can get your hands on an impact wrench that works too, but that top part is ment for an allen wrench!! Let me know how it works!</TD></TR></TABLE>

It looks like he's running Koni Yellows; in place of that allen-head hole, there's a spinning flat tab that's used for adjusting the dampening of the shocks. Using an allen-head wrench is not an option for him.

There's three things I would try:

1 - Use an impact wrench w/ a deep-well socket and sit the socket on just the top nut, then hit it hard.

2 - If you can't get ahold of an impact wrench, try taking a deep-well socket and put it over the top nut and smack the wrench. it may be enough to knock the top one loose.

3 - Can't get it yet? Take a set of vice grips and clench them on the part right above the threads above the lock-nuts, then use a hand wrench to get the nuts off....just like Oaks said.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LudeyKrus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

It looks like he's running Koni Yellows; in place of that allen-head hole, there's a spinning flat tab that's used for adjusting the dampening of the shocks. Using an allen-head wrench is not an option for him.

There's three things I would try:

1 - Use an impact wrench w/ a deep-well socket and sit the socket on just the top nut, then hit it hard.

2 - If you can't get ahold of an impact wrench, try taking a deep-well socket and put it over the top nut and smack the wrench. it may be enough to knock the top one loose.

3 - Can't get it yet? Take a set of vice grips and clench them on the part right above the threads above the lock-nuts, then use a hand wrench to get the nuts off....just like Oaks said.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good call, I just noticed the yellow shock body, then yes, used a deep-socketed impact wrench!

 

no luck with the impact wrench.. any other suggestions?

 

if the shock body is still spinning.. uncompress the spring so its loading the hat. then use your socket and ONLY loosen the bolts up. that usually works.

**very important**

then compress the spring before you pop off the hat