Just got a 91 Accord LX for my daughter who is going away to college this fall and am doing all the "dad" stuff to it, including all 4 struts (just stockers). I've replaced struts on several cars, including Hondas, but have never run into this problem. I cannot loosen the lower mounting bolt/nut on the rears. I've used an 18" breaker bar and electric impact wrench but they won't budge. They don't appear to be rusted and I've soaked them liberally with WD-40. Any help and/or ideas??

 

Yea those Lower Control Arm (LCA) bolts are a pain in the *** to get out! More than likely they'll snap on you. Then you'll need to cut off the bolts, get new bushings and new bolts.

I'd say get an pipe extension on that 18" breaker bar and see if they come off.

GOODLUCK!!!

 

Be sure that you are trying to turn the nut and not the bolt. I can't remember for sure, but I think for some reason that these are the bolts that are splined. The nut turns, but the bolt just slides straight out after the nut is removed.

I might be wrong, as I haven't done struts on these in quite some time, but it is definitely worth consulting a manual for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91AccordSE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Be sure that you are trying to turn the nut and not the bolt. I can't remember for sure, but I think for some reason that these are the bolts that are splined. The nut turns, but the bolt just slides straight out after the nut is removed.

I might be wrong, as I haven't done struts on these in quite some time, but it is definitely worth consulting a manual for.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i believe you are correct in that. however, once you get the nut off, getting the bolt out is no easy job. but happy strut work!

 

Sorry about that, I reread my post, and it does sound like I'm telling you that your just cutting butter with a warm knife after the nut is removed. The bolt is usually very difficult to get out. An Air Hammer will come in real handy for removing the bolt after the nut is removed.

 

Hmmm....i thought it was the bolt that you had to take out, not the nut. Maybe thats on aftermarket shocks only?

 

An electric impact wrench doesn't have much torque - I think they're around 275 ft/lbs. A typical 1/2" air impact wrench has 400 - 500 ft/lbs. You should soak the bolt in PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench, then put a pipe over your breaker bar. I've used a 25" breaker bar to get myself out tough situations, where by air impact wrench (425 ft/lbs torque) wouldn't budge.

Good luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by D21X &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmmm....i thought it was the bolt that you had to take out, not the nut. Maybe thats on aftermarket shocks only?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure what you mean, what I was trying to say was that - The bolt will not spin because it is splined. The nut is removed from the end of the bolt, then the bolt is removed from the hub/strut assembly. I don't think I ever mentioned that the bolt didn't have to be removed.

 

Thanks everyone for the info. I don't have a section of pipe handy, so I just went out and bought a 25" breaker from Harbor Freight ($12) and a can of PB Blaster. If that doesn't work, I'll have to suck it up and pay a pro to finish the job. If I hadn't gotten such a good deal on the car to begin with, I'd be bugged. Thanks again.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91AccordSE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Not sure what you mean, what I was trying to say was that - The bolt will not spin because it is splined. The nut is removed from the end of the bolt, then the bolt is removed from the hub/strut assembly. I don't think I ever mentioned that the bolt didn't have to be removed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea im confused to what you're saying too. Ok, the shock has a nut attached to it right? And the bolt holds the shock to the LCA bushing right? What I'm saying is he needs to take the bolt off from the LCA, not the nut on the shock.

 

Driver's side nut finally broke loose after raising rear end another 3-4" to get more leverage. Splined bolt slid right out "like buddah" and disassembling/reassembling is currently in process. Other side will have to wait til tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone and especially Harbor Freight for cheap tools.

 

I <FONT COLOR="red">[/b]&lt;3[/b]</FONT> breaker bars