Shock insert seized

[8690q]

I've been changing the front shocks on the 80 20v.

Drivers side went without flaw, same can't be said about the passenger side though. The insert is rusted into the strut !

I've bashed the life out of it with the biggest hammer and left it soaking overnight.
If I go out in the morning and it's still stuck are there any ways of removing it or is it new strut time ?

[spink]

I had one seized on rhe front of an a6.tried allsorts, ended up putting the nut back on the threaded shaft of the shock and attaching an engine crane to it and pump the crane up until it gave way.Went with a right bang and it actually lifted the front of the car off the ground briefly.

[UrS4boy]

You could drill a hole in the bottom of the strut and drift it out with a suitable drift and BFH.

[RoadKill]

I drilled the seal out the top then put it in a vice and used the leg as a slide hammer

[8690q]

I've not tried clamping the insert and pulling/bashing the strut.

I'm assuming by removing the seal you get the last of the oil out and it moves back and forth freely ? I still have some oil in shock to fight against that would damp my sliding hammer type pulling.

I'll try that after more oil and heat.

I don't have access to an engine crane and I don't want to drill out the strut but thanks for the suggestions, it might still come to that.

Thanks guys

I will report back tomorrow with stories of success hopefully.

[andy10v]

I have unwound a couple of seized ones.

There should be a small amount of the shock sticking out the housing, once you get it turning with a big pipe wrench/stillsons you can start to pull it slightly as you turn it and it should screw out. (The ones on my 90 took a lot of force, me and my dad standing on the pipe wrench

If you want some weight/big pipe wrenches/engine crane or oxy acetylene then give me a shout and you can pop over.

[8690q]

Success !

The shock was still stuck this morning after soaking all night.

I tried gentle heat and more oil for a bit, I stuck the shock in the vice and used the strut like a slide hammer and I tried turning it out using the bit I could see to grip on with big effin grips. Nothing, not even budging a single curly hair.

I called Dad for suggestions and it turns out he was passing my way en route to next pickup. Dad drives a big bucket lorry with a front loader.
I managed to convince him that I had wasted enough time with this seized shock and could chain the lot to the hydraulic arms on front of his lorry and yank it apart using proper power.
We snapped the chain we had been using on first attempt so bigger chain was used for second attempt. It pulled the innards out of the shock and left the outer sleeve still in there
It still felt like a small victory though. I'd post the pictures I took but don't want to get Dad in trouble by sticking pictures up of what he was doing instead of what he should've been doing.

I spent the next hour bashing and picking away at the outer sleeve that was still seized in the strut. Turns out it was only stuck at the top couple of inches where it tapers down for the threads. All that for that !

Anyway it's all back in one piece now with new Bilstein B4 shocks and slightly shorter springs to lose the gap it's always had at the front end between wheel and wing.

Thanks for all the help and thanks for reading this long winded post

Cheers

Michael

[andy10v]

Congratulations, sounds like a hard fought victory.

What springs did you get?