So about a year ago, I put in hotchkis springs with no problems. Right now I'm trying to put in koni shocks. The rears are in with no problems but the fronts are acting up.

I can't loosen the locknut at the top of the strut. The shock absorber rod just keeps spinning around with the nut. I don't really remember this being an issue when I did it the first time.

What I did was first completely remove the entire strut assembly on the drivers side. I compressed the spring and tried to loosen the top locknut. It didn't work even when I held the spring in place. I could just hear the upper spring mount spinning against the rubber dust cover. So then I just tried loosening the top locknut on the passenger side, this time with the strut still on the car. I'm thinking since it's still on the car, it shouldn't spin at all and I can get it loose. But same thing, I just hear the rubber screeching noise of the upper spring mount against the rubber spring perch cover. I didn't really try turning it more than once around, didn't want to break anything.

Somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong.

 

hey.. u know what's funny, the first time i did my install, it said if i use spring compressor the top wouldn't spin but it didnt work for me. What i did was, i had a couple friends hold onto vice clamps or pliers and i loosened the top nut because my top plate mount kept spinning. The easiest and i would say correct way is to use an impact wrench. It needs enough torque to come loose so the plate doesn't spin with it. I learned the hard way and it took hours of my life but it was a great lesson learned.

 

i just installed springs yesterday and had a hell of a time, but i did need to access the struts as well...

you DO NOT need vice clamps/pliers or an impact wrench. it can be done with the tools you are currently using.

first off, you need to connect the whole strut/shock assembly bak up (the 3 bolts). this will act as a "vice" for the struts so that you can loosen the top locknut. Only loosen it until the nut is flush with the top edge of the bolt...this should be sufficient for you to take the whole strut/shock assembly out, compress the spring, then unscrew the top locknut to gain access to the strut. bam, now you're golden.

good luck, lemme know if you have any questions/need help, i'm down.

 

Pit gun will take the top nut off in about a tenth of a second, without regard to the location or placement of the strut assembly. If you're doing it with hand tools, may god have mercy on your soul.

 

don't compress the springs the whole way.. just enough where the top mount wont fly off an kill you.. the spring should still have some pressure.. if you compress the springs the whole way then you will not have the tension on the spring needed to loosen the bolt.