I'm finally getting around to put the rear Koni yellows in the back of the car... I just jacked the car up and took the bottom strut bolt out easily on the driver's side. The passenger side is being a bitch though. I soaked the thing in WD-40 and used the impact wrench and it wouldn't budge. Then I tried using a breaker bar and I ended up pulling so hard the whole back end of the car came off the jack stands and the bolt still didn't move. I got pissed off, got the impact wrench again and cranked the pressure up to 200 PSI... well I ended up rounding the bolt head and it's still stuck.
Basically I need to know if you guys have any magic tricks I can use to get the bolt out. I can't use an extractor and gator grip won't fit. It's a 18mm bolt head... I could try dremeling it to the shape of a 17mm head, or I could drill a horizontal hole through the head and stick a rod in it (rod will probably break). I don't think cutting it will get me anywhere because I will still need to get the threads out of the hole somehow.
Any ideas?
- Ken
'99 Z24, Manual
turn it the right way. i cant see how it would be that hard to get out.
Are you turning it from the right side? On one side is the head of the bolt going through... on the other side is a nut welded to the axle. You'll have a hell of a time trying to turn that nut... and certainly wouldn't be the first to try in vain.
I am definately trying to turn the bolt (it is on the inside, welded bolt is on the outside). Unless it's a left hand thread, I'm also turning it the correct way.
'99 Z24, Manual
This is an old trick I learned for an old mechanic.
Heat that bolt up with a torch nice and hot, Then Jam a Candle in to it( Yes a Candle) The wax will melt and pull its self into the threads through cappaliry action. Then simply try removing the bolt again. I have used this trick many of times. Sometimes it works, some times it doesn't. Make sure the bolt you are heating it safe to heat first though. Don't go melting something, or burring a hole in something.
get pb buster. its like wd-40 but alot better. you spray it on and it bleeds itself around the bolt all the way down. works really good.
i just wanted to make sure he didn't walk into a store asking for "pb buster" and look like a mega-douche.
personally, those bolts on the bottom of the strut were really easy to get off on my 03.... i started out using an 18" breaker bar but i could've easily got them off with a 3/8" rachet with some muscle
MeltdOwn350 aka cOdy wrote:i just wanted to make sure he didn't walk into a store asking for "pb buster" and look like a mega-douche.
personally, those bolts on the bottom of the strut were really easy to get off on my 03.... i started out using an 18" breaker bar but i could've easily got them off with a 3/8" rachet with some muscle
lol right. its been a while since i used that stuff. i used it on my coilovers, dont have them anymore so i dont use it that much. yea the bolts are pretty easy to take off. when we did my suspension both times, me and my buddy just used a regular socket to get them off
yeah they should have only about 50 or so lbs of torque on them. was the car serviced at a shop. I wonder if they cross threaded that thing on ya. I did mine by hand, but I did have to give it a good pull with the breaker bar the first time, they were way too tight from the factory.
you can do that heat thing with wd-40 too, I don't know the blaster stuff don't know how flammable it is.
I ended up dremeling the bolt head to fit a 17mm socket, then used a torch to heat the threads up red hot and the bolt came out with the impact wrench easily (didn't even need the wax). Melted the rubber bushing on the stock strut but luckily I don't need it. Those bolts are torqued to 125 ft-lbs... and this one had 6 years of northeast rust on it.
Thanks for all the ideas guys! I'll be sure to pick up some of that PB Blaster stuff next time I work on the car.
- Ken
'99 Z24, Manual
So... basically... you're just a nancy-boy and couldn't get it loose?
*jk*
Glad you got 'er apart.
