Hi All,

I just replaced my front struts with OEM parts. I found a great walkthrough (Strut Replacement Guide) and got the job done with little difficulty. Two notes and a question:

- This was a Texas car (no salty roads) and I "PB Blastered" the bolts 48 hours before, 24 hours before, and 1 hour before I did the job. I had no trouble with frozen bolts/nuts.

- The biggest PITA by far was wrenching on the spring compressors I rented/borrowed from Autozone. My friend helped me and he reminded me several times how much quicker this step goes when you have an impact wrench

Question: I bought new bolts and nuts for the strut arm (two large bolts near the rotor), and new top-nuts for ariybd the strut tower. All the nuts were oval shaped. I figured this may be some kind of locking mechanism, but wasn't sure. While the oval shape is slight, it is noticeable when you look at the nut, and very noticeable as you try to tighten it. Has anyone seen these before?

Thanks in advance,

Mark

 

Yes, they're just a different style of lock nut, somewhat squashed.
An impact is great for screwing those spring compressors.
Ed