johnnyblaz3

any ideas on how i should get the struts out? i was tryin the get the old struts out but both of the bolt heads snapped right off..

suremang

the bolts to the top hat?

acuratl_2nr

bring it to a reputable shop, rear strut bolts are notorious for getting seized into the bushings and that's why the heads cracked off. I'm sure a shop has seen this before and know exactly what to do. What you want to do before hand is to go to the dealer and buy two new lower rear strut bushings and two new bolts. if you go to the shop without thoses parts, you'll be wasting your time...

jfkhan

humm.... u are in for a long haul......if I am not mistaken you are talking about the bolt that holds the strut at the lower end on to the knuckle........if I am right then you are in for a long work out session. This is the most dreaded bolt in our entire car assembly and over the years has frozen inot the bushing's metal part. the only way out is the following,

MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A SET OF REPLACEMENT OEM BOLT AND THE BUSHING:

1. Remove the wheel, 2. remove all the nut/bolts that hold the knuckle 3. disassemble the the caliper & hand brake assembly for the knuckle to be free to be dropped 4. remove the 2 nuts that hold the strut tower at the top end to the frame. 4. Now drop the knuckle along with the strut/suspension attached to it. 5. Now if you are planning to chnage the strut then juts go ahead and cut then off the knuckle and then take a chisel and start chesling away at the bushing to remove it from the knuckle . 6. if you are planning to usethe strut then work your way around the strut to get to the bushing, i did not do this so I wount be able to give you much insight......7. slide a new bushing and insert the new bolt.

I hope this helps....

JFK

CLpwner

Ummm... some of that is unnecessary...

It does depend on what you're trying to do though. If you're putting on new suspension, its pretty easy.

1. Just fucking get a saw and cut the bolt on both sides of the strut.
2. Burn the bushing out.
3. Use your imagination to get out the outer part of the bushing... I pretty much hammered it out. And it took a few minutes, yes, but it saved me like 200 bucks I got quoted...

jfkhan

^^^ yes if you have lift....but if you are using jack stand and limited space like a single car garage...then there is not enough room to get underneath the car and swing a hammer as you would like to.....also since the entire knuckle is mounted on rubber bushing loaded bolts the net effect of hammering is next to zero....... I tried burining and after the heating the center metal ring popped out but the outer metal ring was still stuck to the knuckle.....to avoid this it is more easire juts to drop the fucking knuckle that way you have more more...manuverability and easire and faster acess.....

just my 2%.....i did this all by myself without any help so I know how really tough this job is.....took me entire day to get the learning curve going not to mention the hunt to get the correct OEM bolt had to drive to 6 dealerships before I could find a pair......

really pain in the butt job.....IMO

johnnyblaz3

i got it on 4 jack stands... but space is kinda limited on one side.. i think im gona try to saw off the strut or something... what kinda cutting tool should i use? is a dremel strong enough?

johnnyblaz3

k im jus gonna order the bushing and bolts, get the car towed to a shop and let them handle it... do you guys think its towable on the rear wheels? only the nut heads snapped off.

johnnyblaz3

could someone help me here, i cant find which bushings i need.. is it number 24?

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

johnnyblaz3

anyone know? i know i need 2 number 15s in this link http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

but not sure what bushings cause i cant take them out.. any help would be great!!

REVTEC

You need two of these 52622-SM5-004 (bushings) and two of the bolts which are 90021-SM4-003.

This really isn't that hard. I did both of mine, with NO lift, in a little over an hour.

You need some sort of a cutting wheel to cut both sides of the bolt on the inside edge of the shock fork. Once both sides of the bolt are cut you can remove the shock. Then if you have the dremel with the cutting bit (similar looking to a drill bit, but meant for cutting) you can poke through the rubber part of the bushing and go all the way around where the bolt goes through. You'll notice the bolt was frozen to the inside collar. When that is out, take a reciprocating saw with a metal blade, put it in the hole you just made by taking that collar out, and cut a section out of the exterior ring of the bushing. If you buy a new bushing, you'll be able to see what needs to come out.

I knew I should have taken pics. It is some work, but you'll get it. Good luck! If you need any info, PM me.

johnnyblaz3

yeah i kinda wanna tackle this down my self since i cant even drive for 2 months.. jus look at the car and wanna drive it!! and fix it up...

so i need a cutting wheel thats connected to a dremel?? what exact tools will i need? just a good dremel? or some other cutting tools? could you name them the exact tools so i can pick some up?

would i be able to just got the forks and jus pull out the screw? but then again it is stuck to the bushings? well ill figure something out.. just need right tools

jfkhan

well the dremel tool will not have cutting wheels big enough for you to cut the inside part of the bolt to free the strut.....but then again it never a bad idea to have dremel tool.....

so my advice is get a dremel tool but definately a power saw as this will help you to cut the other end of the bolt as well as the stuck outer bushing metal ring which is frozen to the knuckle....

REVTEC

To cut the bolt, I used an air tool similar to this.



With a 3" cut off wheel on it.



Then removed the shock.



Used the dremel



with a spiral cutting bit like this to cut out the rubber bushing.



After that's out, I used a reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade to cut the bushings exterior sleeve.



Hope that helped. Good luck.

johnnyblaz3

ok i finaly got the shock out.. just need to get the bushing with the cut screw out... the bushing looks mostly metal.. would i need to take the nuckle out and get the bushing pressed in? or does it just slide in like magic?

REVTEC

There is rubber around the bushing. That's what you need to cut out so you can get the outter sleeve out with the recip. saw. You may need a sanding drum on the dremel and clean it up a little, then use a hammer and tap the new bushing in. It should tap in fairly easy. Just make sure it's going in straight.

johnnyblaz3

wow it sure is hard to get these dam bushings in...

johnnyblaz3

any tips for me? i didnt sand it down yet though

johnnyblaz3

peice of shit bushing is stuck in half way.. gona have to hammer that shit in tomorrow.. am i suposed to use some sort of lube befor hammering in the bushing? cuz it sure aint going in easily

johnnyblaz3

it's just two more cm to get in but stuck.... You guys sure it's not suppsed to be pressed in? Cause if it is not then wouldn't the gushing slide around while driving?
Also is it ok to gring the gushing slot bigger so it goes in more easily? Or would the nuckle snap.... I kindy accidenty cut the outer bushing ring to much with the receptory saw to much and now there's a line on the knuckle. I'm asuning it's ok

Nakamichi

I would not sand it down. I greased (not WD-40) up the metal part of the brushing, put a socket on the metal perimeter of the brushing and pressed it in with a bench vise. You probably can use a C-Clamp too. Takes like 30 secs.