ducnine

I am half way done with my suspension modification. The Fronts are finally done.

I am working on the rears now and I have a breaker bar and also an electric Impact gun that I borrowed from a friend.

The lower rear shock bolt is reluctant to leave its home. The Breaker bar just ain't cutting it and the Impact gun isn't either.

Anyone have any advice?

garrett376

I had to use a 5 foot pole over my ratchet to get enough ooomph to break it free! Yes, 5 foot!!!

CHASE

Ducnine,
I am convinced after fighting with every nut or bolt I had to remove this weekend that they are not meant to come off ever !!!
Just kidding but I have the sore hands, back, fingers ......well you know to prove it.

I would use soaking oil and heat if you are replacing the bushings also !!

CHASE

5 foot......holy crap Garrett !

garrett376

I've used it 6 separate times and it worked perfectly! That's all you need: mechanical advantage!

pete000

No Impact gun or regular breaker bar will work. I made a 5' bar from a piece of HD Gas Line and also heated up the trailing arm with a torch. I was afraid I was going to snap off the six point 1/2" socket too ! Do not use a 12 point socket. It is really hard to crack those bolts ! I noticed that Porsche even used anti seize on the threads and they still got that tight. Good Luck, might take two people to do it.

The only other bolt that seems to be as tight is the lower rear brake caliper mounting bolt !

springer3

I tried heat, and still needed a jack under the cheater bar. Then I needed a longer bar when the jack just picked up the car. A four-foot bar, a hydraulic jack, and some heat did the trick. Be careful with that much force. If the socket breaks first, there will be scrapnel flying. I put a piece of plywood between me and the socket, and had a heavy impact socket.

Steven C.

I didn't have the right size impact socket so just hit the ratchet for a while with a hammer and then a breaker bar got them off. BUT, putting them back on to 140 ft. pounds was not fun....tweeked my old shoulder injury

TR6

No doubt. When I did mine to put my trailer tie-down loops on, I was giving it all I had trying to tighten it with a large torque wrench and felt the car move on the jack stands. Gotta be careful...

LouZ

When I did mine, I had a different problem. The bolt would turn just a fraction, then jam. Impact, mechanical advantage, heat (till the rubber started to burn) were all to no avail.

Finally, on the last try with prolonged hitting it with the impact gun turned all of the way up, it broke loose. This was when I was seconds away from cutting the shock tower in half!

Turns out that the bolt was FROZEN with corrosion to the shock bushing, and the fractional turning that I experienced was due to the flex of the rubber between the bushing and the shock.

1990-964

Hi Ceby,

Sorry to hear that you are having some challenges with the suspension. I had no such misfortune with either side of my lower mount bolts. No breaker bar required. I hope that this is your last hurdle and we will all get to see your finished product. I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

Darren

ducnine

LouZ,

The bolt was stuck on the shock bushing and not in the lower arm?
Is there anyway to get liquid wrench in there?

So much for a quick rear shock change.

ilko

Those things are tightened at 160 torques. It ain't easy! I undid mine using a breaker bar and a jack. What a pain in the *** but it worked.

LouZ

Yes, the bolt was nearly fused to the shock bushing, that's why it gave a LITTLE when I put a wrench to it. I tried to soak it with nut buster, but with the washers on each side and the torque on the bolt pulling the washers tight up to the rubber, I doubt that any got inside.

If you have a bit of movement on the bolt, you could use a cut-off wheel and split the shock longways where the bolt goes through (you now have a ruined shock and the bolt MUST come out!)

By the way, on the other side, I used the breaker bar AND jack to break it loose.

ducnine

I did it. I jacked the car up a bit more to get some leverage and kept trying till that bolt decided to let go.

It wasn't anything dramatic, except I heard some cracks and then it was loose.

Thanks for the help. I'll finish putting the shocks on and get it all balanced and aligned some day. Time is a limited resourse...especially when you have two year old that wants to come and help fix the "Porsche Boo-Boo".