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Five hours for pretty much fcuk all....



Darren S

ClioSport Club Member
Right. I will happily hold my hand up here and be flamed, but how the FCUKING HELL do you get the top bolt loosened on the top of the front shocks? :mad: :S.

The hex head is 6mm with the nut below it 21mm, but for the love of god, I cannot get the b******s to slacken off. Even when drenched in WD40 and left for hours, they simply refuse to budge.

I even had an 24" extension arm involved at one point, but once the 6mm hex head slipped, I gave that idea up. I certainly wasn't up for shearing the bloody thing completely.

What the hell happened to the old days of three or four bolts coming through the chassis, that you simply slackened off in turn?

Seriously, if I could have punched the car (hard) today and not caused any damage, I would have done. Its the first time in four years that I've been absolutely fuming with it. Stupid fecking arsewipe of a design. :mad:

The only good thing that came out of today was another oil and filter change - so it wasn't a total loss.

Probably need to get an airgun on them.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR :quiet: :quiet: :mad:

D.
 

Da

  Less
Lol, took me best part of two days once on a 7 year old 1.2 that had never had them removed before!

As you say, once the 6mm starts slipping it's a slippery road to doom! Ended up cutting the top mount off and buying a new one from Renault.
 

Darren S

ClioSport Club Member
Lol, took me best part of two days once on a 7 year old 1.2 that had never had them removed before!

As you say, once the 6mm starts slipping it's a slippery road to doom! Ended up cutting the top mount off and buying a new one from Renault.

Jesus. That's something to look forward to, then. :dapprove:

WhyTF is something like this only got a piddling little 6mm socket on it? Were Reno doing some serious lines off a mirror when they designed this?

D.
 
  BMW M5 & E36
My solution. Bl0ody great adjustable on the flats i ground onto the socket and allen driver through the middle:

struttop.jpg


Edit; it was quite tight!

DSCN3570-1.jpg
 

Alastair.

ClioSport Club Member
  986'S 172ph1+182FF
a big set of grips around the shocker ftw!

i changed 2 front struts and top mounts on a clio 2day in 20mins, air guns rule.
 

Alastair.

ClioSport Club Member
  986'S 172ph1+182FF
EXACTLY what I was thinking. It slipped once, and I thought 'fcuk that' - I'm just not going to force it. The 6mm hex still looks intact too.

D.


a big set of grips around the shocker shaft to stop it from spinning, and ur mate to undo the 21mm top nut
 

DaveLiquid182

ClioSport Club Member
  Mercedes AMG GLE 53
Buy the airgun from screwfix. I bought one yesterday. 1/2" drive with about a dozen impact sockets & a 6" extension all in a nice plastic case £19.99. Well chuffed with it. It buzzed the strut top nuts off a treat :D

Also a spark plug socket is 21mm and of course its deep so fits a treat. :)
 
Last edited:
  audi a6 3.0tdi
I went to a garage asked nicely and they undid it with the airgun for no charge. it took them two seconds to do it :)
 
  172 Phase 1 & 172 Ph
Electric 12v impact wrench works just aswell, i bought a Richmond one from Halfords for about £20 with a 1/2" drive a few years ago plug it into your fag lighter and away you go!!! best tool i've EVER bought!!! get one ;) used it for many a suspension change :)
 

Gaz_

ClioSport Club Member
  Extreme mode
a big set of grips around the shocker shaft to stop it from spinning, and ur mate to undo the 21mm top nut

What on the stainless shaft?! Mark them with molegrips, and they will bust the seals.......... BAD.
 

Ali

  V6, Trackhawk, GTS
Buzz it off! We had the same problem with Donz Leda's! "The fitter!" put them on with no copperslip and air guns! And rounded the allen key part.
 
M

mini-valver

Airgun them. Ever tried to buy a 21mm swan neck spanner? No fucker sells em!
 
M

mini-valver

LOL! £45 for a paperweight!

Me and Middo searched Stoke on trent for one. Got one for about a tenner at FWB I think in the end!
 
  Astra GSI, 172, Golf
My solution. Bl0ody great adjustable on the flats i ground onto the socket and allen driver through the middle:

struttop.jpg


Edit; it was quite tight!

DSCN3570-1.jpg


lol i had to make one of them sockets for my mk1 clio 19mm spanner on that , and then a 6mm allen key on a ratchet through the middle worked a treat lol . gets borrowed quite a bit too seems like a handy tool .
 
  Civic Vtec y0
I took the struts off my MK1 clio a few years with the swan neck spanner and key method mentioned lol.

A mate held the allen key thing in place and i put a massive bar on the end of the spanner and it came off easy lol

I have a set of spanners from Argos, had them for about 4 years and there still going strong! Cant complain for the money :D
 
21MM swan neck spanner With a Allen SOCKET. :) job done.
I've never been able to undo them with just Allen keys


metric_allen_set.jpg


car_photo_241428_7.jpg
 
As for the use of WD40 don't bother, I really don't understand why people insist on using it to free things off. It's a w**k water dispursant not a proper penetrating oil.
 
  Civic Vtec y0
As for the use of WD40 don't bother, I really don't understand why people insist on using it to free things off. It's a w**k water dispursant not a proper penetrating oil.
Best stuff i have ever used is from poundland lol

Think its called Super Maintenance Spray
 


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