My birds been grounded

Topic: My birds been grounded (Read 1754 times) previous topic - next topic

My birds been grounded

April 01, 2006, 05:29:14 PM

Ugh ok I had to come vent. I got my coil over kit yesterday evening. One of the Grantelli Motor Sports kits. So I go out this morning jack the car up and start undoing the strut.
I get the top bolts out and think to myself wow this is going pretty smooth, the whole time dreading the two bottom bolts.
I place a jack under the side of the car so that the spring in the car doesnt come out yet just in case I cant get them in today.
So I start to take the caliper off to get to the bottom bolts, and this is where I should have stopped to begin with, I break off my torx socket after taking one of the bolts out. I think to myself oh . then I get to looking and theres like a half an inch left on the socket. So I grind the socket end smooth and remake the notches in the bit so I can use the part farther up in the hole.
And what do you know it worked like a breeze, thank you Mr. Dremel creator man.
Now is when the fun really begins.
I take the pin out of the nut on the rotor. Pull the nut loose. End up dropping most of the stuff that holds the nut plus the nut in the dirt. Then I get the rotor off.
Things are going Semi Good at this point no terrible problems yet. I think to myself it can't get any worse then this can it? ( why is it when ever you think it can't get anyworse they really hits the fan?). So I look through my wrenches and none that fit. I start looking through my sockets and find the right size. It's a 15/16's. Yayyyyyyy I'm in business.
I grab my trusty ratchet and I start trying to loosen it. Man are those things tight. I stick another wrench on the handle for leverage and try. Still no luck. I sit down on the ratchet and no go. Ok so I stick my foot on the wrench and stand on the end of it. Pulling myself down with the fender as well as pushing with my foot. The nut starts moving and Yayyyyyyy it's loose. I take it off and get the bolt completely out. I think wow that sucker was on there. I start trying to take the next one out. This time just going straight to standing on it. All at once SNAP. Bye bye Mr Craftsman Ratchet. OH CHIT now what? I start digging through the tool box and find another ratchet. Same thing SNAP. Bye bye Mr cheapy wal mart ratchet. Look some more and find my last one. Same thing SNAP. Bye bye Mr Cheapy something ratchet. So then I get out a breaker bar. I think hmmm this should do it. Yet again same results as before SNAP. So then I think IT, kick the tire laying beside the car and go look for a wrench. That should do it, but wait what's this? Here's the 1 inch and here's the 7/8's. I think hmmm where's the 15/16's? I start looking at the package that held them which had the sizes wrote on it thinking man I must havge misplaced it. Think its that easy?
NOOOOOOOO My set came with 1 inch and 7/8's No 15/16's. So I look at the other side and think hmmm maybe theres a metric close enough. NOPE we go from 19 to 22. So basically my car is up on jacks the front ends taken apart its like 70 degrees out and I cant do anything. This SUCKS

My birds been grounded

Reply #1 – April 01, 2006, 06:55:33 PM

ok I got the stupid thing loose and got it all put in on one side so my cars lopsided until I get another ratchet. UGH

My birds been grounded

Reply #2 – April 01, 2006, 07:00:44 PM

lol...yeah, tearing stuff appart thats been together forever is such a pita...i did the suspension in the ranger a week ago and the bolts realy made me suffer.

My birds been grounded

Reply #3 – April 01, 2006, 07:02:43 PM

yeah the weird part is I got it loose by turning the bolt not the nut? Im kinda wondering if the nuts have little teeth to keep them from turning or something. doesnt matter I aint taking it back apart to check lol

My birds been grounded

Reply #4 – April 01, 2006, 07:15:15 PM

Reminds me of my month long brake job when I first got my 80. Socket cracks and strips off bolt head on caliper bolt, grind it flat and try vicegrips, no go. Cut a notch in it and try impact driver, break all my drivers standard bits, eventually cut the head off and start drilling it out, get three quarters of the way through and 1/16" titanium bit breaks off flush with the top of the hole there was no way that was coming out. I then I spent three weeks looking for a new spindle, ended up buyimng a parts car and swapping spindles..

Of course I now know that I probabally could have heated up the spindle with a torch and used vicegrips to take out the bolt but who was I to know

My birds been grounded

Reply #5 – April 01, 2006, 07:18:31 PM

yeah sucks when that happens just sucks that I have one side of the car that is easy to push down and the other side feels new. I hope it doesnt make it drive all screwed up its gotta last until next friday

My birds been grounded

Reply #6 – April 01, 2006, 09:01:11 PM

Oh wow I had to run to the store across town and just the little bit of driving that we did which equaled maybe 20 blocks I can tell a big difference between the stock setup and the new coil over. The stock side has alot of sway in it almost feels like the bumpers about to drag which is how it has always felt,
I know its not going to drag but it just has alot of sway to it. The other side doesnt have much at all in it. Of course this is at 20 MPH.
Considering I dont have a sway bar at the moment Im guessing its going to be extremely solid up front when Im done and everythings hooked back up. The only thing Ive found I dont like as of now is the height but that will change when I get the 6 out and the 8 in.:D

My birds been grounded

Reply #7 – April 01, 2006, 09:06:35 PM

I was going to tell you this morning, but I was so tired I forgot to...
Get one of those little propane torch things, i think even wal mart sells em, they're worth their weight...heat any bolt up you have problems with, and they'll usually come right out.
On a completely diff. note, while I was moving the TC today, I completley trashed the (otherwise good) front fenders...

My birds been grounded

Reply #8 – April 01, 2006, 09:09:07 PM

that sucks man Im hoping I can just turn the bolt instead of the nut on the other side as well like I did this side I dont have enough lead in my pants to do to many of those. Its bad when I can stand on it and bounce before it breaks loose. lol

My birds been grounded

Reply #9 – April 01, 2006, 09:40:55 PM

PB Blaster. It's $4 a can but it will loosen up just about any bolt. Works 10 times better than WD-40.

My birds been grounded

Reply #10 – April 01, 2006, 09:45:23 PM

that is exactly why i didn't put my new control arms on. i snapped my sockets using a 2-foot long extension on my 1/2" drive rachet and stripped one of the bolts in the process. sometimes you just gotta know when to fold em. and the strut bolts were a pain too.

My birds been grounded

Reply #11 – April 01, 2006, 09:48:02 PM

Im seriously hoping I can just turn the bolt on the other side and it work like it did today. if it does then that'll be cool cause switching to coil overs is going to make swapping the K alot better plus I love how the side thats switched feels now

My birds been grounded

Reply #12 – April 02, 2006, 10:50:24 AM

All of this makes me want to go out and buy a 3/4" drive impact gun. If they dont come out, theyll break.

My birds been grounded

Reply #13 – April 02, 2006, 01:22:53 PM

Air tools rule!!:D

My birds been grounded

Reply #14 – April 02, 2006, 05:11:27 PM

shoot, i borrowed a 650 ft lb impact to remove my strut to spindle bolts and it still took a while to break them. when re-installing them i will use my torque wrench. i don't have the torque specs in front of me, wonder if my 150ft lb wrench is big enough (gulp!)