I'm trying to remove my lower control arms, but the damn bolts wont come out. I got the nuts off all honky-dory, but the bolts won't move. any tips on how I can get thm out. I don't have air tools, and my oxy torch is bone empty. any help would be appreciated. o No: :beer
is the load off of the arm? (spring out?) just get a punch and a BFH and give them a little encouraging. wait till you put the arms back in, then comes the fun.
You need an air chisel with a long dull pointed tip that has a lot of ba!!s. If you don't have compressed air, put a nut on the end of the bolt and try driving it through back and forth a few times to break it free. The trick is not to mushroom the threaded end of the bolt or you'll be in trouble. I like the air chisel better b/c it is less nasty to the frame brackets and easier on the bolts.. You'll find that a torch is not very helpful here and if you aren't accurate burning off the bolt you will butcher the frame brackets. Be careful! If you don't have a very good air chisel now is a good time to buy one....the most powerful one you can afford. The bushings come out much easier if you do it just right with one of these. I can tell you how when you are ready. :bglasses:
I don't have air tools so the air chisel is kinda out. I think what I'm going to do is make like pickle fork at work tomorow that I can pound between the head of the bolt and the frame. I have a new frame so what ever happens to the old one is ok by me. I think I should probably get the springs out. I have the upper control arms off, that was cake. Keep the suggestions coming tho.
spray it good with whatever you have (wd40) then put a breaker bar on it , and turn the bolt. once the bolt turns freely, either put a nut on it, or use a brass drift, and a BFH (hammer), and beat it out.
Lower Control Arms I just finished this project a couple weeks ago. I highly recommend that you only remove one control arm , then either box and change bushings to that arm and reinstall before trying to remove the other side. I hope you have a comealong, as the third member will definitley pivot when you drive the first bolt out. I used the comealong to help hold the third member in place before changing the other arm. I bought the poly bushings and new bolts from HR PartsNstuff for my uppers and boxed them, but my lowers were junk so I bought their new boxed arms. Good people and nice parts.
come -a -long? I guess I must have been lucky. I put a p-s-t ,front end kit in, and everything came apart ok, and went together even easier, with basic hand tools. You never know.
Joe, Frank has a good idea trying to turn the bolt first. Just be careful, I broke a breaker bar that way one day in the alignment pit on a Vega (matic). I'm still a little dizzy. (that explains it all:grin: )
If the bolt turns, but the bolt won't come out....that's the worst case. The bolt is rusted to the steel sleeve of the bushing. Soak it with a good penetrant, PB blaster and Kroil are two of the best. Then give it a few heat/cool cycles with a torch. Then try turning the bolt while beating on the other end... I bet the first 3 bolts came out no problem, right? It's always that LAST bolt!:rant:
I got them out last night. I torched the crap out of them, but Still had to hammer the balls out of them. The last bolt came right out tho, I must have scared it :Brow:
Yeah, just don't miss!:eek2: I've tried yelling at stuck bolts, cursing them out, etc.....that doesn't seen to work, either....but I still do it :rant: Heat/cool cycles work the best....it expands and contracts the parts, so when you douse it with penetrant, it works in-between the frozen parts. On a tip, I've even used CANDLE WAX on some broken exhaust manifold bolts....worked like a charm!
Yeah, the candle wax reminds them of punishment at Catholic School and it scares the bolts right off.
I used a ball joint press with great success on a couple of cars...pushes the bolt right through the sleeve. The press I have is like a giant c-clip with an open hole in the non-threaded end about 1" in diameter and it worked like a charm on the last few A Body rear suspension bolts that I've done. I'm going to see if the tool will fit in the front when I pull my front end apart for the disc brake upgrade in the next couple weeks.
