One lousy no good &@$@"&$ bolt!

[laserjock]

Okay guys. You know what they say. There's one in every crowd. Tearing this parts truck down thus far has been cake compared to most anything else I've done....until now. Working on the spring shackle bolts which I have been dreading based on past history. To my surprise all of them tapped out but the two fronts on the rear springs. Driver side took about the normal heating and cussing to get it out. Pass side is unbelievable. At this point, I've heated it till there is no rubber left. I've beat on it with the bfh until the nut is barely recognizable. I've tried a c clamp to put some tension on it while I work it back and forth. Even a gear puller doing the same thing. Won't budge. Short of cutting the end of the spring off with a torch or trying to burn it out with the torch, any suggestions? I don't have a complete oxy acetylene set yet but my birthday is coming up. . I'm at a loss. I thought about trying the saws all but I'm guessing that bolt is really hard and probably it'll just wipe the teeth off the blade.

Off to bed for tonight.

 

[Greg5OH]

try heating as much as possible, then dousing with cold garden hose water for a few seconds. Then smash it.
I have yet to encounter anything that resists the hot/cool method. Heat alone wont help.
ps-works alot better if you habe oxy torches to get it red hot.

 

[Greg5OH]

Ps-its a grade 8 bolt, invest in a GOOD sawzall blade. Its around $30 for one, its called The Torch or something like that.
Man i tried everything to cut the bolts holding my stangs 8.8 in. Went through 12 carbide sawzalls, finally got that expensive one and it was through it in 20 seconds.(and all other bolts too!)

 

[riotwarrior]

Dewalt Demolition blades work well...get a large jug of oil and squirter and squirt oil on the ***** lots as u cut the bolts

Whats likely happened is the inner sleeve of the bushing is rust welded itself to the bolt and won't budge anywhere as it's between the hanger.

Cut through that bolt on each side and yer golden!

Hope that helps

Al

 

[rembrant88]

I had the same problem this weekend, turns out someone installed a soft bolt in the shackle at one time. I had fun smashing it into a mushroom before finally cutting it out. Same here for the hot cold method. Good luck.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

If you can get a thin cut off wheel for a 4 1/2" grinder, you might be able to slide it between the spring and shackle on both sides of the spring and then lift the spring up and remove the old bushing/bolt. This would probably take more than one grinder wheel.

 

[laserjock]

Finally got it. Little map gas to get it really hot and the big hammer. Had to cut the nut off because it deformed when I hit it it was so hot. Thanks for the suggestions. If you don't have an oxy-acetylene torch I highly recommend a map torch. Way hotter than propane.

 

[racin460]

Next time use a ball joint press works awesome!

 

[laserjock]

Next time use a ball joint press works awesome!

I was attempting o go that route with the puller and clamps but that is an excellent idea. I don't have one but it is on the tool list. It ought to be able to put the schtick to it. Thanks for the input.

 

[fordf350man]

air hammer work great for me with those stubborn bolts

 

[Josh Carmack]

I as well was going to suggest an air chisel,/ aka air hammer, but believe it or not, I have seen several times where a BFH, aka 2lb sledge worked tons better than the air chisel did.