Hey guys, I'm pressing in new bushings and ball joints into my front control arms. I cant get them off! they are seperated from the spindle and sway bar, but the one bolt that attaches it to the chassis doesn't wanna come out. The nut came off no problem but the bolts don't wanna come out, i tried hammering it, air chisle, and ball joint press to push it out. Nothings working, How the heck do i get those suckers out of there?

Thanks, Matt

 

WD-40 and keep wacking it, it'll come out. Gonna have to get new bolts if you mess them up.

 

I tried brute force for a few hours when tearing down a parts car. Finally I went and got a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder. It took like two minutes to slice through the bolts between the frame and the arm. I had been beating on them so hard that it deformed the frame where the bolt goes through. No way they were ever coming out in one piece.

 

put the nut back onto the bolt until the bolt end is near flush with the nut, then start whacking it with the hammer... that way you won't have to worry so much about getting new hardware. oh, and use a brass drift

 

The sleeve inside the bushing is rusted to the bolt, that is what you are dealing with as the sleeve is a larger diameter than the bolt hole. Lots of P B Blaster, let it sit and soak. Heating both ends of the through bolt may help break up the rust, but sometimes the bolt needs to be sacrificed.

 

sometimes you just have to cut them.

 

Great I have to get a set off this weekend.

 

what he said. I let mine sit over night. And I used copious amounts of PB blaster.

 

A crackhead mechanic told me once that sperm works well...


I have no idea what I'm talking about.


Is it possible you could go to ABC and buy those drill bits that you can use to actually drill into the bolt, and then reverse it out? Just a thought...

~Jerry

 

Sawsall, off in 5 minutes. If your car was run in salty weather, don't expect to get the bolt out in 1 piece. YMMV