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I’m installing new camber plates. I have the new plates in, but I can’t tighten the nut that’s on the shaft that comes up from the strut. When I turn the 19mm nut the shaft turns, as does the plate down below that sits on top of the spring. So maybe I need to stick something in there such that the plate doesn’t turn?
What do I need to do to tighten this nut?
Can you get a pair of vice grips lined with a shop rag in between the coils and clamp down on the shaft so it doesn’t turn?
All I can see is a big plastic corrugated cover and it’s seems all round underneath it. I couldn’t get any grip with channel locks. My big vice grips seem to be MIA and my med size ones weren’t up to it. Tomorrow I’ll try the impact wrench. Can’t turn on the air compressor at night. But I’m concerned about over torquing it.
Normally if you zing the nut with an impact gun it will tighten on it’s own without trying to hold the shaft. If you don’t let it hammer away for 20 seconds like a rookie tire buster, it shouldn’t overtighten. It’s what we always do and has never been a problem.
Yep, impact is the easiest. Most properly designed strut/shock setups will have an allen key slot on the top of the shaft so that you can hold the shaft with an allen wrench and tighten the bolt with a regular wrench.
The Bilsteins I’ve had have a small hex on the end of the shaft. I’ve tightened the large nut several times using two sockets. A 1/4" drive socket on the small hex with an extension passed through the center of a 1/2" drive deep well socket on the large nut. If you have the right combination they will nest together and allow you to hold both. Attach the small socket/extension to a regular ratchet and turn the large socket with vice grips or something similar. Works well and is much more controlled than the impact method.
Matt
At the top of the strut, just above the blue plastic is a pair of washers. They won’t come off because the diameter of the shaft is smaller where they are. These washers seem to be preventing the strut from coming up thru the camber plate all the way.
These washers are only on the driver’s side.
And here’s another problem. As near as I can tell these washers prevented the nut that sits on top of the strut shaft from threading down as far as it should have. Therefore only the top 3 threads on the shaft engaged the nut and that tore the crap out of the threads. So even if I got these washers off, I can’t get the nut on because the threads at the top of the shaft are screwed up. Is this shaft replacable or do I have to replace the entire goddamned strut?
Is there a way to remove the strut from the hub assembly, or does the whole MFing hub have to come off? 
Ranger wrote:
The shocks are inserts and will unscrew from the strut housing. Look inside the base of the spring and you should see the threaded collar that holds the bottom of the shock in. I’ve used big ass pliers, and occasionally a hammer and a screwdriver to loosen/tighten that one. Also, I blue loctite’d the set on my spec e30, because they kept coming undone. Maybe something to do when you sort all of this out and reinstall.
Scott,
When you got the struts you should have received a Bilstein collar and a special tool to tighten the collar. If you didn’t one of the guys in Atlanta should have one. I would be happy to send you mine.
I would remove the washer - allows more thread coverage on the shaft. The camber plate should have a heim joint that will allow the shaft to articulate. Recut the threads and you should be fine. I also use a couple of raps with an impact - battery powered, not the big gun. As advised, you can overdo it and brake the shaft.
Ed
Ok, tonight I’ll work to get the strut out. I think that the threads on the strut are hosed beyond my ability to repair them. So if it’s going to go to a machine shop, the strut will have to come out. Is a pisser.
I’d like to know WTF DP Motorworks, the VA based shop that built the car for the PO, was thinking when they put those damned washers in there that prevented enough threads in the stud from gripping. I swear, you can’t trust hardly anyone to touch your car.
I don’t have this tool, but “my shop” might. If I can’t get the strut off I’ll go talk to them. The threaded coller is the “Jesus nut” that I’ve heard about?
I still don’t understand how those washers are going to come out tho. If the strut shaft is not removable, then I’ll have to try to cut them off. The shaft gets thicker after the washers so they’re not gonna pull off easily.
IIRC, the washer is used with the stock upper strut bearing to keep from crushing the ball bearing. We have always removed it and had no problems.
The tool looks like this:
Matt had the right idea with the 19mm deep socket with vice grips to turn the nut. Use a 1/4 drive socket to hold the shaft. I used blue thread locker just to be safe. 
Well, I got the SOB. I was wrong about those washers being hard to get off.
Repairing the threads on the strut shaft was the finest work I’ve ever done with a die. I couldn’t seem to keep the die square to save my life. It took a while to figure out how to hold the die such that I could precisely see it’s angle. None of my cheap die-holders were able to hold the die perfectly rigid. Once I figured out how to make it work, I spent 45min repairing 3 threads. I’d turn the strut shaft with an 8mm socket a couple degrees, gently tap the die perfectly square, turn a couple degrees, gently tap it square, turn, tap turn tap.
And my new camber plates are now installed. Woohoo.
Ultimately I did use the vice-grips on a ground down 19mm socket with the 8mm socket going down the middle. After repairing the threads I wasn’t going to hit it with the impact wrench.
Hey guys, thanks a lot for the info and ideas. Buddies are Good.
Hopefully next weekend I’ll be putting in the spare motor.
From your photo I cannot see the upper spring plate, is it there??..maybe there is supposed to be one plastic washer on each side, but I have never used any plastic/nylon washer on the strut assemblies because they would get beat/squeezed out. Impact is the only way to tighten the up[per nut, and I think some folks are talking about the collar nut that holds the strut insert inside the housing tube and I am thinking your problem is with the very top nut that secures the camber plate upper mount?? If you have not rung off the very top of the shaft it can probably be fixed…I rung one off as the camber plates i used came with cheap stack washers that beat out and damamged the shaft. If you left out the upper spring plate when you changed the camber plates that may have allowed those washers to jam on the shaft.
Al
Ok, nevermind, see the other photos, congrats on getting it done, I have had trouble in the past with various camber plates and parts that “almost” fit…
Al