Hey crew.... working on the front end of my 80 Z28..soaked all nuts and bolts with pb blaster....got left front shock installed ( it did take a half hour to get the top nut off. Problem: The right side (passenger side) shock is a real tough one.... can't get top nut off... have now rounded top pin, trying to use vice grips to hold it. I have turned it a few turns but it's locked up now. Any tricks?

 

Yeah, take a hacksaw or die grinder and cut down the side of the nut on one side. That will relieve pressure and once it's cut the nut will turn right off. Or if you have a nut splitter tool you can split the nut and turn it off.

 

Tough to get at that sucker...It's down inside top of upper control arm. Still can't get it

 

Ok, here is an old trick from a mechanic from the 80's.

Get an impact gun with a deep 9/16 socket, place on top of shock, run the gun at full speed and bounce on the fender while having the gun spin the shaft.

What this does is energieze the fluid/gas and that pushes the post up so on the down bouce you get more force from the shock.

If that does not work ... angle the gun around as it bounces and spins this might bend the shaft enough that you can catch and crack it.

Final option, brace care from bottem, secure lower control arms with chains to the frame, remove top ball joint nut then lift upper control arm and air chisel top off.

You are removing a shock no need to be pretty so get violent a little anger goes a long way.

 

Try a propane torch to heat the nut as hot as you can get it, then put a socket on it before it cools.

 

Hey guys...got it! Here's how: first tried cutting off shock.... did that...cutting about half way down....but it was too low to cut the piston. Now I had the top half of the shock still stuck in there......so I started drilling on the nut...first with small bit, then larger and larger until it finally came. But, get this....the nut never did come loose, I ended up drilling right through the bolt until it broke off. Front and rear brakes and shocks now complete!

 

Glad you got that bugger off there.
I don't even bother trying to remove the top nut on shocks anymore. Replaced dozens of them on 4x4's.
Dremel with a 1 1/2" fiber cut off wheel slices right through them in a few seconds and they fall right off. Very soft mild steel.

 

Here's an even older way of doing it. Had trouble on the wife's Monte Carlo, worked on it for too long to admit, neighbor came over, put a deepwell socket just a bit bigger on the stud, with a 6 inch extension, bent it back and forth a couple of times, Bingo, broke it off right below the nut. Good luck.

 

+1 Here's an even older way of doing it. Had trouble on the wife's Monte Carlo, worked on it for too long to admit, neighbor came over, put a deepwell socket just a bit bigger on the stud, with a 6 inch extension, bent it back and forth a couple of times, Bingo, broke it off right below the nut. Good luck.

A friend of mine showed me that trick when we were replacing my shocks on my 65 Chevelle wagon.

 

You guys have the same neighbor??