The bolts are indeed 10mm/12point. I'll try the compressing idea. I of course first tried removing the wheel, but that didn't turn out as I expected.. This is the first time I have tried to remove the wheel my self. I used a 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter into a 17mm socket. Well a couple of the bolts were in WAY too tight. I put some muscle into it and sheered my Craftsman adapter. So I have been attempting to do this shock change with the wheel inplace.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member