I mean ****! Today I decide I'm going to actually put my stiffer springs on the rear of the integra. 'No problem!' I say to myself. Enter Murphy and his stupid ******* little law.

Left rear comes apart no problem. Sweet! This may prove to be an easy job, as it should be. Move to the right side [cue dramatic music] and **** hits the fan. The outer most self-locking bolt on the lower control arm will not come out. No it's not seized, it just so happens that the female bracket that the lower control arm attaches to is *bent* so the bolt is pinched, and won't come out. I guess after 4 hack job suspension installs it decided now was the time to puke and die.

Any suggestions how to tackle this gracefully? I'm thinking of taking a hammer to said bent bracket to try and bend it back to shape.

Just when things were looking up what with my new motor and all......

 

outermost of the 3 shouldnt have to get removed. Remove the bolt for the strut, then then the arm that connects the upper part of the trailing arm, with 2 bolts to the inside of wheel well, remove those 2 bolts. This is all easier if you already have springs, and if you have sleeves, drop them all the way out. If yo need more room, use a prybar and jam the arm down. so at least you can get the springs on....as for unbending the metal....use a big hitter...good luck

 

Work on a 30 year old datsun... thats fun stuff right there. Rusty nuts and bolts, strut housing perches breaking off, grrrrrr. Sorry, I'm not helping, I am currently replacing shocks springs and having some toubles, didnt feel like making another post =P

 

actually, you're wrong. i know it can be done that way, but i was following the FSM.

and as it turns out, the offending bolt is actually a wrong, non-honda piece that just *happens* to have the right threads thank god.

a quick trip to acura and 11 bux later, I have the new proper bolt, but still can't get the old one out. problem is that the offending bolt is totally rust bonded to the metal sleeve of the bushing.

 

blow torch on that works

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually, you're wrong. i know it can be done that way, but i was following the FSM.

and as it turns out, the offending bolt is actually a wrong, non-honda piece that just *happens* to have the right threads thank god.

a quick trip to acura and 11 bux later, I have the new proper bolt, but still can't get the old one out. problem is that the offending bolt is totally rust bonded to the metal sleeve of the bushing. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you referring to the bolt directly under the hub (rotor, etc.)? As the other poster states, you don't have to remove it.

However, PB Blaster, torch, and/or cutting wheel come in handy. If you don't have air tools, a cheap electronic impact is a life-saver (like $35 off eBay).

Tweak, who has coated his entire rear suspension in anti-seize.

 

torching it is gonna melt the bushing. and yes i know you don't *have* to remove it to get the shock out, but i want to remove it and put the proper bolt in. i do have air-tools, and they didn't really help. i have just about every tool i could want at my disposal

 

PB blaster kicks ***

 

without seeing a picture of it, it's hard to visualize.

just get creative....like I did with this sawzall and a shock that wouldn't budge *Home Depot style*

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any suggestions how to tackle this gracefully? I'm thinking of taking a hammer to said bent bracket to try and bend it back to shape. </TD></TR></TABLE>

If it really is just the distorted bracket causing the problem, then this is the first thing I'd try. If it really is rust bonded to the sleeve, then I'm not sure you have any choice other than soaking and waiting or burning it out. (You wanted to put in new bushings anyway, right?)

I definitely feel your pain, though. I'm at 95k, and this is the fun I got to deal with today:



Trying to drill it out from the nut side didn't work, so I have a bad feeling it's rust bonded in the sleeve. I screwed up the threads of the nut, so I'm gonna go ahead and hacksaw it off and hope that the remains of the bolt can be knocked out.

At least the front's done:



w00t!

P.S.: Holy crap, tweak, that's pretty damn "creative" alright!

 

1) the lower control arms already have new bushings in them, i need to replace the *trailing* arm bushings

2) I'm not about to sawzall my koni's

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

1) the lower control arms already have new bushings in them, i need to replace the *trailing* arm bushings

Again, without seeing pictures it's hard to visualize the best solution.


2) I'm not about to sawzall my koni's</TD></TR></TABLE>

I wasn't implying that! I'm just saying sometimes these things require weird solutions.

 

Air hammers are your friend on this one

 

My LCA bolt were frozen at 55k on my GSR.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2) I'm not about to sawzall my koni's</TD></TR></TABLE>

but they are rebuildable!!! hhahahaaa.. good luck, though.. can't wait for my job on my 86 civic!!! oh boy oh boy oh crap...


i've had trouble many times with these bolts, though.. the best thing you can do is take your time, and don't strip the head.. when you strip the head, things get bad...

 

you have a few issues to take care of with those Skunk control arms , FYI.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2) I'm not about to sawzall my koni's</TD></TR></TABLE>

NO WARRANTY!

FWIW, after years of changing shocks and springs, I always remove the outer bolt at the end of the upper control arm when doing a shock change instead of the others. I think this is the easiest to get in and out and have less misalignment issues. Remember to disconnect the sway bar link to control arm bolt as well as it will help push the LCA down and out of the way.

 

This has happened way to many times to count. After talking with a guy who pulls parts at an auto recycling yard his recommendation is heat that bolt up. You won't burn your bushings out because that bolt is in a metal sleeve. A good trick if you are at the yard looking for these LCA's (because this happens all the time) is to find some road flares and use them to heat the bolts up before starting to remove them.