Help regarding rear shock removal, upper nuts are totally rounded

[GeneralGuy]

Hello,

I have been taking on job after job on a 1997 Ford Explorer I bought, an AWD V8 model with standard rear suspension and a wee bit (tons) of rust. The issue I am having is that the rear of the truck is quite rusty, and the rear shocks are also in rough shape. I soaked the top shock nuts with oodles of liquid wrench, but had no luck in removing them. I severely rounded one of the nuts that I had easy access to and didn't bother with the others, but I am sure they will do the same. I've tried rounded bolt sockets (the Craftsman branded ones) already with no luck, they just rounded the nut further. I cannot get in there to pound them on either since the floor of the body is right there.

In light of not being able to get my angle grinder in there to try to just totally cut the nuts off, has anyone had to grind off the back of the riveted in studs before to remove them? Alternatively, has anyone had to deal with this before and found a clever way to get these things out in light of this? Thank you for any advice!

 

[Turdle]

Can you get a vice grip on it and break it off?

You do not need those old bolts anymore, think green and go hulk on em

If the new shocks have the dog bone for the top mount included, can you cut the old dog bone to allow cutting of the bolt from the visible side?

 

[GeneralGuy]

I do not have pictures at this time, no. The problem is that the upper shock is guarded by that metal shield which blocks my ability to get in there with my smallish angle grinder. I'm not sure if a larger grinder would fit or not, which is why I haven't bought one yet.

I'll see if I can get a picture at a later time though.

 

[swshawaii]

A 13mm flex head ratcheting wrench is the best tool for this job unless the head is destroyed. GL

http://www.gearwrench.com/catalog/w...nation/stockdetails.jsp?view=Metric&part=9913

 

[Bill MacLeod]

If you can get in there with a drill, centre punch the rivet/stud and start drilling it out. Start with a 1/8" bit, drill about 3/8", then use 1/4" bit, then 3/8" bit, etc until it pops out.

Or grind the head off.

 

[1995 Explorer]

I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to get mine off.

 

[corkey]

grind the top eye off the shock with your angle grinder, that will give you all kinds of room than,,
you said the shocks are no good,, why be nice to them,,??

cut them off,

 

[1996BLKBauer]

I used a an standard size angle grinder on mine, cut the nut clean off. watch the fuel likes on the drivers side though. I had to take the safety guard off of mine for it to fit. Make it easy any remove the inner fenders, also I believe the top nuts are 15mm, aren't they?