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Hi all , I decided to give the wagon springs a go because my poor old RX's rear struts/springs are std and probably the original factory fitted height adjustable type . Its sagged and hits the bump stops when it shouldn't .

I had a hell of a time removing these two bolts on the drivers side today .
I was using a friends telescopic 1/2 inc drive ratchet tool which is about 450 od mm long and something German knowing him . It had two long extentions on it and cracking the bolts lose was not the problem , screwing them out was because they obviously have dirt or corosion on the end thats gone beyond the captive body nuts . I don't work out as much as I should but know how to put my back into hand tools so when I'm reduced to straining one click at a time the thread is seriously tight .
These bolts would be grade 8 or 8.8 and while their threads are not damaged they have been seriously stressed . I was real concerned about how the captive nut threads would be and even with a liberal coat of anti sieze compound they were tighter to screw back in than i would have liked . If I'd had the correct sized tap I would have chased the threads to make it a bit easier .

The burning question is can you get to the inside of the captive nuts to clean or lubricate the other end of the bolts so they they can be removed easily ?

I'd really like someone to tell me that I can get to them with the back seat removed or some other way .

The real danger would be shearing a bolt head off half way out because the other wouldn't support the strut properly and it would be a bastard of a job getting the remaining part out .

Any pointers people , cheers Adrian .

Silence deafening .

For me the go was to work the bolts in and out until they could be removed all the way . I used Never Seize on the threads when refitted .

If it matters to anyone the thread is M14 x 1.25 and I bough an intermediate tap to keep these threads clean .

A .

You cant get to the captive nuts unless you cut a hole on the arch in the boot, it is double skinned and the captive nuts are in the middle. I discovered this while i was musing the idea of a rear strut brace.
Dirt and crap can still get in through several holes though, your best bet may be to remove the bolts and use the captive nut as a guide to use a punch to mark the secound skin layer on the boot side. Then drill a couple of largish holes in the inner arch skin so you can fit a grease covered finger in to cover the threads.

You may wish to consider tapping in a larger thread and using new bolts to suit that. If the thread is ruined and you can't replace the captive nut easily then this is really the only solution.

Yes I spoke to Gee about the possibility of putting a hole saw through the arch and having a grommet there to keep crud out .
I also think that if the bolts were the correct length they wouldn't be exposed .

Cheers A .

My Brumby rear shock mount bolts were like that first time i replaced them - rattle gun all the way to undo them. The next time many years later they were pretty good.

Installed a lift kit on the weekend and the 4 bolts holding the torsion tube on took about an hour a piece to get out. In and out with the penetrine they came out without damage but i chased the thread out anyway and never siezed em back in. Never saw the post or would have responded earlier.


As for the L series after installing the bolts you can place a small amount of "Ag bortax" gease on the amount sticking past the captive nut you will always get the bolts back out. The Ag grease is so sticky.