Head ripped right off the bolt

[djsti]

I was in the process of replacing my front springs and waiting on my impact wrench to charge up. My buddy said he could easily get the bolt off with a socket wrench. He got the bolt off alright. haha. Can I still get this off? I've done plenty of work on cars in my life but never ran into this. What can I do?
Thanks for your help.

[dvq]

Originally Posted by djsti

I was in the process of replacing my front springs and waiting on my impact wrench to charge up. My buddy said he could easily get the bolt off with a socket wrench. He got the bolt off alright. haha. Can I still get this off? I've done plenty of work on cars in my life but never ran into this. What can I do?
Thanks for your help.

Impact looks like it'll still get the nut off and then you can replace the damper.

[IVM3]

Did he use a strut nut socket? The part that sheared off is not the part you're supposed to loosen. The nut that needs to be loosened is below that in your picture. Unfortunately, I believe you'll have to get a complete new strut. As stated above, your impact socket should still be able to remove the nut, but I would recommend not loosening it until you have a new strut available to replace it.

[izzyM2]

Don't let buddies touch your baby!

[hC1001]

Yea, i think u need a slim 12pt socket. I think your buddy sheared the top of the shock piston.

[TopJimmy]

Sorry, you'll probably need a new damper. You can still impact the 12 point nut off but now there's no way to retighten it. You do need the special cutout 12 point socket to reinstall the top damper nut right, it lets you slip a smaller socket inside.

[djsti]

Thanks for the responses. I really do appreciate you taking the time.

[1000hp]

You don't need a new damper.

Impact should take the nut off no problem with the suspension loaded. Then thread it back on a few threads by hand with the socket before you lift the car off the ground (so that the damper doesn't drop out as soon as the wheel leaves the ground).

When you go to reinstall the nut after you do your springs, if the damper's piston starts spinning, move the dust boot up out of the way, wrap a rubber strap around the piston, and clamp a vise grip onto it (vise grip on the rubber NOT on the piston) to hold it, and you should be able to get the nut back on.

Just be thankful that you don't have Active Suspension. Then you would need a new damper.

And don't let that guy work on your car anymore.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Originally Posted by 1000hp

You don't need a new damper.

Impact should take the nut off no problem with the suspension loaded. Then thread it back on a few threads by hand with the socket before you lift the car off the ground (so that the damper doesn't drop out as soon as the wheel leaves the ground).

When you go to reinstall the nut after you do your springs, if the damper's piston starts spinning, move the dust boot up out of the way, wrap a rubber strap around the piston, and clamp a vise grip onto it (vise grip on the rubber NOT on the piston) to hold it, and you should be able to get the nut back on.

Just be thankful that you don't have Active Suspension. Then you would need a new damper.

And don't let that guy work on your car anymore.

He does have a good point Give it a try. I know on my last install one I torques without the special socket and the other spun so I had to use the socket

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by horsepower_and_hounds

He does have a good point Give it a try. I know on my last install one I torques without the special socket and the other spun so I had to use the socket

I have all the special shit for these struts.
The threads on my driver's side damper caught the last few threads on the nut when the nut was up too high to get the 10mm socket on the damper. I used the strap (rubber strap from a strap wrench) and vise grip to hold it so that I could get it the rest of the way off.

I have used that trick on many struts over the years, including those that did not have anything else to hold onto.