Mark L. wrote:
>Larry,
>If I remember correctly I slipped a socket
>over the lower nut, the shaft extended through
>the hole in the top of the socket. I believe I turned
>the socket with pliers while holding the squared off
>end of the shaft with a small adjustable wrench.
>Also, most of these shocks and struts can be loosened
>or tightened without special tools that hold anything if
>you have access to an impact wrench and can spin them
>on or off. I found this out on a Volvo strut after trying
>for two hours.
Thanks, Mark. I got a couple of responses like that; sadly, I'm
not sure how that can help. Let me clarify. I can get to the shaft
easily enough. Yeah, I could turn the lower nut while holding the shaft
to tighten it -- as long as the upper nut went along for the ride, or
wasn't there at all. The problem is getting the nuts not to back off in
use. This is normally by 'jamming' the upper and lower nuts, one against
the other; hence 'jam nuts'. By definition, this means two wrenches, the
shaft can stay put or turn a bit, I'm not certain it's important. But
the two wrenches on the nuts is the big deal, as the lower one is
_below_ the sheet metal level.
I guess I could substitute the pair of jam nuts for a Nylock
nut, and/or use Loctite, but I'd figure someone else had changed their
shocks before, and run into the problem and resolved it. I'm reduced to
silly schemes like finding (???) a 9/16" ignition wrench, if there's
such a thing, and sliding it into the space between the two layers of
sheet metal with tweezers, where I could maneuver it onto the lower nut.
Then turning the upper nut w/a 2nd wrench, the lower one would be 'held'
by being trapped against the sides of the sheetmetal "well" all of this
activity is taking place in. It would then be tough to get the ignition
wrench back out. Somebody please save me from such silliness.
I guess no one knows the torque settings for the leaf spring
shackle bolts, so I'll try 40 ft-lbs.
Lawrence R. Wright
Purchasing Analyst
Andrews Office Products Div. of USOP
larry.wright@usop.com (new)
Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
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