MK1 hottuning coilover too tight?!

[NERD]

Just lowering the coilovers on my MK1 golf. I've adjusted 3 of the 4 sides, but the front right is EXTREMELY hard to unwind. I've already given it a good spray of WD-40 and tried again, but it still wont budge.

Does anyone have any ideas to unwind it (from maximum height)?

Thanks in advance!

[Preen59]

Be careful dude it might have picked up..

Try winding it back up and smearing a heap of grease on the thread, then wind it back down again.. In some cases WD40 will make it worse.. Only sometimes though.

[WABIT]

are both rings stuck or just the one?

dom

[Preen59]

Yeah there's a point.. You know that there are two seperate nuts, right?

I'm serious.

[E-Z]

also try tapping the strut with a small hammer while twisting, TAPPING not hammering lol

[NERD]

The coilover is at currently at maximum height. I cant lower it or heighten it any further.

I know there are two nuts - both are stuck.

Tried tapping it with a hammer, WD40 and using a bar (placing it perpendicular with the c-spanner) and none work. The other tree corners were easy to unwind, but this is near impossible.

soooo annoying!
Can i entice anyone with awards to help me out here?

[Preen59]

Heat the nuts up with a hair dryer... I'm serious.

Aluminium (the nuts) expands at a greater rate than steel (the strut). The nuts will also absorb the heat faster.

Do that and it might break the lock and allow you to get them undone. Try heating them up (get them too hot to touch) and spray some WD in the thread then try to wind them again.

[Oneofthegreats]

If possible, could you please take a picture of whats going on & this may help with suggestions as to exactly how to help you with your issue.

First thing I'd do is make sure the strut is clean. Especially the strut threaded body.

[NERD]

Will take pictures tonight after work and post up.
Thanks again

[NERD]

Here is the picture:



Its at the upper most point. Obviously i wanted to lower it, but cant move it from where it is.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Oneofthegreats]

So you can't move the lower ring clockwise at all?

[Preen59]

Your thread looks like it has picked up slightly at some stage..

-Remove the unit, pull the top mount off to take pressure off the spring first.

-Spray WD40 or similar on the top of the nuts and let it soak down.

-Wind the nuts off the top one at a time and check the thread. Gimme some close up pics of the thread if possible.

[Peter Jones]

Do you have two spanners?

I'd hold the upper ring with one spanner and tap a second spanner lightly to try and move the two rings apart. I'd imagine the rings are frozen to each other.

Some good quality C spanners would help too, the stamped ones that ship with the struts aren't too good generally speaking.

Teng make some nice C spanners.

Pete

[Spyda]

Take it out and take the spring off.
The spring is compressed and is pressing down on the rings, that will make it heeps harder to take off.

Heating it up like preeny said should work too.

If you have 2 c-spanners it would be tooo easy. I always use both to loosen and tighten the two.

Why the hell is it wond all the way up?

[NERD]

Thanks for the help. I'll use 2 c-spanners or if not remove the unit

Preen59 - thanks for the tips. i will post a close up of the thread in the next day or two. Just have to find a bit of spare time inbetween working.

Peter Jones - I have a second c spanner lying around somewhere. I'll try unwinding it using both. I couldnt find the 2nd the other day as i wanted to try that method.

Why the hell is it wond all the way up?

car got defected for being too low