Removing gas strut lift on trunk: does ball stud screw into a captured nut, or...?

[texas_badger]

I want to replace the gas struts on my trunk lid, but noticed that when I begin to remove the ball stud, the more I loosen it the more the stud seems to 'wallow' or swivel...almost as though the captured nut (or whatever it's threaded into) in the trunk body panel has come loose on the back side. I can't find any way to get a wrench on the backside (it's INSIDE the body panel), and I'm too chicken to unscrew it all the way and find that the nut has just fallen away - lost forever in the bowels of the rear quarter. Still, I can re-tighten the stud without any trouble at all, which leads me to believe it's designed this way, but the excessive wobble really has worried...I'd hate to lose the backside nut. The same phenomenon occurs on both sides, which further leads me to believe they're designed to 'swivel' or move as they're loosened. That said, I'd REALLY hate to find out I'm wrong. Can anyone tell me if this is normal, or am I right to be concerned?

 

[clean_green]

I changed my struts a few months ago and the ball studs screwed out easily. There is no nut. IIRC there is a nut pressed into the aluminum but it should never come loose. Maybe a previous owner overtightened the studs and made the pressed in nut pull loose?

 

[Larry Bastanza]

No Nut, just unscrew it..