PDA

View Full Version : GM Strut replacement



skibo
11-13-2007, 01:30 PM
So, I'm replacing the rear struts on my '89 Olds Ninety Eight Regency (essentially the same car as the Olds Eighty Eight, Pontiac Bonneville, Buick Electra / LeSabre - all 86 through '90 or '91?).

I have the first one in, but I'm having trouble torquing the 2 nuts between the strut-plate and the body. See the attached sketch. They are accessed from the trunk (boot) but I don't have enough clearance to get a torque-wrench and a socket in there.

I've sketched a tool that should do the job - a box-end extention for the torque wrench - like a 'crow's foot' but with a significant offset. I know i'll need to adjust the torque wrench setting to account for the extension.

Has anyone seen something like this? Or is there another way. I've considered using a box-end wrench with an pipe and a fish-scale (calibrated spring scale) - it seems awfully crude but it might do the trick..

Any advice appreciated.

RedXC
11-16-2007, 08:07 PM
I'm sure there is a tool out there for a repair like that. Have you tried Snap on, MAC, Matco? You can even make your own tool!

skibo
04-23-2009, 01:53 PM
For the record, I ended up removing the rear seat, removing the 'shelf' under the back window and removing the rear speakers so that I could access these nuts from within the passenger compartment. A pain, but it worked.