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Anonymous10/02/25, 03:19No.2948294Car Repair General
Replacing Struts With Shit Tools Edition
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Anon10/02/25, 03:23No.2948297
The sun set on me as I was trying to change the front struts on my car.The sway bar link wouldn't come off, then the strut-knucle bolts wouldn't either and I broke some socket adapters.There's barely any room to work with my big torque wrench/break bar.Hopefully I can get this shit all cleaned up tomorrow, and no one fucks with my car overnight. It's mostly put together, with the wheel on, but still. I don't have a driveway, so I did this at the community center.
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Anon10/02/25, 04:32No.2948306
move somewhere not run by the salt cartel.
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Anon10/02/25, 15:32No.2948342
Been there OP in my younger, poorer days. Someday you won't be wrenching in an apartment complex parking lot and you'll have tools that aren't made of absolute chinesium, and better yet you'll have the godsend that is an impact wrench. In the meantime good luck and keep on keeping your dollars by not paying someone else to do this shit. Also a basic ass propane torch is your friend to heat up nuts so they come off easier when letting them soak overnight with penetrating lubricant doesn't work.
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Anon10/02/25, 18:28No.2948379
Is that a Mazda CX-7?
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Anon10/02/25, 21:22No.2948412
I got some gay ass swaybar links with no wrench snap. It's just a circle that'll spin when I tighten the bolt... jfc
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Anon10/03/25, 02:38No.2948461
if the sway bar link is a bitch to undo on the other side, just cut it in the middle, a hand hacksaw will do, or any more expensive method. If you are replacing the whole thing, seized nuts be damned, cut it apartyou're doing good work
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Anon10/03/25, 18:46No.2948572
Could have rented a spring compression tool to save even more money on just struts.Hit everything with PB blaster before working a week before the job!
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Anon10/03/25, 23:36No.2948629
Idk if yours is the same but I used long needle nose pliers to hold sway bar link in place.
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Anon10/04/25, 05:48No.2948674
Replaced a leaky power steering cooler with a universal one. Might eventually add an oil cooler. You can see where the line is currently looped.
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Anon10/04/25, 16:17No.2948750
I finally started working on my own car 4 years ago when a shop quoted me $400 for a control arm, and I bought the pet and all the tools I needed for $400 instead. Never looked back and now I have a nice set of tools and have only been back to a real shop once.
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Anon10/06/25, 09:50No.2949078
I was replacing disc brakes when I realize I don't want to struggle with cars anymore.
>video: few gentle taps with rubber mallet to loosen the old disc
>me: ended up turning steering wheel all the way left, hitting the disc with huge sledgehammer from the back, turning steering wheel all the way right, again hitting with sledgehammer, repeated 3 times until the corroded disc finally fell off
no thanks, next time I paying few bucks to some dirty janny to do this shit
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Anon10/06/25, 19:55No.2949257
>294921oh
holy fuck zoomiezooms are soft
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Anon10/11/25, 05:27No.2950149
Hearing a grinding(metal on metal) noise in driver's side front, when taking a sharp left and a clunk.Is it a tie rod?
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Anon10/15/25, 08:21No.2950935
Can someone give me the retards guide to fixing this fault? I've driven a desk my entire career but I managed to fit my own starter motor last weekend so I've got new found confidence.Jaguar Xtype 2004 petrolEML came on last night, no performance issues other than a singular choke pulling away hard uphill out of a busy junction (definitely not a clutch slip).
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Anon10/18/25, 15:04No.2951520
Car gets a mild thumping vibration starting around 30mph and it remains at highway speed. Trying to figure out how to tell which component is even responsibleI've done plenty of water pump and alternator swaps on old shitbox pickups, always do my own oil and brakes, but never fucked with suspension components before, so this should be fun. Luckily I live in southern half of US so rust isn't a big deal
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Anon10/18/25, 16:32No.2951529
Does it about match with wheel speed? If so possibly just an out of balance wheel or bent rim.If rear wheel or all wheel drive and a bit slower then wheel speed, drive shaft u joints.