I have an 07 Pathfinder, 25K miles, with marshmallow rear suspension. I had a Trooper a few years ago and put on Ranchos and was happy with them, so I bought a set of 4 for the Pathfinder.

The problem is, that top shock bolt in the rear is too obstructed to get good leverage. I tried a 15" breaker bar and leaned on it with all my might, but I don't think I even moved it. Man that bolt is tight and tough to get any free access to! I am 250 lbs and never have any problem with mechanical stuff, but this one has got me stymied. I hate admitting defeat, I have done just about every mechanical task imaginable in my 50 years.

Anyway I guess I'll just pay somebody to do it, but wondering if I should even attempt the fronts or have a shop do them all? Grrrr.... waiting to be ripped off now for what should be a 30 minute job.

I would take some wd-40 or pb blaster and and spray all the bolts down real good, wait 30 mins and attempt to loosen the nuts and bolts, repeat the spray down for stubborn bolts, this has not failed me YET!.

xd9-g19 wrote:I would take some wd-40 or pb blaster and and spray all the bolts down real good, wait 30 mins and attempt to loosen the nuts and bolts, repeat the spray down for stubborn bolts, this has not failed me YET!.

I haven't been able to get any of mine to budge. I am using an 18" breaker bar, with a 4ft pipe on the end of it. PB Blaster, ZEP 45, you name it (other than a cutting torch).

I was thinking of trying to heat them up, but am worried about collateral damage....

Yeah I'm with you Terry, mine aren't corroded, I'm in SoCal and no rust or any crud up there - it is sheer torque that is the issue, and oil won't help that (thanks though for the suggestion). I did spray them with WD40 now a couple of times and tried 2x now the last couple of weekends - it is over-tightening I think. Thing is, a cotter pin arrangement would have worked fine for such a thing, IMO.

disallow wrote:

xd9-g19 wrote:I would take some wd-40 or pb blaster and and spray all the bolts down real good, wait 30 mins and attempt to loosen the nuts and bolts, repeat the spray down for stubborn bolts, this has not failed me YET!.

I haven't been able to get any of mine to budge. I am using an 18" breaker bar, with a 4ft pipe on the end of it. PB Blaster, ZEP 45, you name it (other than a cutting torch).

I was thinking of trying to heat them up, but am worried about collateral damage....

I used a 2' section of copper pipe with a breaker bar to get mine loose. You just need to get more leverage. And it only moves about an 1/8 turn each time because of the where the bolt is located.

pawjr74 wrote:I used a 2' section of copper pipe with a breaker bar to get mine loose. You just need to get more leverage. And it only moves about an 1/8 turn each time because of the where the bolt is located.

My breaker bar was flexing so much I was worried it was going to snap! You didn't have the same issue?

I just went for it and they broke free.

I didn't have a problem...slow going because of limited swing area, but they did come out without too much effort...at least nothing I remember having problems with. I was just using an ~18" breaker bar (albeit a thick one with 3/4" drive), no cheater pipe needed.

Sorry, I wish I had a better suggestion.

I had the same problem with mine. Don't give up yet. He the bolt with a torch, heat gun, blowdryer or whatever you have. I used a heat gun to heat it up, sprayed wd-40 on it and waited 10 minutes for t to cool and it finally broke free.

as my shocks are still in good shape, i haven't had the need to remove them
but i'm curious...........
are you guys trying to loosen the bolt before removing the nut?
i keep seeing references to loosening the bolt, but no references to removing the nut first

eieio wrote:as my shocks are still in good shape, i haven't had the need to remove them
but i'm curious...........
are you guys trying to loosen the bolt before removing the nut?
i keep seeing references to loosening the bolt, but no references to removing the nut first

I haven't even tried the top one yet. The bottom is a welded insert.

Looking at the top, there is no real way to get a ratchet or wrench on that nut from what I see.

If I remember correctly, for the top bolt I used a small ratchet to hold the nut on the back side. You can wedge it in and use the truck frame to hold the ratchet while you focus on the bolt with your breaker.

One thing I would suggest to someone trying this job: use a 1/2" drive impact socket (19 MM, if I recall) so you don't have to worry about breaking a regular socket at the 155 ft-lb torque spec.

Also, this may be completely obvious but make sure you have the truck jacked/supported under the frame and not the control arm. You'll have more room to work and avoid putting force on the shock.

You might also try putting a jack under the control arm (when the vehicle is already jacked up) and put a little pressure on it to try various positions of suspension travel to see if it loosens anything up. I had to do this (at least on the fronts) to get the bolts out after they were loosened, and then again to get them back in.

LittleStevie wrote:Also, this may be completely obvious but make sure you have the truck jacked/supported under the frame and not the control arm. You'll have more room to work and avoid putting force on the shock.

You might also try putting a jack under the control arm (when the vehicle is already jacked up) and put a little pressure on it to try various positions of suspension travel to see if it loosens anything up. I had to do this (at least on the fronts) to get the bolts out after they were loosened, and then again to get them back in.

I will be getting a 3/4" breaker bar to try. My 1/2" is flexing far to much to make me comfortable enough to 'go for the gusto' and I've seen too many accidents in shops when people were careless like that.

I think my bolts are a combination of high torque and corrosion. Good combo. I don't really care if I wreck them on the way out, as I have new bolts and nuts from Nissan to replace the old ones. But I haven't been able to get any of them to budge using impact many times, cheater bars, penetrating oil, etc. Haven't tried heat too much. I have a propane torch, but not sure if it would get hot enough, or if it is precise enough.

t

OK I touched a nerve here, hehe. I am not alone! Without this forum I was only feeling a vague sense that it was somehow Obama or Bush's fault but now that appears not to be the case. I will try again, with a bit of a pipe on the end for leverage.