Stripped Strut Top Nut

[sj9ninety]

Well....as the title says, I have stripped the THREADS of the top nut on the driver side front strut. It just spins and spins, even if I hold the center with an allen.

The good news is that it’s on there pretty good so I can drive around no issues. However, I would eventually like to get it off and torque it down to the correct spec.


Any ideas? See attached picture.

IMG_1104.JPG


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[EvoToSQ5]

Maybe try a nut splitter if it just spins in place.


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[MikTip]

Theres no real "easy" way to fix...cause there is very little room in there to cut the nut off...

Nut splitter will need the upper bearing removed to give room...so a new upper strut bearing...

Need spring compressor for spring when nut breaks...

[sj9ninety]

Theres no real "easy" way to fix...cause there is very little room in there to cut the nut off...

Nut splitter will need the upper bearing removed to give room...so a new upper strut bearing...

Need spring compressor for spring when nut breaks...

This was my thought process as well. I’m just going to run it as is for now and let a shop handle it later on.


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[TheMysticWizard]

Sounds like a good opportunity to replace springs, struts and strut mounts.

Buy new and toss old in the trash

[sj9ninety]

Sounds like a good opportunity to replace springs, struts and strut mounts.

Buy new and toss old in the trash

Only 45k miles on the struts :(, however, the thought did cross my mind.

My lowering springs are brand new though lol...


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[Chaoscreature]

What you do on your own car is your decision, but I wouldn't drive too much with a stripped strut nut.
If the nut is spinning on the stud, then either the male or the female threads are pretty much gone, which means there is not much material holding your strut to the chassis.
The good news is the nuts is normally not loaded since the weight of the car holds the strut in place, BUT if you were to hit a bump or pot-hole large enough to fully extend the strut, it could come loose on you and your entire front wheel/strut assembly could fall out/off.

How did you strip the nut BTW? Impact gun?

[TheMysticWizard]

Only 45k miles on the struts :(, however, the thought did cross my mind.

My lowering springs are brand new though lol... Audizine

Yeah, that's painful then. I'd say you will probably have to replace the strut regardless tho, the threads are probably messed up on it already at this point.

What you do on your own car is your decision, but I wouldn't drive too much with a stripped strut nut.
If the nut is spinning on the stud, then either the male or the female threads are pretty much gone, which means there is not much material holding your strut to the chassis.
The good news is the nuts is normally not loaded since the weight of the car holds the strut in place, BUT if you were to hit a bump or pot-hole large enough to fully extend the strut, it could come loose on you and your entire front wheel/strut assembly could fall out/off.

How did you strip the nut BTW? Impact gun?

I had both sides come loose on me after I installed the Euro Sport Camber Inserts. I had hand threaded them then used a impact to try and tighten them since the shaft kept spinning. They made quite a racket going over bumps/speed bumps/potholes when they loosened up.

I had a real hard time getting them torqued enough because I have adjustable struts and nothing to grip and hold up top while trying to torque them. I ended up using a piece of heater hose and channel locks on the shaft of the strut, as far up as I could. Was quite scary hoping to not mar the shaft, but I was finally able to get them to the correct torque.

I think if it is going to loosen up you'll know it before it comes completely apart by the noises you'll get. But I too would recommend fixing the issue sooner than later, just so you don't have some sort of catastrophic failure.

[sj9ninety]

Yes, I went at it with an impact because I didn’t have the special socket which allows you to counter hold the strut with an allen. I saw metal bits flying from the threads that were stripped :(.

Temporary solution: I’ve put an additional nut on top of the stripped one. Just going to run this until my appointment at the shop. The threads at the top are fresh and with the new nut it’s pretty secure. It does however stick out above the hole on the chassis, is this an issue?


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[TheMysticWizard]

Pretty good temporary solution. Should get ya by for a while. I don't see an issue with it being taller than the hole