Rear rattle or clunk...?

[Radical540]

Thanks for the info Radical540, although not what i wanted to hear! I thought i could save some money by doing the job myself.. now you have me scared to try it!..oh well guess i will have to just bite the bullet and take it somewhere to have it done, although i do have access to some air tools....hmm

If you have access to air tools and an oxy-actelyene torch set the job goes MUCH easier than hand tools alone!

 

[shobote]

ITy is an easy job if you are just repalcing strut assemblies. My pinch bolt came out with no problem, just using a socket wrench and with no penetrating ****. REmoved the strut mount nuts through the trunk and no problem; I would highly recommend getting a ratcheting wrench (either 13 or 15mm, cannot recall) for the strut mount nuts to make the job MUCH easier, as there is not enough room for a socket.

 

[Radical540]

My SHO only has 61,000 miles on it, and the (original) pinch bolt was so frozen in the knuckle, I had to heat the knuckle until it was practically glowing orange- and then buzzed it out with an impact. Then I drilled out the knuckle, and just used a 7/16" bolt and nut- much better strategy!

 

[cmwwit]

Well im gonna try it Radical540, so hopefully mine wont be as frozen as yours! but mine has 143,000 miles on it and im not sure if they were ever replaced, so we shall see!!

 

[cmwwit]

Well i have started to finally work on replacing my rear struts with quick struts. I waited so long because of all these pinch bolt horror stories. Well i got the drivers side pinch bolt out tonight with just a heavy duty rachet! It started to turn and i thought OH NO! im breaking the bolt, but nope, it was actually turning and it came right out! So tommorow night on to the passenger side and then i just have to try to figure out how to slide off that knuckle! So i guess im trying to say if you want to do this job dont be so scared of those pinch bolts, just take your time, use a nice rachet and let them soak in penetrating oil for a few days and you might be ok!. Chris.

 

[kevinspann]

Penetrating oil and a torch, and alternate. Try tightening it just a hair to break it loose, then back it out.


My car had quickstruts all around and the back was quite high compared to every other SHO I've seen.

 

[SHOstuff]

Where are the pinch bolts exactly and what does it look like?

 

[itwonder]

Where are the pinch bolts exactly and what does it look like?

See step #3 here http://www.shophoenixproject.com/cv/passengercv.htm

That shot shows the front; rear setup slightly different of course, but you get the idea.

 

[etc1006]

You might even have the big hunk of lead that was put on the top of the mount for NVH broke loose and bouncing around. When I did my old 94 the right rear one fell right out when I pulled the strut. Was a common occurrance.