Well, I was workin on puttin some H&R Sports on the car. Struggle a bit as usual being the first time I have done this. In any case, got to the last assembly and broke the head off the lower strut bolt. What shall I do? Drill it out and retap? Get new lower control arm assembly? Someone help me with the cheapest option. thank in advance.
Sorry about the pic size. Didnt have time to resize.

 

same thing happened to my brothers Si. first we tried to press the bolt out (it was rusted in place) no luck. then we pressed the bushing out and we were gonna replace it. we just ended up getting a used control arm from pickn pull. good luck

 

are those the old or new shocks?

if theyer the old ones, grind off the nut on the other side of the shock fork and hit it out w/ a drift.

 

Its the old ones, and i gotta keep it cus i didnt get a new struts, just springs. I was thinkin something along the lines of drillin the bolt out and retapping. But I'd prefer not to take that route. Any other suggestions?

 

Been there...done that.

Press out the bushing, buy a new one...and replace that nasty old bolt. I believe it is a m10 1.25 pitch. I had a hard time finding it around town so I bought some bolts from boltdepot.com.

Good luck.

 

But how do i get it out of the strut? Should i cut that nut off the end of the strut and try to just use another bolt and a nut? The bolt should be easy enuff to get out of the bushing once is separated from the strut, i hope......

 

I took a sawzall to the bolt in the aread between the stut and the control arm. Takes a while, but a torch helps.

 

Sawzall? Haha! I'm not that lucky. Gonna be me + a dremel + 5 bajillion cutting discs goin at that MF lol. Thanks for the suggestion its most likely what i'll end up doin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89SiPimpin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But how do i get it out of the strut? Should i cut that nut off the end of the strut and try to just use another bolt and a nut? The bolt should be easy enuff to get out of the bushing once is separated from the strut, i hope......</TD></TR></TABLE>


that's what i'd do

shouldn't need anything except a new bolt and nut. if the bushing is ok now, you won't mess it up w/ the punch.

 

Nut should only be tack welded in. So easy to dremel the tacks off. Then if not completely frozen you ought to be able to hammer it out from the non-nut side.

If it is stuck in the bushing cut on either end of the strut and cut the nut tacks. Get everything out. And hammer the bolt out of the bushing.

A nut/bolt replacement should be had easily from Auto parts store. A bolt w/ a nylon locker would be prefered (like my ST sway which requires the removal of the strut nut) or just get some thread locker stuff from the parts store when u get the new bolt.

 

interesting thought... dremel the welds from the nut ... then hit that side with the impact gun. If its stuck on the bushing u could potentially spin the bolt loose. And if its stuck on the nut.... well.. you got the cut off and it should come out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">interesting thought... dremel the welds from the nut ... then hit that side with the impact gun. If its stuck on the bushing u could potentially spin the bolt loose. And if its stuck on the nut.... well.. you got the cut off and it should come out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

or if you don't have an impact, turn it with a ratchet the wrong way (tighten) and it'll prolly spin the bolt enough to free it from the bushing so you can hammer it out w/ a drift. this is all, of course, if it is stuck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRXDrew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">interesting thought... dremel the welds from the nut ... then hit that side with the impact gun. If its stuck on the bushing u could potentially spin the bolt loose. And if its stuck on the nut.... well.. you got the cut off and it should come out.</TD></TR></TABLE>
This is what i'm gonna try tonite after work.
Thanks again all for the suggestions.

 

If i were you ( this is what i did when i ran into this) I would cut the bolt on both sides of the control arm, leaving as much bolt on the nut side as possible by prying the control arm over as you cut, maybe even cutting partly through the bushing(I used a cutting wheel)... the threads will come out easy after you remove the control arm. Just use vise grips or a broken bolt remover. The bushing is seized, not the threads on the bolt.

I would then take the oportunity to press the bushing out ( or burn it out and then grind it out very carefully if you're ghetto like me) and put urethane bushings in (Energy suspension) You'll thank yourself with the new firm ride that it will add to your new suspension.

 

This is what i did when my bolt was frozen in there.. the shocks were toast so I cut the side of the shock fork that the head of the bolt was on off, cut out the old bushing and put in an energy suspension bushing and replaced the bolt.. wasnt hard at all and there was no need to try and pound out the frozen bolt.

 

There is no way you will get the bolt out of the bushing sleeve...unless you are REALLY lucky, so plan on replacing the bushing or alteast the sleeve.

 

You guys are working way too hard. Unless you need to replace the strut, just remove the LCA with the strut bolted to it. Works EVERY time or your money back.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Loco Honkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You guys are working way too hard. Unless you need to replace the strut, just remove the LCA with the strut bolted to it. Works EVERY time or your money back.</TD></TR></TABLE>
thats what i did

and it looks like you got poly bushings. if the bolt is fused to that sleve plan on cutting the shocks off then replacing the sleeve in the bushing.

 

you could either torch it or cut it, but the bushing's gonna need to be replaced. make sure you use antiseize when you put it together so this doesn't happen again!

 

dood just cut the nut off and hammer the bolt out. simple.

 

well....i have been driven aroudn wiht that bolt broken for a year now....in fact I completely forgot it was broken till i saw this post.....i had my fronts lowered too....i drove around for a month with front bein lowered and rear stock...till i just took the three bolt to the control arm and took the strut with the arm out installed my springs....put them back up there....works great didnt watn to buy new struts
my bro on his eg this happened too...and we just grinded teh nut off and pushed the bolt out got a set of rear struts used off someone here for like 30 bucks for both..put them back on presto done but if you dont got no money then do what i did and just take the arm with the strut off and put the springs on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by menappi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dood just cut the nut off and hammer the bolt out. simple. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm trying this. I got my nut off, and am trying to get the bolt to come out. Its really seized in there really good so right now i'm just workin it tryin to get off. Might have to pull the bushing out and get a new one, which blows. Do local auto parts stores sell those or would i have to wait for Mr. Honda? Thanks.

 

That ain't ****. I should post pics of what my old LCA's looked like(I got Type-R lcas now). EDIT: I see you just need to get the bushing out. Take off the LCA, get a new bushing and take it somewhere to get the new bushing pressed in.

 

Post some pics, pics are fun.

 

lol have u ever taken a bushing out of the control arm? its a bitch. ull need a torch and youll ned to burn it out. then once its burned out, youll need to take a hacksaw and cut out the metal that surrounding it thats stuck in the control arm. then work ti so it comes out, because its pressed in there tight. i would just cut the nut off and then get the bolt out and put a new bolt through it and put another nut on there.