Rusty bolt, need some help.

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:09 pm

How can rust both hold stuff together better then welding, yet is also tears stuff apart.

I'm stuck, I'm trying to swap suspensions between my trucks (all lifetime warrenty stuff in the old truck and I'm going to sell it) and one of the controll arm bolts has rusted to the sleve in the bushing. How can I get this thing out? I have been hitting it with PB-Blaster and heating it as best I can (small hand held propane torch) but even after two hours of beating on it with a brass punch and a 8 pound sledge I can't get this thing to budge. Unfortunatly I cant get a direct shot on the bolt (I can get about a 30 degree angle), and my swing with the sledge is very limited, but I can still hit that thing with some force.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

BTW, no access to air equipment around here, and there is no way other than a 5' long, 3/8" round punch to get a perfect straight shot at the bolt.

1337vending · Post by **1337vending** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:15 pm

http://www.kanolabs.com/

Their Kroil line works wonders on rusted bolts...squirt some around the bolt and wait about 15 mins...should loosen right up.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:27 pm

You may need to add air tools as an option. A "zip-gun" can do wonders.
It is just an air chisel with a straight punch. The quick hard vibration does wonders for such situations. I also have a cupped bit for pushing exposed bolts out. Once it is to the bushing the tapered punch drives it the rest of the way. There are even angled bits for places where you can not get a straight shot.
Rent, beg or borrow one and a compressor.

On reassembly some anti-seize compound might be a good idea.

WVHogRider · Post by **WVHogRider** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:52 pm

More PB Blaster, Kroil, (or possibly Coca-Cola, I've heard it actually works on the rust),and a 12 pound sledge.

J/K

Brules right, you may need to beg, steal or borrow some air tools.

Or just drill it out and get a new bolt

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:03 pm

Dang, thats what I was afraid of. This one project, that I was hoping would be FREE, is turning into a nightmare. I was so happy that this truck only took an hour and a half to undo the front suspension where as the other truck took 5 hours, but then this truck bites me on the last bolt (it was actually 2.5 hours of pounding, literally).

If I could drill I would, but I doubt that my little 9.6 volt drill would even start to get a hole going in a bolt, and I can't get a drill in there. I though about chopping the bolt off on both ends and then just getting a new bolt and sleve, but I don't know if I could find the sleve and I would end up doing damage to the poly bushings trying to get whatever cutter to the bolt (not to mention the only cutter I have is a hacksaw blade. Yes, just the blade).

HJ, I think your right, I'm going to need air on this one, I just don't see any other way. I could possibly get it with some more beating, but I would think if that was going to work it would have worked by now. Now where to find the compressor and the air chisel, guess I will have to ask around at work. Hmmm, wonder what the parts stores have in their tool loaning stash.

Anti-Seize, who needs that (I think that is what I said when I took the suspension out the last time). Yep, I'm thinking a tube or two of that might be in order, plus a trip to the hobby shop to use the bead blaster to clean the nuts and bolts up. To bad neither truck is drivable and that the hobby shop does not loan tools out. Oh well, guess I should have done this at some point in the six months both trucks were parked AT the hobby shop, but oh no, I had to bring them back home (idiot).

Thanks guys, I knew I would get some great help/advice here.

Hmm, had a thought. What about heating the bolt as much as possible, and then cooling it as quick as possible? Maybe I can get the sleve to expand a little with the heat and then shrink the bolt away from the sleve with some cold. Someone at S-Series mentioned the new CRC freeze stuff and that got me to thinking.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:23 pm

The heat and shrink trick does work. Metal expands and contracts at different rates. This cracks the bond created by the rust. Inside a bushing though it has too much insulation and can not be cooled quickly enough, nor heated enough without destroying the bushing.

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:34 pm

HenryJ wrote:The heat and shrink trick does work. Metal expands and contracts at different rates. This cracks the bond created by the rust. Inside a bushing though it has too much insulation and can not be cooled quickly enough, nor heated enough without destroying the bushing.

Thats what I was afraid of. Since I am using a hand held propane torch and I have to heat from the ends of the bolt I can't put heat into this thing very quickly, probably not quickly enough to replace the heat the bushing sucks out. Add to that the WHOLE point of this is to get the poly bushings, destroying them would REALLY tick me off (if i even could). If it wasn't for the poly bushings I would go rent a hub socket (lost mine) and just take the parts I wanted off a piece at a time, although I'm leaning that route more and more every minute, heck the biggest thing holding me back is the fact that I have to undo the hub nut without air tools. Taking those nuts off is going to be a PITA doing it by hand, add to that the fact that I have to hold the other end of the hub by hand to keep it from spinning too makes this idea seam worse and worse. The question is where do I just quit and put the trucks back together as they were.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:49 pm

It may be cheaper to just buy new bushings if you consider what expendatures may be needed.

Cutting your losses and just putting them back is not failure. "Nothing ventured nothing gained" it probably seemed like a really good idea up to this point.

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 5:01 am

Yeah, I'm leaning that way.

I think I'm going to go get a hub socket and try that route, at least maybe I can save my MOOG balljoints and the new wheel bearings and CV's. The whole point of this was to take the suspension off as one peice, that way I only had to undo 52 rusty bolts instead of the 100 required to take the expensive parts out one by one and forgeting the LCA bushings, and yes, I did just count the exact number of bolts

.

Biggest thing that bugs me is I only have one side of one truck removed, and most of one side of the other truck removed (except that one bolt), but I still have the other sides of both trucks to do. What type of problems will I run into when I go to do the other sides!

Oh well, we will see what happens.

Thanks.