Emergency?! top mount bolt for struts will not tighten rod spins!

projectmx

Member
I just pulled my new front struts off to put the tien springs on and when i put the mount on i tightened it about halfway down then put it on the car and tried to tighten it the rest of the way but instead of tightening the whole strut rod seems to spin. did i break something? i'm not sure what to do cause i need to be able to drive to work and back tomorrow. the nut has that thread lock plastic stuff at the top is that causing the issue? please if anyone has any advice let me know.
 
You didn't properly seat the strut mount onto the strut. The bolt is not completely round and is squared off on one side. This makes the slot in the strut mount fit perfectly into it and prevent it from spinning. Take the strut mount off and redo it. You'll see what I mean.
 
i think i know what you mean... but can't the rod only fit through one way? that doesn't make sense that both are doing that it i had to turn the rods each time so they would fit in the mount. crap and i can't do it tonight i'll have to pull it all apart when i get home tomorrow thanks
 
You can fit part of the top mount on top. It's weird but I've done it before. I'm 99% sure that's what it is. Good luck man.
 
Get ahold of an impact wrench. If it wasn't seated right wouldn't it eventually go in place when its spinning? Wouldn't recommend it, but I've taken one of my work gloves with the grip dots and wrapped it around the strut rod and secured it with vise grips. It will still spin until the vise grips rest against the inner fender well. You just have to be extra careful not to scratch the strut rod or it will tear up the seals inside the strut and ruin it. Use the least amount of pressure on the vise grips you can while getting the rod to hold still while you tighten the nut. Don't do it though if you don't trust yourself. I done it a few times and never screwed one up.
 
so i think i'm kind of screwed, i pulled one of my front struts off and try as i might i couldn't get the top nut off to remove the mount i think the mount is shot so i need to figure out how to get the mount off with out hurting the strut
 
I had the same problem when putting my right strut on. Once I put the strut on the car and lowered it to the ground the nut would tighten without the rod spinning. Didn't have that problem on the left. I lined up the notch on the mount with the one on the rod too, but it just spun.
 
so i think i'm kind of screwed, i pulled one of my front struts off and try as i might i couldn't get the top nut off to remove the mount i think the mount is shot so i need to figure out how to get the mount off with out hurting the strut

Wait, now you have trouble removing the nut? I thought it was a problem tightening the nut. Anyway, for removing the nut, an impact wrench is your friend.
 
The mount is probably fine. The strut has the notched threads, and below that it is also notched but a little bigger. If you compress the spring enough and the strut mount notch is lined up then you should be able to hold the mount while tightening the nut and it won't spin. If you don't get the mount down past the threaded part then it will allow the rod to spin since it fits looser. It messes up the thread a little bit too but not enough to ruin it.

I would try putting the strut back on the car, tighten/loosen the nut to line up the notch with the mount (the notch faces the white dot). Once it is lined up lower the car to the ground which should push the rod up farther into the mount and you should be able to tighten/loosen the nut. I had to do this on the second strut I installed because I didn't pay attention.
 
I was having trouble tightening the top bolt it only goes halfway and now it won't come off and the rod has a little play in the top mount I think the mount hole for the strut rod has become rounded and so the strut rod can't lock in place to tight or lossen the bolt on the strut rod
 
the struts are on the car already by the way its been on since satureday i have everything tighted down just not that top nut.
 
If that is the case you will need to hold the rod. I would slide the dust boot/bump stop down, degrease the rod, and try some vice grips with rubber between them and the rod. Hopefully it can hold it tight enough. If that fails you can go with the vice grips directly on the rod, the top part of the rod should never see the strut seals because of the bump stop so make sure you grip it as close to the top as possible.
 
so i finally was able to get ahold of the first strut rod with a vice grip and made a sad discovery.... the monroe struts don't have a wider spot after the threaded part of the rod it actually is slightly smaller then gets really large so the biggest problem is that. i do still need new mounts cause the originals have really widened due to wear. wish me luck
 
Don't strut rods typically have hex key holes in the middle for that purpose? I can't remember now and its too late to look at my old ones.
 
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