SleeprCivic

I'm in the process of taking out the rear lower strut bolts on my 92 VX hatch and the one on the driver side isn't coming out. From the other bolt I see they have ribs on them. I suppose thats to make them fit tight so they don't fall out when you're driving down the road (good) but I have tried a torch, impact gun, impact chisel, and force (broke the head off, but I can hammer it out from either side.) I drilled in two holes in the inner bushing so I can squirt penetrating fluid in and let it soak. I guess I just want to know if other people have had trouble or found a good way to get them out. My last resort is to cut it off right after the bushing edge so I can lift the strut out and pop out the inner metal part of the bushing with the bolt piece still inside. Dahh, I hate rusted suspension!

SleeprCivic

So... no one knows anything about this? Not even an experience when they came out easily??

civicmandx94

When I first got my car and didn't know crap about working on my car I paid a shop to put them on for me. They busted the head off of the bolt where the lca meets the strut. They couldn't tap it out so they had to drill it out. I think that they went through 3 or 4 drill bits before they finally got it through. Good luck though man. God Bless!!

VTECVillain

They tend to seize and rust up inside since the bushing has the metal guide hole through it. Lots of WD40, a torch to heat them up befor looseing them or a air ratchet would help. If you break off the heads, which I've done many times, you might have to take the entire LCA off and try tapping or drilling the rest of the bolt out.

pdiggitydogg

mine were rusted on solid
I took my dremel and cut the shocks to get em off...I was just really careful not to cut anything else...then I bashed the bolt out w/ a BFH (big f***ing hammer)

VWkila

Torch 'till it's RED hot. I mean for 15-20 minutes of torch time, then use your impact wrench.

13HYBRID20

put some wd40 on it and start working out girly man

SleeprCivic

Ha, ya... I'll have some muscles after this! I finally just cut it out on both sides of the bushing and popped out the bushing inside by turning the strut just enough. I'm gonna buy a new bushing and use the inside of that on mine.

GENERAL LEE

thats a typical problem for honda's.. next time take the whole arm off and take it to a machine shop and have them press it out "less stressful"

HighLife

There is a special product that losens rusted and siezed screws. I cant remeber the name off the top of my head. I can say it worked really well. I would start off with some brake cleaner. Let that sit for a few hours and losen all the grime...then hit it with some Wd40 or some type of lube.

kommon_sense

mine came out with just a simple wratchet... Didn't spray any wd-40, lube... nothin... Came out with no problems whatsoever...

DX Hybridizer

He has a 92 you have a 98 I assume is what you are speaking of on yours.

I have a 95 and got lucky I did have to drill one out. Since then I threw some anti seize on them. Not always the smartest thing but I'm alway retorquing to spec the suspension bolts so it's not a issue.

Evil_Wizard

I had this same problem the other day. Beoke the lower shock bolt on the LCA off. ANd this is what I would recommend. you may have to just get a drill and drill it out and then just get a new shock. Or you could just pull the whole LCA off and replace that with one from the junkyard. Much easier and with out near as much work.

kommon_sense

Might be a silly suggestion, but is everyone that is having this problem removing the bolt that connects the lca to the trailing arm FIRST? That will relieve tension on the strut assembly and lower shock mounting bolt...

BERT-O

Alot of northern honda/acura will have this problem (lol, about 90% of the time) due to salt and weather terrain. I have seen alot of northern cars (snow-birds) come in for for suspesion service (i.e. alignments, and such) and most cases all the bolts break. A few hatchback I've work on had the same problem as well.

The solution I found is to heat it up the area very well and use a strong impact gun. Applying some WD-4O will help a bit.

nsxmatt

I broke 2 heads off the bolts so far. I refuse to do springs on cars anymore for friends after I busted one off and had to be drilled out

crazy eyez killa

Just get a new LCA from a junkyard. I got one with bushings for $20.

Beave0101

Me and my dremel have seen some tuff times together

CptCorN

I just spent 3 hours getting one of mine off...

on my 99 si... that bolt has the devil in it...
the other one came off quite easy...

aira

hahah daym i guess i'm not the only one. well anyways, what i did to resolve this problem was to unbolt the LCA completely and just leave the shock on it. i believe it's the two bolts on the outside of the LCA. after that, you can just work on it that way. but if you're going to replace the shock then i guess u can hack it up. hope that helps.