I am on the last leg of the teardown for my disc brake conversion. I want to take the struts off and blast and re-paint them. I can't seem to be able to get them off. When I try to loosen them they just spin in the k-frame/rubber. Any suggestions are welcome. I have tried a pipe wrench on them to no avail...

2nd pic

I generally leave the lower control arm end of it tight until you get the opposite end loose

i am afraid that is how it probably should be done, but I am all torn down with the exception of these..and the service manual has them coming off towards the end on disassembly..

Doesn't look to be rusted real bad, how about clamping a couple good vice grips on it and let them hold against frame etc? You can clean-file shaft later.

Grind the nuts down to almost nothing on a small portion of them and hammer and chisel the remainder off. I would do this before I gouge them up with a pair of vise grips.

Put the lower control arm back in, I assume you haven't pulled the pivot out of the LCA quite yet, yes? Slide the torsion bar in place and tighten the LCA pivot nut. There should now be enough 'triangulating" force to hold the strut rod in place while you use an impact to loosen the nuts.

If that is not an option, then cutting the nut off as suggested above with the final little bit via a chisel is the best solution. You do not want to nick the strut rod. Yes you can file it, but ask yourself where 100% of the forces in the car at 100mph go when you hit the brakes. about 20% of the force is the rear brakes, the other 80% is split between the two front strut rods. As the brakes try to stop the wheels, it is the strut rod that is pulled rearward and stops the car. Think about it. Those rods are wicked strong in tension..... until you nick it for a stress riser.

Free advice, worth what you're paying (smile), but the cost of the new nut is fairly low.

John P.

thanks John. I had to chisel one of the LCA pivot nuts off already, so I am going to try your advise and put a few pieces back together and see what happens. Thanks

A pipe wrench on the strut works for me. Keep in mind some of the later models the strut will not come out unless you take out the lower control arm because it will not go forward or back even with the nuts loose. This means dropping the T Bars and taking the nut off the control arm pushing that back and the strut will come out. More work then it's worth for what you want to do.

impact gun always works for me, if rusty wire wheel exposed threads hit with pb blaster or lube, bottle torch the nut then gun it.

Everything is out except the struts. LCA, UCA, shocks, torsion bars, brake assembly. I guess I'll try the suggestions above and go from there. Thanks guys I'll keep you posted..

Dont worry if you knick the strut rods.Just clean them up if you do.I used 2 pairs of big vice grips on mine next to each other.They dont do anything except to keep the lower arm in place.They arent like torsion bars that are a spring.I replaced mine a few years ago with RMS ones.Much better than stock.Rocky