Well first off whoever told you to use a heat gun on your car is a dumbass (see, this explains why you hardly ever listen to people on the internet) But anyways, when my lug nut was stripped to the point that it looked like a round nut with no edges the tire shop got a slightly smaller socket and hammered it on- creating new grips for the socket. You might want to try this, because burning it off will ruin the stud and it will be very expensive to fix it after that happens. If that doesnt work you might want to try what phat99accord said, because i was going to use that nut cracker, but it just didnt fit in the valley's around my lug nuts but it should fit on the nuts that hold your strut bar down with no problem.

 

And this explains why most people on the internet talk out of their ass. Heat gun =/ blow torch. Mechanics use torches to break bonds all the time. This bond can be of frictional nature (such as it being overtorque'd), or oxidation. It does not melt the stud, it's not nearly hot enough :rofl: :lmao: :rofl: When I changed my struts I had to apply a small amount of heat to the strut hat nuts to break them loose without damaging anything else because they were considerably rusted.

But obviously, if it's cross threaded any amount of heat won't fix it. But the last thing it will do is melt it :lmao:

 

Cross threaded or rusted on is the only way that little 12 lbs of torque nut isn't coming off. If you are having that much trouble, you ARE either going to have to soak it in WD40 (or something similar) or apply some heat. Cutting off the nut should be a final resort.

6 pt is always better to use than 12 pt along with the correct size socket. AND quality sockets that fit properly work best when trying to do mechanic work. Hell, I've even found Craftsman not to fit as well as they should... That really pisses me off too!

And even if you destroyed it, an upper strut mount is not that expensive to replace. It just means that you'll have to drop your strut out to get to it.

Just be sure when you get them all back on not to over torque those little guys.

 

As someone said above you can try hammering a slightly smaller SAE socket on but it better be an inpact socket (black type) else you'll likely split the socket. A standard POS Sears socket will likely crack in the corner of the point valley.

Worse comes to worse you bust the nut and stud off, and then you'll simply need to pull the strut and replace the strut hat. It's not the end of the world but a waste of a perfectly good few hours some weekend.

I'd swing by the local dealer, buy a full set of new nuts, give the clerk a sob story and see if a free mechanic could give you a hand at popping the nut loose for a second or two.

Never hurts to try...

 

DONT DREMEL INTO IT. That thread is part of the upper strut.

 

As to bubbrubb's response:

People uses torches as stated b4 because when u torch the nut (not the stud) then the metal expands and creates more room for the stud to have room and there will be enough clearance to spin off the nut.

as for the money i would buy the nut splitter because it is only $15 and then you will be able to see if the threads on the strut mount is damaged. it will prob be the least time consuming also.

 

lol @ someone saying don't use a torch, its pretty common for a shop to.



PB blaster can be bought at autozone I think, this stuff works great!

If that doesn't work and you have snap on tools (or anything half decent) go with the hammering of a little smaller standard socket onto it. It is most defintly cross-threaded, maybe even rusted from the sounds of things.


Once you hammer the socket on, I'd suggest a breaker bar, maybe with a pipe on it too. MAKE SURE IT IS AT THE CORRECT ANGLE THOUGH. Hammer the socket on there good, and give it hell.

I see this all the time with lug nuts, some douche at jiffy lube cross threads the lug nut with an air gun. We ussually end up breaking the stud when taking the lug nut off thats how bad they are on there.

 

Well, I took Phat99's advice and bought the bolt out set from Sears and it worked like a charm. Thanks buddy, that was a great tip that worked well. The kit didn't have an exact size for my needs but I used the 13mm size and just tapped it on with a hammer. It came right off after that. Needless to say I torqued it right this time. I also bought a new nut to replace the stripped out one.