I just want to let out some of my anger after failing to get my new shocks installed.

Front passenger. No problem had it installed in under a half hour, my first time doing it and taking my time.

Front Driver. Utter failure. The bottom of the shock fork that connects to the LCA, I expletiveing tried every thing, PB blaster, propane torch, harbor freight impact wrench... All I did was round out my 17mm impact socket... they better replace it... Stupid cheapass harbor freight ****.

Finally I used the Dremel, cut the bolt in half. Yes it worked. Yay. Victory is mine.

Now the pinch bolt. OMG this thing is worse. I got the whole thing glowing hot w/ the torch, drowned it in PB blaster, nothing. Impact wrench, nothing. Oh wait it did manage to split my 14mm impact socket. Useless.... So I get my bright idea, hey if I cut the spring on the top, I could probably just lift the fork out along with the old shock all at once (I have a replacement fork and shock ready to go in anyway). So I dremel the old spring, no problem (my Dremel seems to be my only reliable tool )... Only to find out when I go to take the shock off I need to take the 14mm bolt off of the top hat, regular socket set, too short can't use ratchet since the bolt sticks up over the nut (needs extended socket), my regular wrench wont fit on the right one too much crap under hood, and of course my bigger 14mm impact socket is f*cked already from the damn impact wrench.

So utter failure, waste of a day, my civics not drivable and I have to head to harbor freight in the morning and see if they will exchange there cheap *** impact sockets...

You better believe every goddamn bolt that goes back in will be coated in anti-seize.

2 broken sockets in one day.

edit: grammar


Modified by tazeat at 12:46 AM 3/2/2008

 

lol sounds like you had a hell of a time.

 

sounds fun, happens. If you live near the waters. ever try urine and than torch till its like red hot and than put a little more urine on it? i heard it works never tried it cause i dont get frozen bolts much. I run 150 psi craftsman heavy duty impact gun =] works like a champ

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thatonekid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds fun, happens. If you live near the waters. ever try urine and than torch till its like red hot and than put a little more urine on it? i heard it works never tried it cause i dont get frozen bolts much. I run 150 psi craftsman heavy duty impact gun =] works like a champ</TD></TR></TABLE>


urine?


as in, human ****? LOL wtf, am i lost?

 

I think cold water or just spraying the pb blaster while its hot would be better, never tried urine... probably wont... ever. I'm thinking of getting me an air compressor, but my garage is so damn cramped already I don't know where I'd store it, but they sure come in handy...

 

just get used to it with cars this age...especially eg's.....and especially if its in a place that gets snow.

whenever i work on a friends car and they ask me for a time estimate i always ask if there suspension has ever been apart before.....that's always the wild card

 

No kidding, my car was owned by some OLD couple lol that had it since it was new. They lived at the beach on their boat for 13 years.... Ohhhh i can not wait to start working under my car after having to cut off the license plate bolts haha

 

next time get it glowing red then pour ice water on it. usually the shock from it contracting so fast due to the cold will crack the rust. you might have to do this a few times before it comes out

 

Damn, that sucks. But I've heard the same thing that Crx Jimmy said before.

 

Wow usually it would be the bolts for the rear.

 

wow i had the same problem you have yesterday, so i just gave up and put everything back together. im waiting to see what i can do. most probably ima take my springs to get installed.

 

Well just got up and I'm off to harbor freight to see if I can get some replacement sockets and try to finish it up, if all else fails, I'm gonna buy a sawzall and cut right through the old shock . If that fails, I'm gonna cut right through the hood of the car, straight through the engine block, saw up the rest of the car, then douse it in gasoline and burn it. just kidding, it shouldn't be too big of a deal once I get my replacement sockets, but when all else fails. Brute force.

 

hope ya'll don;t mind i don't own a civic but i drive an accord and i had the same issue with removing my rear control arm bolt, and yes i feel your pain but the sawzall will work, that's what i used to remove that big thick control arm bolt, i were you i'd just rent one, you think about you might use that tool just once in your lifetime (maybe) g l

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tazeat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well just got up and I'm off to harbor freight to see if I can get some replacement sockets and try to finish it up, if all else fails, I'm gonna buy a sawzall and cut right through the old shock . If that fails, I'm gonna cut right through the hood of the car, straight through the engine block, saw up the rest of the car, then douse it in gasoline and burn it. just kidding, it shouldn't be too big of a deal once I get my replacement sockets, but when all else fails. Brute force.</TD></TR></TABLE>

HAHAHA WOW

 

Well brought the socket home, they replaced it no questions asked. used a breaker bar, got the bolts off no problem. Front done. Easy.

