I'm trying to get some things done on my Park Ave as its my daily driver. It still has the original struts in it, so I bought a pair of KYB struts for the back to start off with. Well, I got the two top mounting nuts off fairly easily, but everything changed when I went for the two bottom bolts/nuts. They are beyond the reach of hand tools for me, they weren't going anywhere. So, I'm trying to decide if I should have a shop put them in for me, or if I should go out and buy a compressor. I've wanted to have a compressor for years now. I imagine those bottom nuts would come off 123 with an impact gun. I just did a quick search on Sears and they have 26 gal, 1.6hp or 2hp units for around $280-$300 that come w/ a set of tools and they have decent reviews as a weekend mechanic tool. A shop is going to charge me at least $100. Impact gun and air ratchet sure would make a lot of things easier.
Man, if you're fooling around with cars you have to get an air compressor! I guarantee you won't ever regret that purchase! You'll use it for things you didn't even think of. Just do it....
If you can afford the compressor , buy it . They make working on cars so much easier . If my air compressor even hiccups I stop what I am doing and take care of the compressor with top priority . I am getting lazy and don't like to use a regular ratchet , now air ratchet or impact .
Well, lucky me, Sunday morning I get an email from Craftman Club about special sale. I got the 26, 1.6hp compressor, on sale for $279 - $10 Club discount and 12pc SAE deep impact socket set on sale for $79 - $30 Club discount. All together, I got the compressor w/impact gun, air ratchet hose kit, the socket set and 50' of 3/8" rubber air hose for $375 total. Can't wait to try it out!!
My question is what about the spring compressor needed to swap the springs and bearing plates onto the new struts? I know you can usually rent ones from local parts stores, but they can be sketchy at best.
best thing to do is take the struts off as an assy, take to a local shop and have them swap your springs and stuff over to the new struts, take it back and hav eit aligned... the guys at the shops will have pole or wall mounted spring compressors and are used to using them. you can hurt yourself bad if the compressed spring escapes from the compressor. I knew a guy that had one slip out on a GOOD mount compressor. hit him in the head and knocked him out for a short time. He had to go to the hospital for stitches.
I bought the struts at tirerack, took them and the original assemblies to NTB to have them mounted, then installed myself. Easy! Mitch
I bought the Craftsman 26gal model with a set of air tools & impact sockets a few years ago - it has more than paid for itself.
invest in the 6 point deep impact sockets and a quality breaker bar and a piece of 1" gas pipe 2' long as a breaker bar extension. I have a nice compressor but rarely use it for removing car parts. nate
another real handy tool to have if you do a lot of your own work is a torch set. vise grip pliers are also nice.
Be forwarned, once started a tool collection takes on a life of its own! Before you know it you will be adding on to your garage.... That being said when it comes to compressors, bigger is better!
propane torch big pipe and a breaker bar and some good 6 point sockets are the only cure alot of times compressors dont always get the bolts out
I find that often works better than my impact wrench. That is actually what I used for the lower strut mounts on my Park Avenue. I also use that combo when putting it back together to get those bolts railroad tight. :Brow: (I don't think the alignment shop was too happy though) LOL!
I finally broke down and bought a compressor myself and now don't know how I got along without it. The thing I found while replacing the entire front end - was some bolts are out of reach of "meat" my BFH with a Porky's reference - and with hand tools needing breaker bars, there was no "throw" room for my LFP (long friggin pipe) with headers in the way. Impact gun and some PB and those muthers came right out despite the 38-year-old-dry-rot-for-bushings not wanting to let go of the through-bolts. Now I am itching to buy more air driven tools John Mile-hi 1970 455 GS1 almost resurrected :blast:
You're a sick, sick man. Help can be obtained inexpensively at harborfrieght.com- if that therapy is not enough go to craftsmantools.com or snapon.com There there, take this 1/2"drive 260 ftlb torque airgun and call me in the morning....
