Hey all, I've been searching like crazy and haven't been able to find what I need. I'm trying remove the top nut off my stock shock from a 2000 civic LX sedan.

The issue I'm having is that the shaft is just spinning as I try to remove the top nut. In all the posts I've seen about it, everyone is talking about using a hex/allen key in the top of the shaft and using a box-end wrench to take the nut off. Like in this picture I found:



Now that's all fine and dandy, but I don't have a place to put a hex key to hold it while I loosen the nut. Mine just looks like the end of a bolt, like this:



I used a pair of vice grips to hold onto the threads that were sticking up, and that worked for a bit, but now there is nothing to grip because the nut is all the way to the top.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

My dampers don't have a hex or anything at the top either. I just used an impact wrench to get the nut off. If you don't have such a device then I have no idea what you should do.

 

An impact wrench would be top choice.. Did you take the load off the spring with a coil spring compressor before trying to remove the bolt?
If you dont care about the shock ( your replacing them) and you want to get a hold of the shaft.. Try a pair of vise grips on the shaft to get it to stay still.
Thats what id call a last ditch effort only.

 

Ok, I'm glad (sort of) that this happened to me. I figured it out and hopefully it will help someone else out in the future.

What looked like the end of the bolt was actually just dirt and grime. My solution was going to be to drill a pilot hole into the top of the shaft bolt and screw a phillips screw into it that I could use to hold it still. The instant I put my drill bit onto the end of the bolt, it just sank... along with my heart. =/

So the moral of the story is: clean your ****!!

Thanks for the help though guys.