Although I've never had this problem on a rear shock, on front struts I wrap an old leather belt around the shock rod as close to the shock mount as possible. Put a pair of vice grips over the belt and clamp tight. Use socket/ box end wrench on shock nut.

Relaxing the spring tension before you loosen the nut may make it more difficult. Instead of using a 7mm wrench try a 6 point socket and breaker bar.

Paul Shovestul



Quote Originally Posted by ElNormo
As I've posted before, I'm midway through a spring replacement job. I've successfully removed the rear suspension from the wheel well, and am having difficulty getting the nut off the top of the shock rod. Here's what I've done so far...

- Soaked the area in PB Blaster
- Compressed springs so that there is no pressure on upper spring mount
- Used a 7mm wrench and a crescent wrench as pictured here. Nearly stripped the 7mm top of the bolt.
- Wrapped the top of the strut with a strap wrench to keep it from spinning. Tugged away with a 20mm wrench.
- Tapped 20mm wrench with hammer.

Still no luck. Is there a trick to this, or do I just need to keep pulling? So far, the biggest difficulty in this project has been loosening nuts & bolts!

Thanks again for everyone's help in this little project.

Norman