HELP! stripped allen on bilsteins

Well just my f**king luck. The allen head on my bilsteins stripped while trying to take it off to install my ome leaf pack. Can the pack be changed without removing the spring???

 

Did you try hitting with A hammer, sometimes the outer part of the bolt gets stopped but not all the way....

I've never touched bilstein s beforw but idk maybe that will help

 

You could probably just disconnect the shock from the axle and leave the top part in. Just guessing here

 

Yeah the rod with the nut just spins cuz the allen hole is stripped.

 

I'll have to try that with some extra hands so they can compress the strut while I put the bolt back in

 

I've found it's easiest to leave the strut fully extended, and just use a floor jack under the axle to bring the mount to the shock.

 

What he said x2. I never touch the top mount. Lift the frame as high as you can and remove the shock lower mounting bolt. Then remove your ubolts and then front and rear mounting bolts of the leaf pack. Use stands under the frame and a floor jack to control the height of the rear axle.

 

I just bolt the top in and press the shock into place with a flathead and maximum effort

 

Probably too late but. Pull the boot down and grab the shaft up high with vice grips super tight. Use 2 pairs if necessary, the shaft is slick. Then remove the nut. Had the same thing happen.

 

Since you live in the rust belt I would highly recommend one of these in the future. They're not exaggerating when they say it'll get a large nut red hot in 15 seconds. Heat is your friend in this type of situation.

http://www.theinductor.com/induction-heating-products/mini-ductor/models/md-700-110v

 

I would caution against heating up anything in contact with pressurized nitrogen. Liquid wrench, PB Blaster... All that penetrating oil the day prior, but no heat on shocks or struts for me. The OP can accomplish what he wants from he other side of the shock here at this point.

 

Clean the Allen hole out with a small screw driver and some brake clean. Try the next size Allen head up or even switch over to standard sizes. If you originally used standard, then use metric. Clean the threads above the nut with a wire brush, then lube them. If you are still unable to remove the nut, you may need to cut it off and replace it.

 

I just thought of another idea. You could take a dremel and cut a notch in the top, and use a stubby flat head screw driver or something to hold it in place.

 

That's a good idea, but there is a risk of making the shaft in to an oval at the top.

 

I did the same things but vice grips did not work. They still slid. I had to get a grinder and flatten out the rod and then the vice grips worked great. I was tossing the shocks anyway so I didn't care about damage.
This is such a pain in the ass problem. Minor but causes a lot of cursing.

 

First soak it wirh penetrating oil and let it sit for 20 then Smash a torqux bit into it with a hammer
Good luck

 

Very true. I think he should just leave it be and only disconnect the lower portion.

 

^This

 

The nut OP is referring to is on the shaft, far from the body. The tool I mentioned can get a nut red hot before the heat has time to transfer down the shock shaft. I ran intl the same exact issue as OP I few days ago. I used that tool and a wrench to hold the shaft and the nut came right off.