I'm working on putting in my friend's susp. on his 'teg. I did the fronts and everything went smooth, but now I've gotten to the rears and I just cannot get this bolt out. I tried spraying it all over with WD-40 and I think I'm starting to strip it with how hard I'm torquing at it.

Any ideas to get this out? I don't exactly have an impact wrench handy so...

Thanks

 

pretty common problem, i think. if you have a torch, try heating the bolt at each end to loosen it. just don't torch it for too long or you'll melt the bushing. my car was only 2 years old when i had the suspension done, and the bolts had to be cut out and replaced. bushings replaced, too. impact wrench, torch - nothing worked. good luck!

jeff

 

For my rear LCA, I usually have to use a floor jack(not on the actual bolt, but on the LCA) to get the bolt come out, cause it's at a funky angle.

 

I used a 7' piece of conduit(sp) as a "cheater bar", and thought i had loosened that damn bolt, but i just stripped the head......what now? thanks.
MIKE

 

That's a very common problem when you're doing suspension swaps. Basically, the only thing you can do, other than get an impact gun, is to heat it with a torch or drill it out.

I usually have problems when I try to do suspension work on cars older than 1997. The older they get, the more crud gets in there, and the harder the bolt gets to remove.

When you're using a breaker/cheater bar, make sure you're using 6 point sockets to prevent stripping. Doing that, the only thing you can really break is the head of the bolt (at which point you drill/dremel it out), or strip the actual ratchet (which, if you have Craftsman, or any good brand, you can get it replaced free).

Good luck. Soo...anywho, try the torch first. That usually works. Just watch out for the brake lines and the flammable WD-40/Liquid Wrench that you put on.

 

My experience indicates that some sort of impact tool is a GREAT help at getting those bolts out. I installed my suspension last February (when my car was about 8 years old), and using PB Blaster and my friend's electric impact wrench, I had no trouble getting my LCA bolts out. You can buy electric impact wrenches for very cheap (I've seen them for $10-$15 at Harbor Freight), and they plug into your cig lighter in your car. They are rather slow (about 1 impact per second) but for me, it got those bolts out without any issue, which was the most important thing.

 

i broke the head off of one of those bolts trying to install my suspension so my dad made me take it to a shop and have them do the rest. they ended up breaking off the other bolt, too. the bastards took 7.5 hours to install my suspension and it cost me $700 in labor & new bushings.

 

Grab a hack saw and cut the bolt between the inside of the fork and bushing end, on both ends. This will allow you to get the shock out and examine what the bolt shaft/bushing interface looks like. If it is really corroded you'll probably have to replace the bushing... if it's mildly corroded you might be able to get away with soaking the area in penetrating oil and wacking the bolt shaft out. You can also try coca-cola to remove the rust, or a mild acid.

Up here in Canada it's a very common problem, 1998 and older will have the bolt seized. I tried 2 0.5" impact guns, both really nice and they did not budge the bolt. Heat didn't help and yes the bolts were sprayed every day for a week before attempting the install.

 

break out the sawzall...break the head of the bolt off thecut through the metal sleeve for the bushing..oh yeah get some used lca's from the junkyard, they're like 50 bucks for a pair. I run into this problem at least 3 times a month at work.
When you put it back together use antiseize on all the bolts and it won't happen again.

 

why would you need new lca's? wouldn't you just need some new forks? unless they are one in the same, then i am confused. Junk yards up here charge anywhere from $45-100 a piece for the LCA's. bastards!

*also-is there any way to remove the entire assembly (shock, spring, fork) without removing the axles, etc.? thanks!

MIKE

 

had to drill mine out.. no way around it.. thank god my dad was there to help.. i would have destroyed the bushings trying to drill it out.


[Modified by reno96teg, 11:05 AM 1/30/2003]

 

they are talking about the rear shocks and springs. The rear shocks have a fork that fits over the LCA (on non-ITR models). This bolt that goes thru the fork and LCA is what breaks on so many cars.

 

I had the same problem on my rears... took it to a shop and they charged me for 2 hours to cut apart the fork and install new shocks. seems reasonable now that i see bamasta7's shop took 7.5 hours. ouch man.. buy two new bolts from an Acura dealer and a new set of bushings from suspension.com and let a shop handle it