so i finally get the time to do this and i get the whole interior and everything torn apart so i can get to the stock upper shock bolts. Get underneath the car only to discover that I cannot for the life of me get the stock bolts loose. After about an hour and a half of using everything imagineable (breaker bars, liquid wrench... all the good stuff) I call up a local regular shop (Firestone) and ask if they can use their air wrench on it to loosen it so i can continue. They say fine, bring it in... so i go there and they give me some B.S. about how they have seen this before (keep in mind they have not even taken a look at my car) and say that they need to heat it up and possibly cut it out. My response is to just try using the air wrench (because i know they will just mess up the shock brackets if they try to cut it out), but they refuse saying that it will cause more harm than good. How do you figure? If it doesnt loosen it and rounds the bolt, then you have to cut it out anyway... and then they start writing up an invoice... to which i say, thanks but no thanks, ill find a shop that feels like trying the obvious before going to extremes.

SO FRUSTRATING... anybody else ever have this problem with the stock shock bolts THAT stuck on???

 

i used a breaker bar and the strength of 2 guys pushin on a breaker bar with a pipe over it for a huge extension to break my shock bolts when i took my rear axle out to swap it for my new one. if u give up on the shop, try my idea. it will take a little bit, btu it will work!

 

the best thing i know of is like he said, get a lifetime guaranteed socket a breaker bar, and a huge( at least 4 ft.) extension(fence post, pipe, etc) shops are goin to try and do whatever it takes no matter how much work you will have to do to fix it. and theyll charge you an arm and a leg. get another guy and torque the crap out of it. also get a heat gun or a blow torch and heat it up first. it really does help. a penetrant might also help in conjuction with all the other stuff. ( you can get it at a decent parts store).

 

yeah, its hard to really get a breaker bar that long under the car when it is only about a foot off of the ground. I dont have access to a lift or a torch... so guess i am at the mercy of a shop here, unfortunately.

 

If my memory serves me correctly, I couldn't bust those bolts loose either and it was hard to get a breaker bar in there. I do however have an air compressor and an assortment of air tools so my 1/2 impact made pretty short work of it.

 

lucky you... LOL

I should invest in one...

 

A Goodyear in town took care of the job in 2 minutes. Thank god for shops that do small favors like that. I will be continuing the job when it isnt 90+ degrees out. LOL