94 civic ex, broke off the bolt that conects the rear lower control arm to the bottom of the strut(so the bolt is stuck in there).... is there any way to get that out without taking the whole suspension off and taking it to a machine shop? any advice would be helpful.

 

I don't have an answer to your question. Dont listen to me. My question for you is, did you use a torque wrench, and if you did, how much did you torque it to?


Modified by DOHC4life at 7:41 PM 10/12/2004

 

that happened to me on both sides when i was replacing shocks!! get a good electric drill, drilling oil, and a great drill bit, and start drilling it out! it really really sucks but you can have it done pretty quickly if you just bare with it. oh yea and triple check that you are drilling it straight and not drilling on an angle!! good luck

 

yeah its a real pain in the ***.... i've already ruined one drill bit

 

I too broke both sides on my Del Sol. Machine shop pressed both out for 20$.....

 

Maybe break the nut off the other side of the shock. Then u can pound out the bolt. Or just buy new SRR lcas.

 

Craftsman sells a bolt extractor. You put it on a drill or a ratchet and it takes it out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mulletov &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Maybe break the nut off the other side of the shock. Then u can pound out the bolt. Or just buy new SRR lcas.</TD></TR></TABLE>

other side seems to be practically welded for some reason

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luserkid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Craftsman sells a bolt extractor. You put it on a drill or a ratchet and it takes it out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

how much does that go for

 

Maybe 40 with craftsman, you could probably find a crappier version at autozone. But then if you break the craftsman you get a free one.

 

Grinding the nut off the opposite side and using an air chissel to pound out the remaining bolt, seems to be a popular method too.

I just replaced my suspension 2 weeks ago and that bolt, even with liberal use of PB Blaster ALMOST got stuck. The ribs on the bolt had rusted enough to the bushing that when I got it out, the ribs had actually distorted and were no longer parallel with the bolt.

But after reading so many horror stories about this install, I plucked a pair of rear LCA's off my friend (who did a 5-lug conversion), as well as sourced a new LCA-shock mounting bolt just in case this **** happened.

An impact gun is your friend for suspension work.

 

Would a impact gun really be helpful in a time like this or wouldnt just break the bolt off?

I would be scared shitless to use a impact gun on such a tight area.

 

dude that blows...i had my car sitting on jack stands for 2 weeks because of that. then i found a junk yard i could go into to find some stuff...got myself a new lca because i managed to get my strut off the old lca.

 

Verrrrry common problem. Happened to me... VERY FIRST MOD. I was bummed, but there are ways around it.

First let me explain what happened. The bolt seized up in the LCA bushing (probably haven't ever replaced that bushing have you?). You're going to have to press out the bushing after you get the LCA seperated from the shock, and get a new one pressed it.

Now as for seperating the shock from the LCA, there are several mthods. Should you have a replacement shock on hand (like I did), it is simple. Cut the shock at the forks and pound away with a 3-5lb sledge hammer. Takes some time, but gets the job done. If you have a torch at your disposal, heat up the LCA at the bushing (lots of smoke, it's rubber), and take a punch and hammer to it. Should only take a few minutes. These are the only ways I know of to do it.

As for the easy-out (reverse threaded screw) solution, I have heard bad things. I've heard people end up breaking more of those things than they care to acknowledge.

Pain in the *** of a problem, make sure you use lots of antiseize on the new bolt that goes in there, and swap out the bushings.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b16a3delsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I too broke both sides on my Del Sol. Machine shop pressed both out for 20$.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is correct. Used an impact and it snaped clean. One side of the strut has a the nut welded on. You can break it off with a good size breaker bar and try to get the strut off that way cut the remaining part of the bolt off. Tried drilling it, big PIA. If you can get the strut off just bring the LCA a machine shop and they will press it out. otherwise, its just 2 nuts and 2 more bolts and you can slide the LCA and strut right out then bring it to the machine shop and have them deal with it. Both of my cars were bought in TN road salt isn't a large problem but further up north where more road salt is used that is the reason you have the problem...the LCA's have rubber bushing with metal inserts, the bolt rust in to it....and pretty much becomes a solid piece...

 

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

That is correct. Used an impact and it snaped clean. One side of the strut has a the nut welded on. You can break it off with a good size breaker bar and try to get the strut off that way cut the remaining part of the bolt off. Tried drilling it, big PIA. If you can get the strut off just bring the LCA a machine shop and they will press it out. otherwise, its just 2 nuts and 2 more bolts and you can slide the LCA and strut right out then bring it to the machine shop and have them deal with it. Both of my cars were bought in TN road salt isn't a large problem but further up north where more road salt is used that is the reason you have the problem...the LCA's have rubber bushing with metal inserts, the bolt rust in to it....and pretty much becomes a solid piece...</TD></TR></TABLE>

YEs....this made for a bad day.......

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luserkid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Craftsman sells a bolt extractor. You put it on a drill or a ratchet and it takes it out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Depends how stuck it is, I have no faith in the craftsman extractor kit. If it's even remotely stuck pretty good it will not work in my experience, the bit will break. I returned the one I bought so

Anyway I had the same bolt get stuck in my car (among other problems), honestly if you don't feel like drilling for an hour and having it be a huge pain in the *** call up import auto salvage or check on the classifieds you can get a new lower control arm for real cheap ($20 or less) and save yourself the headache. This is of course if you can deal with having your car off the road for a day....good luck.