Ok well as long as I got the tools the back should be a piece of cake, its like one bolt?

Wrong. It was seized beyond belief.

Found out my step dad had a sawzall, it was in the garage the whole time... (Just married my mom a few months ago, stuff is still packed up in garage).

It went something like this.... Well pictures speak for themselves.

Sawzall, meet rear shock.


Shock, meet Sawzall


No pic, but bolt is still stuck in bushing. It's not moving. But hey at least I got the shock off.

Torch, meet bushing


No pic, fiery mess, fun stuff.

Whats left of bushing, one side broke off, other cut, wouldn't budge so after it was burnt out it looked like this (notice the bolt still stuck in it)


All cleaned up


At least the brake drums still look nice lol xD


Oh and does anyone know what this is and what I need to replace it, looks like its not sealed like its supposed to be? This was on the front drivers side.



Worst weekend I've ever had working on my car

BTW if anyone has an extra set of bushing they would be willing to sell me that would be great, if not I'm just gonna get some overnight from http://www.autopartswarehouse....=true

Or if anyone knows a place that can do it for less than 40$ for overnight shipping . No place around here that I know of carries them in washington that I could go drive to in the morning. I found some Energy Suspension ones at schucks website, but it looks like they would have to special order them and they weren't much cheaper than getting the KYB overnight...

 

Sucky.

 

wow... seriously i thought you were one of my friends.. we had the same exact problems... everything from the rear bolt on the strut to the front control arm issue..
we were working on this today

also one of my friends was trying to get the front springs/stuts out and was standing on the brake rotor to get more room to pul it out and broke the front axle... lol

Good luck

 

oh yea almost forgot to tell you how we got it off... bought an air hammer... cut both sides of the bolt off and put the air hammer to work... worked perfectly

 

Wow you went to town with the install. I had to deal with the same thing, wasn't fun at all. Cost a lot too.

 

Dude, my ENTIRE car was exactly as youre describing. I ended up having to cut out all of my suspension/subframe parts and replace them all, one by one, with junkyard pieces. The whole damn car was rusted solid. And im from texas, the car has always lived in texas too. go figure. Took me about a month and at least 8 junkyard trips just to install springs/shocks on my car when i first got it. Luckily NOTHING on my car is original anymore. i feel your pain.


BTW, that thing that looks to be leaking is your tie rod. with the car jacked up and the wheel on, can you wiggle the tire back and forth? if yes, you should get new inner and outer tie rods.

 

I just been there too but on the wife's CRV. The fronts went fine - but the rears!!

I got 3 of the 4 LCA bolts out and neither of the shock bolts. After cutting out the LCA and end links I still could not get the stub of the shock bolt out of the welded nut on the LCA. I guess I coulda just cut off the bolt and used a non-welded one but the bushings were shot so I got new lcas.

Along the way I busted some 14mm sockets but they were Sears Craftsman and so I got them replaced for free.


Modified by sql_civic at 6:12 AM 3/4/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sql_civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just been there too but on the wife's CRV. The fronts went fine - but the rears!!

I got 3 of the 4 LCA bolts out and neither of the shock bolts. After cutting out the LCA and end links I still could not get the stub of the shock bolt out of the welded nut on the LCA. I guess I coulda just cut off the bolt and used a non-welded one but the bushings were shot so I got new lcas.

Along the way I busted some 14mm nuts but they were Sears Craftsman and so I got them replaced for free.</TD></TR></TABLE>

take an impact gun to the welded bolt... it is a 17mm i think or a 16mm. It will break the weld and then you can just hammer the bolt out instead of turning it and risk breaking bolts. You can then use new nuts and bolts on your rear suspension....

 

Haha the good old siezed LCA bolts

way i got my ones off was by using oxcy- cetaline(sp?) bottles, basically a white hot flame

only thing is that i did mine in a garage so i had that stuff to hand, not sure what you could use on your driveway though

 

drill them

 

Well I justed ended up cutting both ends of the bolt up (Sawzall) and torching the bushing out, new ones come tomorrow. Overnight shipping ftw... shame I just spend $60 on two bushings..
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jadugartir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
BTW, that thing that looks to be leaking is your tie rod. with the car jacked up and the wheel on, can you wiggle the tire back and forth? if yes, you should get new inner and outer tie rods.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nah its rock solid when you try and move it back and forth. I just noticed it wasnt sealed like I think they should be...


Oh and I tried to drill them... Damn hard bolt my drill just sat there and spun for 5 minutes and I had a small divot in the bolt, thats when the torch came out .

Now I'm bumming a ride to get to work today and missing my class at the university... Had no idea 1 bolt and the 2 nuts on the top hat could be such hell.